The Practicing Congregation

Diana Butler Bass, Alban, 2004

With a grant from the Lily Foundation endowment, church historian Diana Butler Bass set out to find new ways for mainline Protestant churches to be faithful in a changing world.

Bass looked at 50 churches from six mainline denominations in the United States where new things were happening and people were growing deeper in their faith. Recently, there has been much discussion about “emerging” churches, part of a new postmodern model.

The churches that Bass studied represent the emerging shape of mainline Protestantism. Perhaps they are better identified as re-emerging churches, congregations that are moving into the future by adapting the best techniques from their past. Emerging Christianity is about change. It is about, in Bass’ words, people changing from spiritual tourists to pilgrims. She found that Protestant churches are eager to remain faithful to their traditions while developing as vital spiritual communities.

A new type of mainline congregation has emerged since the early 1990s that Diana Butler Bass calls The Practicing Congregation. These are congregations that have experienced new vitality through innovative engagement with traditional Christian practices.