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Writer's pictureSarah Sisson Rollandini

The Death of the Progressive Church and 5 Tips for Encountering the Living Jesus

Jesus stained glass window in church

I will never forget the Jesus window in my childhood church. It's where I fixed my gaze when my knees shook and I felt ready to toss my cookies. Whether performing in front of the congregation as an angel in the Christmas program or singing in the children's choir my mom directed, I needed a steady reminder of who I was serving and whose strength would hold me fast when I forgot to breathe. Our organist and often piano accompanist, Joyce, advised me early on to ignore the faces of people in the pews and lift my eyes to the Jesus window.


This stained glass masterpiece, along with the church's many events--potlucks with my favorite tater tot casserole, the fall craft bazaar and harvest dinner, Christmas candlelight and Easter sunrise service--provided the backdrop of my childhood. In my teen years, desperate parents met in the old basement, folding chairs perched on worn shag carpet, and watched James Dobson's Preparing for Adolescence on the reel-to-reel while high schoolers piled into Friday lock-ins hoping a new hottie would show up for youth group.


United Methodist Potluck

My local United Methodist Church was a safe place full of friendly faces where one sweet retired man handed out his carved wooden crosses with the word "Jesus" etched through the center and church ladies were not afraid to raise a stern eyebrow to usher an errant sheep back into the fold.


Church was, for me and many others, the place where Jesus love was lived.


However, in the last several decades, the UMC and other churches like it have embraced false teachings that are, as King Solomon put it, nothing new under the sun. These so-called progressive Christians, who prefer their own 21st century agenda over the ancient Word of God, have caused the UMC's membership to drop from 11 million to fewer than 4 million over the past several decades. In fact, in the last four years, 7,500 entire congregations have left the UMC, including 5,600 in 2023 alone.


Wood pews with red hymnals on red shag carpet

It's not surprising that such churches are dying; a progressive church has little more to offer its congregants than the bars and casinos that dot the Las Vegas strip. It is a social club that may or may not think Jesus is the Messiah, may or may not believe in The 10 Commandments, and may or may not hold its leaders to any biblical standard whatsoever. In short, progressives are following--in the words of the inimitable Natasha Crain--another gospel, not the saving Gospel of Jesus Christ.


To put a finer point on the apostasy of the UMC's "progressive" stance, let's take a look at some of its highlights over the last 25 years. Their mantra could be coined "Who needs the Fruit of the Spirit when you can have the Fruits of the Flesh?"


  • September 2002 - UMC Bishop, Joseph Sprague, gives us an overview of the apostasy that has already gained a foothold in the UMC by stating the following:


    -The virgin birth is a myth.

    -Jesus was not born Christ.


What the Bible teaches:

Mary asked the angel, “How can this be? I’m a virgin. The angel answered her, “The Holy Spirit will come to you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore, the holy child developing inside you will be called the Son of God. (Luke 1:34-35)


-Jesus was not bodily resurrected.

-Jesus is not the only way to God.


What the Bible teaches:

For he has set a day when he will judge the world with justice by the man he has appointed. He has given proof of this to everyone by raising him from the dead. (Acts 17:31)


Thomas said to him, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?” Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. (John 14:6)

Jesus inviting followers to come to him

  • March 2021 - Ms. Penny Cost becomes the first Drag Queen in the world to be named a Certified Candidate for Ordination within the United Methodist Church. His blog coming out story brags: She found a church that told her a message that would stick with her for the rest of her life, "No matter who you are or what you have done, You, right here and now, are enough... this is all you will ever have to be".


What the Bible teaches:

You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness. (Ephesians 4:22-24)


  • April 23-May 3, 2024 - Members at UMC General Conference, after introducing themselves with pronouns, vote to:


    -Remove a ban on adultery from its Book of Discipline


    What the Bible teaches: Thou shall not commit adultery. (the 7th Commandment found in Exodus 20:14)


    -Remove the requirement for clergy to be celibate if single


    What the Bible teaches: Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh. (Genesis 2:24)


    Newlywed couple on their wedding day

    -Remove the requirement for clergy to be monogamous in marriage.

    (See the 7th Commandment, above)


-Remove the prohibition of on pastors officiating same-sex marriages

What the Bible teaches:


Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a person commits are outside the body, but whoever sins sexually, sins against their own body. Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies. (1 Corinthians 6:18-20)


It is God’s will that you should be sanctified: that you should avoid sexual immorality. (1 Thessalonians 4:3 and many, many more.)


-Remove the prohibition on ordaining LGBTQ people


-Remove immorality as a chargeable offense, leaving it undefined


What the Bible teaches:


But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty. For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such people. For among them are those who creep into households and capture weak women, burdened with sins and led astray by various passions, always learning and never able to arrive at a knowledge of the truth. -2 Timothy 3:1-7


Wood cross on a hill with sun's rays shining through

-Approve a petition affirming a right to abortion and pledging "solidarity with those who seek reproductive health care." The petition upholds a person's right to an abortion and denounces any abortion bans.


What the Bible teaches:


So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them;

male and female he created them. - Genesis 1:27


Thou shall not kill. -Exodus 20:13


For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb.

I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful,

I know that full well. -Psalm 139:13-14


Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations. -Jeremiah 1:5


My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place, when I was woven together in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be. (Psalm 139:15-16)


Ultrasound of baby in the womb

  • June 1, 2024 - Duke Memorial United Methodist Church goes viral after one of their bell ringers plays song "Hot To Go" by queer artist Chappell Roan on the first day of Pride Month. (You can Google the lyrics. I won't be posting them here.)


What the Bible teaches:

But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: 'Be holy, because I am holy. -1 Peter 1:15-16


Clearly the UMC has lost its way and those who attend it have chosen the wide gate that leads to destruction, spoken of by Jesus in Matthew 7, rather than the narrow one that leads to life. Instead of lamenting human sin, as Jesus called us to do, UMC leaders are inviting evil to the head of the table and throwing a gala in its honor.


And this is where I must add a "love disclaimer" which no one has stated more clearly and succinctly than Pastor Alistair Begg of Parkside Church near Cleveland, Ohio, paraphrased here:


Society puts forth a false dichotomy that the only two options are to hate (sinful) people or to affirm them. Either 'You hate me' or 'You affirm me'. The Christian actually does neither. We cannot hate because of God's Word and we cannot affirm because of God's Word. And we cannot rewrite the Bible in order to accommodate a society that needs the Bible and Jesus.


Amen and Amen. This "not hating but not affirming" is called love. Jesus modeled this love throughout scripture when his actions embodied truth and grace. I love you as you are, right where you are. Now pick up your cross and follow me. I will show you the way to life.


Jesus with his hand out

When it comes to sinners, I am the worst. Guilty of pride, lust, greed, selfishness, envy, impatience, dishonesty, disobedience, and unleashing my wrath on unsuspecting family members after I've hit traffic or spilled a chai latte on my lap. Like you, I'm both fearfully and wonderfully made in the image of God and also constantly undermined by my sin nature. I cannot hate nor can I affirm anyone's choice (including my own!) to willfully turn away from God. And when I seek wise counsel, the last thing I want to hear is the ruinous mantra, "Live your truth." Rather, I thirst for the eternal wisdom found in THE TRUTH of the Bible.


As Christians, we have the transformational power of the Holy Spirit within us. We also have Jesus' death on a cross--his forgiveness--when we, inevitably, miss the mark. What we don't possess, however, is the power to whip up our own gospel, making Jesus over in our own image and reducing his role to that of benevolent guru rather than savior and Lord of our lives. Likewise, we don't have the authority to redefine sin according to 21st century rules.


The United Methodist Church and others like it have created their own cobbled together doctrine that has little resemblance to the saving Gospel preached by early Christians. It's shoddy teachings are powerless to transform, much less save, a sinner's life. The Gospel requires surrendering our earthly will to God's heavenly sanctification, a fancy word that means being freed from sin and set apart for God's purposes. Unlike progressive churches, those that preach God's Word in its entirety renounce cultural drift and aim for Christ-like holiness. These are the sheep who know the Lord's voice and follow him.


As Titus 1:9 reminds us, He must hold firm to the trustworthy word as taught, so that he may be able to give instruction in sound doctrine and also to rebuke those who contradict it.


Jesus with his sheep following  behind him

So in the mid 2020's, where can we find a church that stands on sound doctrine and not on the shaky creeds of The United Methodist Church and its ilk?


Perhaps we can best spot a solid gathering of leaders and believers by first examining its opposite. Writer, podcaster, and speaker, Alisa Childers, has tackled this issue in her post 5 Signs Your Church Might be Heading Toward Progressive Christianity where she lays out these "5 Danger Signs" of false sanctuaries:


  1. There is a lowered view of the Bible.

  2. Feelings are emphasized over facts.

  3. Essential Christian doctrines are open for re-interpretation.

  4. Historic terms are redefined.

  5. The heart of the gospel message shifts from sin and redemption to social justice.


I encourage you to visit Alisa's page to read her article in its entirety. From her insight, we can extrapolate the following five essentials of a church that invites its followers to encounter the living Jesus.


  1. The Bible is recognized as the authoritative Word of God.


  2. Objective truth is found in the Bible, not in people's feelings or opinions.


  3. Church leaders respect and elevate church doctrine as it has been established by devout believers over the past two millennia.


  4. Words maintain their historical--and accurate--meaning (ex. love, inerrancy, inspiration, authority, justice).


  5. At the heart of the gospel message is sin and redemption: God loves us, Jesus died for our sins, and we can receive eternal life through turning away from our sin and placing our faith in Jesus Christ.


man with Bible repenting of sin and praying

My beloved childhood church took a vote this month on whether to leave the UMC or join the Global Methodist Church, a denomination which continues to recognize the authority of scripture and the power of repentance. Fifty-five percent of congregants voted for the GMC option, but--seeing the writing on the wall--UMC leaders stacked the deck against the faithful by requiring a 2/3 vote in order to exit the faltering institution.


Should the Lord tarry, I can only imagine what my Jesus window will witness over the next fifty years. The building itself will house a weak fellowship where the uncommitted search inward instead of upward for wisdom and direction. Those who've drawn vain lines in the sand will worship idols created in their own image and call their false gods "love" and "pride" and "social justice." The Holy Spirit will flee and the fruits of the flesh will flourish unchecked. Sadly, this community will replace faith in God's kind authority with a misguided belief in human goodness and gain momentary pleasure while forfeiting the eternal glory of heaven.


path through the woods with light shining through

Truly, there is nothing new under the sun. Even as Babylon prospers, the Bible teaches in Amos and Revelation that God preserves a remnant of the faithful. For us, it's time to heed Jesus' new testament words to leave that place and shake the dust off your feet as a testimony against them (Matthew 10:14). We must seek churches where truth and grace tangle beautifully together in messy stories of redemption. Where faith in God's power to transform gives rise to everyday miracles and self-worship is crushed under the weight of abiding truth. Lastly, our sanctuaries must be holy retreats where humanism bows at the feet of our loving, forgiving, fierce and unchanging Yahweh.


Christ followers,


We are the church, faithful and unshaken.


Onward.



Until next time.


Your Courage Cheerleader,


Sarah 📣










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4 Comments


Ron Hansen
Ron Hansen
Oct 18

Thank you, Sarah, for your perspective, insights, conclusions and faithful embrace of core biblical truth. I look forward to meeting you some day.

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Sarah Sisson Rollandini
Sarah Sisson Rollandini
Oct 19
Replying to

Thank you, Ron, for your leadership. I know that you have provided comfort and encouragement to so many!

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Donna Marquardt
Donna Marquardt
Oct 17

Wow, Sarah!! Well done. I have had a heavy heart since learning of the vote. It was not my childhood church, but a church that holds many memories for me, including where I wed the love of my life.


Thank you so much for all in information about the changes with the UMC. We joined a UMC in our area (Ohio) and left because of the changes happening. We left before the final vote because of the hand writing on the wall. You are a gifted writer, Sarah. Please keep up the good work. Donna Marquardt

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Sarah Sisson Rollandini
Sarah Sisson Rollandini
Oct 19
Replying to

Hello Donna! My husband and I were also married there. The church holds so many wonderful God moments for my family. Thank you so much for your encouragement. I pray you’ve found a church home. We have found a faithful community at our local Wesleyan church. Best to you and yours!

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