Current challenge to Lutheran renewal : another look at Kelley's question.
Dean Kelley's book, Why Conservative Churches Are Growing (1972), attributes the growth of the sects and conservative denominations to their rigidity and authoritarianism. The more flexible and ecumenical a church group is, he claims, the more it will decline. Although his study manipulates data at the expense of other factors, such as historical perspective, social complexion, population shifts and national mood swings, his thesis raises important questions for Lutherans. The characteristics of fundamentalism, so attractive to many Lutherans, will only stifle Lutheran, Gospel-centered renewal. Lutheran renewal will not take the road of ecclesial posturing or machismo modeled after what is "selling" well today, for this is a short-sighted means of buying time which will only obscure our true identity and purpose.
