Witches

Yeah, I thought that title would get your attention.

This morning Ross Douthat wrote a column about paganism in the United States.  He's long commented on the ebbing of orthodoxy in the nation's Christian churches so I wasn't surprised that he once again turned to this theme.  But what caught my attention was a factoid deep into the piece: there may be more witches in the U.S. than members of the United Church of Christ.  For those of you not paying attention, First Congregational Church of Lebanon is part of the UCC, as are most Congregational Churches today.  This statistic is depressing, but there's a delicious irony if you think about the history of the Witch Trials.

What does any of this have to with Advent?  Well, this is the time for us to reflect and prepare.  We need to ask ourselves with honesty what the church needs to do to successfully share the message of Jesus Christ with the world.  I think both the fundamentalist right and the progressive left don't have the right answers, but I'll give them this: they're trying.  This Advent, let's recall that Jesus is coming (again) and ask what we can do to prepare ourselves and the world for his arrival.  The alternative is leaving the job to the witches, and that's not the future God wants for us.

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