What is the future of church?

For the religious and secular alike.

In Monday’s essay, I explored whether Humanism could be the future of religion—a philosophy we could all get behind both religious and secular alike. But one thing Humanism doesn’t have is a way to practice with one another. There is no Humanist Church where we can all gather on Sundays, no Humanist Youth Group for high school students. I’m not saying we need to replicate that model, we probably shouldn’t, but I’ve wondered: what if there was a Humanist Youth Group—where we talk about Petrarch and Erasmus and Montaigne and their ideas about how we can be good people and make the world a better place?

Religion does a good job of providing those conversations and that community, but there should be something for the secular too. Or better yet, for the religious and secular alike! So my question for the literary salon this week is: What are some ways we can still gather? What are some ways we can still have community with one another? What are some ways we can unite around a positive belief system on a regular basis and share it with one another? How can we think about how to be better people and make the world a better place together? What is the future of “church” for the secular and religious alike?

Join us in the discussion.