A Review of American History to Understand America’s Current Cultural Status and The Implications for Evangelization (Part 1) Original Edition Prepared.

A Review of American History to Understand America’s Current Cultural Status and The Implications for Evangelization (Part 1) Original Edition Prepared For: NAMB’s 2006 Leadership Summit Current Revision Prepared For: SBC State Convention Directors of Mission & Missouri, Oklahoma & South Carolina Staff Meetings in 2007 Prepared by: Dr. James B. Slack, Missiologist of IMB, SBC

A Note To The Viewers & Users of this PowerPoint Presentation
This PowerPoint presentation is supported by at least two other Word source documents. The major one of the two is Frontiers of Lostness in the US.

The Aim and Context of this Ethnic Immigration History Presentation
The aim of this presentation is to explore and present a history of immigration into the USA from 1775 to the present with a view to exposing major implications concerning church planting then and now.

Section 1: Biblical Background for Evangelizers

Context of This Presentation
All that is presented in this biblical background section goes at least back to Abraham when God moved to make Abraham the father of ethnic peoples, ethnic evangelization and ethnic blessings that extended even to the families (phulagi in Greek). Genesis 12:1 Now the Lord said to Abram, Go out from your country and from your family and from your father's house, into the land to which I will be your guide: 2 And I will make of you a great nation [ethnos—an ethnic people group), blessing you and making your name great; and you will be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, And I will curse him who curses you; And in you all the families (tribes, clans, peoples) of the earth shall be blessed." To bring Himself as Saviour into this world in an incarnate state, God chose Abraham as the basis for developing a distinct ethnic people group—Israel (the people of God). Israel would be the channel through which the lineage and heritage of Jesus would flow and come into this world in the flesh.

Context of This Presentation
God promised Abraham and us through Abraham that He would make of Abraham a great “nation” (ethnic people group) through whom (Israel-the people of God) He would engage and blessn not only every ethnic group but also every tribe (phulagi—translated as tribe and family that follows within the lineage of a clan, a tribe, an ethnic group). Throughout God’s developing of His ethnic people group Israel, God continually pleaded that Israel put Him first, clean up their life--personal and national-- and ultimately take His hope of salvation to the “panta ta ethne” (each and every ethnic group). All of this history from Abraham in Genesis is summarized in Christ’s Great Commission (Matthew 28:19 & 20).

Context of Presentation
For Israel from its beginning in Abraham unto spiritual Israel now (each Christian and each Church), the “panta ta ethne” was and is the focus of “making disciples.” The “panta ta ethne” obligation can be seen in the Old Testament in the “stranger in thy home,” the “stranger (ethnic) in thy midst.” On occasion in the O.T., as with Jonah, God called individual witnesses to take His message to other ethnic groups. In Jonah’s eyes, Nineveh was a major enemy of Israel, deserving to be damned forever. In God’s eyes the people of Nineveh were a “lost” ethne to be “evangelized.” And, God worked to make him go.

Context of Title & Presentation
The story of Jonah is one of a number of stories as to how God reminded Israel that their mission in life was to be the channel of the Messiah to lost ethnes. Israel was to be the messenger to the lost (enemy or not) concerning God’s promise of salvation. In this case, with significant coaxing, Jonah came through, Nineveh was delivered, and Israel continued in its move toward its destiny. Even then, Jonah’s ethnocentricity would not allow him to enjoy the conversion of an entire city. All Christians face this same issue of the ethnic people groups, friends or foes among us, who need to be evangelized.

However, in multiple other situations like the one Jonah faced, Israel did not respond to God’s coaxing to clean up their lives and be His messenger to the “panta ta ethne.” As a result, God punished Israel by allowing Israel’s enemies to occupy Israel, the Holy Land, allowed them to take His people into captivity. Only by means of a remnant that God saved and brought out of those in captivity did Israel survive. Throughout the Testament history it continued to be difficult for Israel to remember and respond to God’s mission to the “panta ta ethne” through them—His chosen people.

In the last two years, Acts 1:8 has been a major theme of the SBC and the focus of many SBC events. Southern Baptists could have no more biblical nor historically appropriate theme at this time in its history. However, many fail to interpret Acts 1:8 in the context of the “panta ta ethne” in Matthew 28:19 & 20 which is telling the new Christian believers that they are to be conscious of, identify, engage and evangelize every ethnic group (panta ta ethne) in one’s Jerusalem; every ethnic group in one’s Judea; every ethnic group in one’s Samaria; and every ethnic group in one’s uttermost. This connection is much easier to grasp when one reads Matthew 28:19 & 20 followed immediately by Acts 1 and the illustration of the “panta ta ethne” in their Jerusalem in Acts 2. My thanks goes out to my fellow presenters during this NAMB leaders summit for parts of their presentations that have laid the foundation for this topic. (Remember or notice that the first edition of this presentation was first developed and presented during a leadership summit of NAMB when multiple presenters preceded this presentation.)

Contextual Issues other Presenters Covered During the Summit
I am grateful that Dr. Towns of Liberty University reviewed the foundation of “ta ethne” as God’s mandate from Christ and the Scripture for all believers of all times. From the time of God’s call and promise to Abraham and beyond to Jesus’ giving His Great Commission’s “ta ethne” focus, an ethnolinguistic people group focus has existed for all believers. Acts 1:8 and all of Acts 1 & 2 underlines the Great Commission’s ethnic mandate.

Contextual Issues other Presenters Covered
I am grateful to Dr. Roy Fish for talking about historic awakening type growth in the 1950s and about the importance of Worldview awareness in ministering to any ethnic of any time. I am also grateful to Dr. Lawless for talking about “Exegeting the City” and giving attention to the variety of ethnic, Great Commission, people groups during his Acts 1:8 presentations. I am also committed to Dr. Fish’s worldview emphasis because dealing with “worldview” is one of basic reasons for a biblical “ta ethne” focus and mandate.

Contextual Issues Assumed As Background
Acts 1:8 has less to do with the actual or symbolic geographical implications related to “Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and the uttermost” than to it’s link with the Great Commission’s “panta ta ethne” focus. Thus, a “panta ta ethne” focus starts in Jerusalem and remains a priority in each of those geographic settings. Luke 24, Matthew 28 and Acts 2 present Jesus as placing the “seeing” and “engaging” of the “panta ta ethne” (ethnic engagement) in one’s heart language foremost in the life of every believer.

Echoing a Pleading of God about His “ta ethne” Focus Given to Israel & Christians
The Great Commission’s “panta ta ethne” mandate is: to engage every ethnolinguistic group in the world to engage each ethne in their heart language, and to engage them at their worldview belief, habits, values and living level--a paramount obligation for every Christian in the Great Commission and elsewhere in the Scriptures. At the same time, a people group focus does not rule out engaging society according to other groupings such as students, the classes, etc., as long as the primary commitment is that of engaging every ethnic group in one’s midst.

Echoing a Pleading of God about His “ta ethne” Focus Given to Israel & Christians
Even though other groupings of people are allowed, if a “panta ta ethne” priority has not been given by Christ’s followers to the various ethnics in any given geographic setting—one’s “Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria or uttermost”—then the Christians in those geographic settings should set about to aggressively identify the ethnics who live there. They should establish a priority evangelism focus among each ethnic group to be true to Christ’s Great Commission.

Echoing a Pleading of God about His “ta ethne” Focus
The issue of worldview rests upon the following: Every sane person has a Worldview—beliefs, values, habits, and lifestyle practices common to the person, the person’s family & his ethne. Worldview is laid down in the idiom of the heart language of each person as that person develops from a new born baby to an adult. Engaging a worldview is most effectively done through the person’s ethnic heart language.

Questions God Pleads That We Ask and Answer in Every Generation!
Who are the specific “ta ethne” who are outside our doors in our current “Jerusalem” and beyond? Have we taken the time to identify the “stranger” in our midst and the “strangers” (ethne=ethnic people groups) at our door in our Jerusalem? What is the stranger’s (ethne’s) purpose and spiritual status in our “home” setting, in our town, our county (possibly our Judea), our state and country (possibly our uttermost)? Are our SBC churches in the USA, as Israel was in the Old Testament era, so engrossed in our “own kind of people”—mainly the Anglo ta ethne--such that other “ta ethne” are seldom even seen by us?

Questions God Pleads That We Ask and Answer in Every Generation!
If certain “ta ethne” in our Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria or the uttermost are our “enemies,” whether considered so by us or by them, or by both, are we engaging them with a view to bringing them to Christ? Or, are there “ethne” on our list like Nineveh was to Jonah whom we consider as “deserving only to die lost and condemned by God and man,” and not deserving the chance to hear and live? Can we give a positive “count” (numerical) and therefore an “account” (spiritual) of the ethnics around us?

The Main Question To Ask!
Are we sleeping like Israel slept in times when God asked Israel to move beyond an almost single focus on “their own kind” of God-chosen people, in order to engage and evangelize the “ta ethne” among them? Or, are we taking note of every ethnic group who moves among us, and are we taking steps to evangelize them?

The Main Consequence To Consider!
Israel in her life as a chosen people from the time of Israel’s entry into “the Promised Land” to the coming of Christ was often warned by prophets sent by God concerning their mission on earth as a people. Time and time again the prophets warned Israel that if she did not repent and come back from her backslidden life, then He would judge them by sending them into captivity. Most often they did not repent, and time and time again God sent them into physical and national captivity. He could do the same to people and nations today if they ignore the “ta ethne”.

A Historical Look at the Status, Engagement and Implications of Immigrants (the Ta Ethne) in the United States from 1775 to 2006 A Version Designed for the NAMB Leadership Summit and Significantly Updated for SBC State ConventionStaffs & for Directors of Mission & Others

The Three Periods that Established American as a Nation that Resulted in Future-Altering Changes in the USA in our Time The first of the three periods occurred between 1775 and We will extend the 1924 immigration date to the 1940s in order to present a combined secular and religious picture of that formative period. The second period of change occurred between 1945 and 1965 which can be called the “Golden Age of Christianity in the USA.” The third period of change occurred between 1965 and 2006 A.D. This section summarizes trends observed to give evidence of drastic changes and deviations from the past. Many Christians are unaware of the changes and the implications of all the changes since 1965.

Section 2: A Look At Immigration in the USA from 1775 to 1940s

Documentation of This “Look At Immigration from 1775 to 1940s”
Every concept and all the data included is well documented. Almost every entry is backed by more than one source. Will Herberg, a major historian of immigration prior to and during the 1950s & 1960s is a major source. Herberg worked through and cited over 339 major sources in his classic work. This author has followed up on every one of those sources. Oscar Handlin was quoted often by Herberg. Handlin also was a major, Pulitzer Prize winning, researcher of immigration and the formation of the United States of America. Handlin cited hundreds of other social, religious and statistical researchers of his era. This author, like Handlin did with Herberg’s writing, followed up on most of Handlin’s sources. Both author’s works are seen as classics and are highly quoted and respected even today. Handlin’s Pulitzer Price was for his The Uprooted. Multiple other religious sources beyond these two authors were consulted in developing the religious comments and interpretations in this presentation.

Documentation of This “Look At Immigration from 1775 to 1940s”
The compiler of this document on immigration to the USA searched current sources for any who disputed Herberg’s and Handlin’s findings. Herberg and Handlin published in the 1950s & 1960s. That body of research when joined with research from the mid-1960s and after provides great clarity and vital understanding of our religious & social situation today. Those responsible for engaging and evangelizing the lost in this generation should pay attention to the lessons from the past.

Exploring The Ta Ethne Migration from 1775 to the 1940s
An old proverb says: “those who do not consider and pay attention to history are doomed to repeat it.” Again, a look at Israel in the Old Testament era tells us that when Israel ignored God and God’s work in history, God instigated their downfall. (See Ezekiel 1-4)

Will Herberg’s & Oscar Handlin’s Research Findings
Oscar Handlin said in the 1950s: “Once I thought to write a history of the immigrants in America. Then I discovered that the immigrants were American history” The Uprooted, The Epic Story of the Great Migrations that Made the American People. (p. 3. Little Brown, 1957) (Handlin’s Pulitzer Prize work.) This is the most significant and critical reality for America and American Christians to understand, then and now. We will explore the “then” first, followed by a look at the “now” in parts 2 and 3 of this document. America is a nation of immigrants.

A Look At 1775 to 1950—America, A Nation of “Panta ta ethne” Immigrants
America was founded, grew and flourished in terms of immigrant ethnic peoples, immigrant religious adherents and the churches they planted in the emerging nation. We will explore those categories. Herberg described America following 1607 saying: “The colonists who came to these shores from the time of the founding of Jamestown in 1607 to the outbreak of the Revolution were mostly of English and Scottish stock, augmented by a considerable number of settlers of Dutch, Swedish, German, and Irish origin.” Handlin and Herberg said often: Almost all came from Christian background roots.

Herberg and Handlin said in separate research documents in the 1950s: “At the time of the Revolution, this British-Protestant element (usually, though inaccurately, known as ‘Anglo-Saxon’) constituted at least 75 per cent of the 3,000,000 whites who made up the new nation (in 1775)”. “In addition, there were about three quarters of a million (750,000) ‘African Americans’” in U.S. in 1775. “The great influx of ethnics came in the next century.”

In the early 1960s Herberg, Handlin and Hansen said separately in their publications: “In three huge waves, stretching over something more than a hundred years, over 35,000,000 men and women left Europe to come to continental United States.” This 35 million extended the 3 million base of 1775. In 2003, a book about the new Americans said: “At the time colonial America declared its independence from British rule in 1776: Nearly 80% of people in the colonies were white Europeans from England, Ireland, Scotland, Germany, the Netherlands, France, and Sweden. Just over 20% were slaves from Africa” (The Newest Americans. Editor Susan Madoff of Creative Media Applications, Greenwood Press, p.8) “Over the next 200 years, more than 70 million people from around the world would immigrate to the United States.” (The Newest Americans, p. 8) In this introduction, it should be clear that as American history passed, immigration continued to be the most defining trait of the United States.

By the time the great migrations were past, the British-Protestant element had been reduced to less than half the population, and Americans had become linguistically and ethnically the most diverse people on earth.” (Herberg and Handlin). However, even by 1950, there were only a small percentage of the US population who did not come from Christian background settings. (Herberg, Handlin & Hansen). Obviously, the late coming Catholics figured into the mix, especially in the 1900s.

The melding force was a combination of the frontier, economics and the continuing waves of ethnic immigrant arrivals from 1775 to 1924. Immigrants found plenty of opportunities to work on the Westward moving frontier and came in waves seeking frontier jobs & land. It is important to note that the flow of most of the immigrants to the frontier meant minimal settling by them in their own ethnic enclaves. The frontier caused their coming and their melding, their assimilation.

This flow of a majority of the immigrants who came in waves seeking frontier jobs, played the major role in shaping America linguistically and culturally. Again, the frontier was the assimilating factor and force. Their basic desire was to live in their own ethnic enclaves and not assimilate. The frontier blocked them. As successive waves of immigrants came to the US over 100 years, the “push” of each wave contributed to the rising of first generation immigrants from menial frontier jobs to climb to middle class manager/ business status on and just behind the frontier’s leading edge. Second generation ethnics replaced the first generation as the manual laborers. The shaping and melding of America was in gear. It worked.

Foundationally, it is very important to understand that it was: the freedom in America, the emerging democracy in America, the vast Western frontier of the Continent, the letters from friends and family telling them to come and join them on the vast frontier, the Western push of the people to experience freedom, own land, and prayerfully have a much brighter future, The poverty, the hopelessness, and the peasant status of the immigrants in Europe That lured them to America and its vast Frontier that caused them to assimilate and meld to a degree.

The Economics of Immigrants
“From 1830 to 1930, Irish, Bohemians, Slovaks, Hungarians, and many other peoples followed each other in the service of the pick and shovel, each earlier group, displaced by newcomers, moving upward in the occupational and social scale…if successive waves of immigration served as the ‘push’ in this pattern of occupational advancement, education and acculturation to American ways provided the immigrants with the opportunity of making the most of it,…” (Herberg)

The Shaping of A New “Nation”
It is very important to notice in this history that: “The lure and fact of the frontier that brought the immigrants by the millions caused the assimilation, the melding, of the immigrants.” Non-assimilation was not a choice and would not have been their choice by many ethnic groups. Historically, the immigrants would liked to have settled in among their “own kind of people” and produced ethnic enclaves within the USA The mass of immigrants and the fact of the frontier minimized the peoples’ choice and forced assimilation over a 150-year period of time

In this shaping process, the second generation of immigrants assumed the jobs of the vacated first generation immigrants who moved up the job ladder. As the frontier moved farther westward and as new waves of immigrants came to America, the movement from menial to managerial jobs continued and the appearance of educational opportunities on the frontier increased its occurrence and the varied status in US. Though the US frontier was not near 50% literate, schools tended to follow the frontier westward. The push of the frontier and education in English language in schools minimized wholesale settlement of immigrants within ethnic enclaves, except where enclaves developed in a few cities.

Thus, the Americanization process did produce in the somewhat melded population a fairly common English language among the ethnics. In order to “move up the ladder” socially and economically, each wave of immigrant ethnics had to push their ethnic language into the home and family, while publically adopting English as the language of the workplace and society. Many ethnic languages did persist in the family for 100 years. Traces of them exist today. For instance, it was the late 1970s before Swedish Baptists in the US renamed themselves Baptist General Conference.

In many of the families of the various ethnic groups in each successive wave, the older first generation families found it difficult to give up their homeland language for English. However, pronounced (pun intended) regional, and some sub-regional, dialectical accents, worldview expressions and word choices remain even today within US regions. This does not mean that everybody learned English immediately or at all. Again, some immigrants did settle in cities and were often able to duplicate their ethnic status there.

Americanization of the various European ethnics: Even though they learned English for economic reasons, this language melding did not erase all of their ethnic identities. Illustrations abound and persist even today concerning this fact. A major, a key, fact of the immigrants and the frontier was that language melding did not erase their religious identity from the old country. Of all their ethnic qualities, their religious identity came over from the old country, and came to the fore. As public ethnic language use was stripped from them, they tended to hold on to and underline their religious heritage. For many, their original ethnic language persisted. Many Catholic parishes were established along ethnic language lines. This was not as common among Protestants.

Most of the regional dialectical and worldview differences in the US can be traced to ethnic heritages that persisted. Consider the Cajuns in Louisiana. Also, consider the German dairy communities that existed throughout the nation. For other examples see the DVD package entitled The Appalachians (A PBS video), and the Gente de Razon, a San Antonio, Texas Catholic Missions video on the five missions. This second video was produced by the US Parks and Historical Society.

American frontier history shaped and “melded” only to a degree the European “ta ethne” peoples. Irish Catholics and other ethnic groups persist to this day. Enclaves of them exist in many urban settings. At the same time, due to the frontier and the economic push over a 150-year period, these multiple ethnic groups were melded mainly into an “Anglo Saxon” or Anglo-Saxon-oriented culture, at least in terms of language. It is out of this process that the WASP title arose—White Anglo Saxon Protestant. Do remember that the majority of the melded Americans by the end of the first wave of migration (1924) were Protestants.

A Look At 1775 to 1950—American Indians and Africans in America
American Indians, or more appropriately called Native Americans, who were the only Americans in the 1500s and 1600s, and who existed in many ethnic groupings, are said by various historians to have suffered the most between 1775 and 1924 as the European ethnics came and settled the American frontier from the Atlantic to the Pacific. Included in this would be the Spanish migrations into Latin America which migrated into the Southwest and Western parts of America.

The American Indian from 1600 to 1900
The first, and earliest, change was the overrunning of the American Indians by the European immigrants. This wave pushed them farther inland. Of an estimated 300 plus original languages spoken by American Indians, 175 living languages remain (National Museum of the American Indian, the Smithsonian Institute) Optimum estimates of the pre-Columbian Native American population was 15,000,000 to 18,000,000 (Linguistic Anthropologist R. David Edmonds of UT Dallas)

The American Indian from 1600 to 1900
By 1860 in the continental USA there were official government counts or estimates of 339,421 American Indians (James Collins, Native Americans in the Census, ) By 1880 the American Indian count was 305,543. (Collins) Like all early US Census data, this data was based upon a projected sample. The issue here is the decline from 15,000,000 to 306,543. Few American Indians were evangelized from 1600 to This does not minimize the great work of Brainard and others.

African Americans from 1600 to 1900
In 1619 the first known or recorded African Americans arrived in English colonial America It is historically important to note that the African slaves brought mainly from West Africa, had in West Africa “lived in complex, organized, structured market economies in which they participated as producers, traders, brokers, merchants, and entrepreneurs.” (p. 19; “African Americans” by Juliet E.K. Walber in A Nation of Peoples by Greenwood Press.

African “Imports” from 1620-1870
= 20,500 = 188,600 (18,000 to French La.) = 212,361 (None of these to La.) = 175,290 (10,200 of these to La.) (p. 20, Table 1 of A Nation of Peoples compiled from Philip D. Curtin’s The Atlantic Slave Trade: A Census, Madison Univ. 1969) Just prior to the Civil War, “out of the 8 million whites in the fifteen slave states, only 385,000 owned slaves.” (p. 24, Ibid.) During this period, a majority were evangelized.

The “Great Migration” In The USA
“The period from 1910 to 1920 is known as the Great Migration in African American history. The era marked the beginning of the black urban ghetto, but it was not until 1940 that more than 50 percent of blacks lived in places of more than 2,500 people.” (p. 30, Ibid) “In 1910 there were 10 million blacks, with 90 percent living in the South and 80 percent living in rural areas. Between 1917 and 1920, an estimated 700,000 to 1 million blacks left the South, followed by another 800,000 to 1 million during the 1920s. In addition there was also the immigrations of blacks from the West Indies—most of whom settled in New York or Florida.” (p. 30, Ibid)

The Migration of African Americans within the US
“Nevertheless, more southern blacks migrated to southern cities between 1900 and 1920 than to northern cities. In some southern cities they soon comprised from 25 to 50 percent of the total population, whereas in northern cities they never exceeded 10 percent.” (p. 31, Ibid) In the last half of the 20th Century some African Americans melded into traditional Anglo society, while others continued to live within African American groupings. Increasingly from 1700 to the present, a distinct African American culture has developed in the USA, just as a distinct Hispanic American culture has been developing and escalating in the USA from the mid-1900s to the present. African Americans to the present tend to be religious and tend to maintain a Protestant identity with the majority being affiliated with Methodist and Baptist churches. “

A Look At African Americans by 1980
“There were an estimated 25 million Afro-Americans in the U.S. in the mid-1970s, a figure making them not only the largest ethnic group in America, but second only to Afro-Brazilians in the Western Hemisphere.” (p. 5 of Harvard Encyclopedia of American Ethnic Groups, Stephen Thernstrom, Editor) Voluntary migration has brought a good many others since the 1800s. (p. 5, Ibid) “Not since 1880 have Afro-Americans comprised more than 12 percent of the nation…” (Ibid)

Immigration from 1775 to 1924 “The ‘epic story of the great migrations that made the American people” came to an end substantially with World War I and with the restrictive legislation of the 1920s.” 35,000,000 Europeans had reached these shores: 4,500,000 from Ireland, 4,000,000 from Great Britain, 6,000,000 from central Europe, 2,000,000 from the Scandinavian lands, 5,000,000 from Italy, 8,000,000 from eastern Europe, and 3,000,000 from the Balkans. (This was America.” Much of Will Herberg’s data came from Handlin’s study cited earlier. See Herberg, p. 8.) Note: Roman Catholic numbers and percentages came in the later years.

In Retrospect “Between 1492 and 1965, 82 percent of all the peoples on this planet who came to American shores came from Europe.” (Professor Stephen L. Klineberg. Department of Sociology, Rice University, Houston, Texas (2005) “Under the notorious 1924 ‘National Origins Quota Act,’ immigration was dramatically reduced, and the newcomers were restricted almost exclusively to northern Europeans” (Klineberg of Rice University) In 1965, the ‘Hart-Celler Act’ removed the earlier restrictions, and established preferences based primarily on family reunification and professional skills, and later on refugee status.” (Klineberg)

In Retrospect In the years following 1900, for the first time, immigrants began coming from southern and eastern Europe. Of all the immigrants coming during that post-1900 era, those from southern and eastern Europe were in the majority. Many of these immigrants were Jewish and Catholic, in contrast to the predominantly Protestant groups that settled in the United States prior to 1900.

Section 3: The Religious Situation In The USA from 1775 to 1950

The Religious Change from 1775 to 1950: A Religious Perspective of History
This section looks at the status of Christianity in 1775 and the charted changes within the population in light of what happened within Christianity until 1950.

This Period of Change from 1775 to 1950: A Religious Perspective
It is clear in early immigrant documents that the main migratory people were Protestant and that they migrated to the New World primarily for religious reasons and in search of religious freedom. The percent of Christians, counted from the perspective of recognized church members in the colonies in 1775 was about 12% and a large majority of those were Protestants. Most people in the colonies beyond the 12% would say they were Christians.

The Period of Change from 1775 to 1950: A Religious Perspective
American religious denominations, beginning in 1775 and continuing until 1950, also underwent classic changes which were only minimally caused and marked by theology. In the American religious landscape Protestantism dominated from the 1700s to the 1900s.

The Period of Change from 1775 to 1950: A Religious Perspective
Even though the percent of recognized church members in 1775 in the colonies was about 12%, a majority of the people in the colonies, when asked, would indicate that they came from a Christian, “protestant-oriented” heritage. The Bill of Rights, heavily influenced into existence by Baptists, mainly in Virginia, & events related to the Western frontier, resulted in a marked change in religion in America.

A Look At The Six (6) Leading Church Groups in the Colonies in 1780
Congregational (745 churches) Anglican/Episcopal (405 churches) Presbyterian (490 churches) Lutheran (235 churches) Methodist (Less than 200 churches) Baptist (About 200 churches) Note: Catholics are not included in this comparison for they were a minority until the 1900s.

The Six (6) Leading Church Groups in the USA in 1850
Methodist Baptist Presbyterian Lutheran Congregational Episcopal (See Neil Braun’s Laity Mobilized Master’s Thesis for more discussion of this dynamic within US history.)

The Six (6) Leading Church Groups in the USA in 1950
Baptist was first Methodist Lutheran Presbyterian Episcopal Congregational was last (See Jim Slack’s and Jim Maroney’s IMB study and book of the principles and practices of church planting for documentation sources.)

Discerning The Lay of the Land
In fact, the order of the six leading denominations in 1775 were exactly reversed by 1950. By 1850 Methodists were the largest Protestant denomination in the USA and Baptists were second. By 1950 Baptists were the largest of the original groups and Methodists were second. A count of Southern Baptists alone in 1950 would have shown them close to being largest Protestant denomination.

Discerning “The Lay of the Land”
It is very informative from a historic evangelization and missiological perspective to follow and compare the growth dynamics among the 6 largest Protestant denominations in 1775 with the 6 largest Protestant denominations in 1950. Baptists in 1775, who had not yet divided into two major Baptist groups (Northern and Southern), were the smallest of all seven Protestant denominations. Methodists were next to last. What happened that caused this reversal?

Why Did These Groups Grow & Why Did the Order End Up Reversed?
Congregationalists whose congregational polity was thought to be best fitted for the frontier went though an “Old Lights” and “New Lights” theological controversy followed by a geographic comity agreement with Presbyterians concerning frontier locations. Most of the time of both was consumed by the controversy and neither of them recovered from those choices. Yet, it had been the Congregationalists, named so in the USA, who brought the initial and major political and religious group to the New Land with a clearly stated religious manifesto. And, even as late as 1900, Congregationalists had 1,000 missionaries on foreign fields, only to see them dwindle during the 1900s to a very few.

Anglican churches were identified with the English colonizers and with the causes of the Revolution. Anglicans never overcame that war and colonial image. So, over time, their name changed to The Episcopal Church to attempt to shed that “war” image. Also, few realize that many of the Puritans and those today known as Low Church Anglicans had gone with Wesley, forming the foundations of the Methodist church in both England and in the Colonies/USA. That departure actually took some of the most conservative and evangelistic Anglicans into Methodism in the USA. This hurt the Anglicans.

Presbyterians suffered from the comity agreement between themselves and the Congregationalists. Like the Episcopal churches, even after their name change, their Presbyterian institutional polity, their preference for land and building, and their requirements for a theologically trained, denominationally chosen and installed pastor, kept them behind the edges of the frontier. The institutional and non-lay led denominations lagged an average of 200 miles behind the frontier where more settled communities were like they were used to existed. And, only communities some 200 miles behind the frontier were large enough in population and affluent enough to afford the more formal pastors and their churches. It took established towns to support those more formal and institutional denominations.

Lutherans seem to be the strange anomaly among the six denominations. Lutherans did make it to the frontier, even to the Mississippi river and they did grow. However, it was persecution and lack of a colony base in New England that pushed Lutherans to the Missouri territory and northward into Canada where they settled & grew some distance from persecution. They were the only formal and highly structured and institutional denomination found on the advanced edges of the frontier.

Why Did Groups Grow on the Western Frontier?
Roman Catholics attention to and attitude toward evangelization on the Western frontier can be seen in following ad in 1800s: “We offer you: No salary. No recompense, no holidays, no pensions. But: hard work and a poor dwelling, few consolations, many disappointments, frequent sickness, a violent, lonely death, an unknown grave.” (Source: Exhibit at South Dakota Cultural Center, Pierre, SD provided by John Guillatt of South Dakota Baptist Convention.)

How did Methodists become First in 1850 and Remain Second by 1950?
Methodists had a strategy, a carefully defined and carefully managed geographic circuit-rider plan that fitted them for the frontier. Their plan was the “method” found in the word “Methodist.” That plan, designed by Wesley for England, which was only partially accepted there, was a perfect fit for the US frontier, at least until about 1900.

How did Methodists become First in 1850 and Remain Second in 1950?
A Quote: “When the rigors of circuit riding in the early days, as the Church moved over the country, are brought before the mind and imagination, the question is frequently asked, ‘How did they stand it?’ The answer is: ‘They didn’t.’ They died under it. No group of men ever lived up more fully to the truth, ‘He that looseth his life shall find it.’ (pp , Halford E. Luccock, Endless Line of Splendor. The Advance for Christ and His Church of The Methodist Church publisher, Chicago, Illinois, 1950)

A Quote: “They died, most of them, before their careers were much more than begun.” Of the 650 preachers who had joined the Methodist itinerancy by the opening of the 19th century, about 500 had to ‘locate,’ a term that was used for those too worn-out to travel further. Many of the rest had to take periods for recuperation. Others located not because of health, but by reason of lack of support and the desire to marry and establish a home.” (Luccock)

Of the first 737 circuit riders of the Conferences to die—that is, all who died up to 1847 203 were between 25 and 35 years of age 121 between 35 and 45. Nearly half died before they were 30 years old. Of 672 of those first preachers whose records fully exist, two-thirds died before they had been able to render 12 years of service. Just one less than 200 died within the first five years. (Luccock)

How did Methodists become First in 1850 and Remain Second by 1950?
A Quote: “Many circuits were from 300 to 600 miles in length…For instance, in 1791, Freeborn Garrettson was assigned to a circuit which included almost half of what is now the state of New York…In 1814 James B. Finley, on the Cross Creek Circuit, Ohio, had a circuit covering more than two counties, and preached 32 times on every round. The salary schedule has an eloquence of its own. Cash was almost unknown. In 1821 Benjamin T. Crouch records receiving only $38 toward his year’s allowance. The same year Peter Cartwright received the highest salary in the Kentucky Conference--$238. But when he moved, with his wife and six children, to the Sangamon Circuit, Illinois, he received $40, all told, for the year.” (pp , Luccock)

How did Baptists become Second in 1850 and Grow to First by 1950?
“Methodism grew fast until after 1850, but Baptist growth from 1800 to 1960 is unparalleled. From a little over 100,000 in 1800, Baptists were approaching 20 million by 1960.” (Gaustad: 1962 as quoted by Neil Braun) The basic reason is that Baptist theology and polity fitted them better for the frontier than any other denomination of churches.

Growth Characteristics of Baptists
Each local church was autonomous Churches were congregational in polity Lay, often uneducated, Baptist church members going west were encouraged to plant a church at sites where they settled if no Baptist church existed there Churches that did emerge met in homes, saloons, hardware stores, barns, stables, school rooms, under trees, etc.

Local churches found their pastor within the maturing believers in their emerging new church body Local churches recognized and ordained their own pastors Often the settler who started a new church ended up being “called” by the emerging new church to be their pastor. Many laymen became pastors that way. Laymen who did become pastors tended to itinerate, pastoring 2-4 churches

As churches were planted, laymen within those churches with a burden for the lost tended to emerge who preached in the outlying areas wherever a group of people lived Consequently, lay evangelists were common in Baptist churches and this trend persisted well into the early to mid-1900s As frontier towns settled in and grew, a few churches sought pastors from more settled frontier towns to the east

By the mid to late 1800s, requests for training arose among frontier pastors who settled in for a longer tenure in the more settled, “behind” the frontier’s leading edge, towns As pastors saw their churches increase in membership size and stability, and as they faced more complex pastoral duties, they called for training assistance This led to Baptist schools being started from the Atlantic to the Mississippi River. This is why and how the many Baptist colleges and SBC seminaries started. These were on-demand schools. Local churches started them and paid for them. Subsidy was an unknown habit on the frontier for over 100 hundred years. Subsidy was less among Baptists than among Methodists and Methodist subsidy, as seen earlier, was very meager when it was provided.

The Most Common Growth Reasons
Sweet, Herberg, Latourette, Braun and multiple other social and religious historians said that the three most common growth factors were: 1) the starting of churches in homes where land and building for a church was not a condition for having and being a church; 2) lay preachers and pastors, most of whom were bi-vocational; and 3) a congregational polity that allowed local churches to start and function autonomously without approval from a leadership hierarchy.

The Lay of the Land Discerned
Over time, for sure by the early 1900s, as new church starts and membership growth continued to occur, as religious status became the leading characteristic of an American, the Bible Belt had formed across the southern USA. The American culture was developing a stronger Christian ethic, with Christian values as its base. This base was “in practice” for some, and only in the “awareness” or “conscience, ought-to stage” for others. It is out of this base that the terms “WASP” (“White Anglo-Saxon Protestant”) and “Judeo-Christian” emerged in the mid-1900s. (Comments cited from Herberg, Handlin and others) Even then, the typical American by the 1900s favored and spoke of America as a moral Christian society.

The Major Concern of the Immigrants by the 1900s
“Their big concern was the preservation of their way of life; above all, the transplanting of their churches.” (pp , Herberg.) In his footnotes Herberg quotes Marcus L. Hansen’s research in The Problem of the Third Generation Immigrant (Augustana Historical Society, Rock Island, Ill., 1938, p. 15 who said: “The church was the first, the most important, and the most significant institution that the immigrants established.” Their churches went to the frontier with them. Those churches that fit the frontier and that were comfortable on the frontier won the frontier.

By 1950, Who Was an American? By the early 1900s being an “American” came out of a degree of melding of three generations of ethnic groups into being “Americans”--Anglos Herberg’s research discovered that by the 1930s, A ‘Triple Melting Pot’ situation in the US had developed as the norm. Ethnic migration saw their language and some of their culture receed somewhat to the background. English had become a practical acquisition of most ethnics, but their religion persisted to become the ethnics major identity.

By 1950, Who Was an American? The singular most identifying characteristic among most ethnics who migrated to the USA from 1775 to 1924 was their religious status. As their language became mostly English and as they gave up some of their cultural identity, the sum of their status as “Americans” settled into one of three acceptable identifying religious markers—Protestant, Catholic or Jew. (Herberg) So, by the 1950s in the USA the identification of an American was according to one of these three categories—Protestant, Catholic or Jew. To not be one of these three categories was not to be an American.

Their works are seen as classic writings today.
Section 4: A Look At Culture and Religion in the USA:1945 to 1960 The “Golden Age of Christianity” in USA Again, the three primary researchers and authors of this era concerning American immigration were Herberg, Handlin & Hansen. Their works are seen as classic writings today. They cited this period as the span of years when Christianity was at its highest peak from 1775 to 1950.

By 1950, Who Was an American? In review of what went before, the singular most identifying characteristic among most ethnics who migrated to the USA from 1775 to 1924 was their religious status. As their language became mostly English and as they gave up some of their cultural identity, the sum of their status as “Americans” settled into three acceptable identifying religious markers—Protestant, Catholic or Jew. So, by the 1950s in the USA the identification of an American was according to one of these three categories—Protestant, Catholic or Jew.

The USA Religious Scene in 1950
In 1775 church members were from 10 to 12% of the US population By 1910 church members had grown to 43% By 1960 church members had grown to 60% (pp.33-34, Herberg) Beyond the category of “church members” at least 75-80% of all Americans said they were adherents of Christianity By the 1950s denominationalism had developed, was clearly established, active and very strong in term of loyalties and influence in America Evidences of denominational solidarity follow:

The USA Religious Scene in 1950: A Consideration of Conversions
“Conversions from one community (denomination or category) to the other take place, but they seem to be very small and do not appreciably affect the over-all picture.” (Herberg, p. 160) (Herberg quotes the Yearbook of American Churches, edition for 1960, pp for his data. In the research Herberg quotes 140,414 as the Catholics’ record of conversions to Catholicism from Protestantism. He used The 1959 National Catholic Almanac, p. 407 for this information. This data is for the year For a more in-depth study, see Thomas J.M. Burke’s “Did Four Million Catholics Become Protestants?, America, April 10, 1954.

Religion in USA in the 1950s: A Consideration of Conversions
Burke’s article, a survey by the American Institute of Public Opinion (a Gallup poll) in 1955 indicated that of an adult population of 96,000,000, only about 4 per cent no longer belonged to the religious community of their birth; of these: 1,400,000 were Protestants who had originally been Catholics, and 1,400,000 were Catholics who had originally been Protestants, and about 1,000,000 had made changes of some other kind. See also John A. O’Brien, You Too Can Win Souls (Macmillan, 1955).” (Cited in Herberg’s footnotes on pages )

Religion in America from 1945-1960
Even beneath the surface of the American “melting pot” one could still see the persistence of ethnic identities when studying marriage and church affiliations. On the surface citizens in the USA were Americans, known as Anglo-Saxons, but beneath the surface their ethne had not been totally erased. Notice the following data.

A Study of Marriage Patterns from 1870 to 1940
“In the early 1940s, Ruby Jo Kennedy undertook an investigation of intermarriage trends in New Haven from 1870 to She published her findings in the American Journal of Sociology for January 1944 under the significant title, ‘Single or Triple Melting Pot?’…The years 1870, 1900, 1930, and 1940 were isolated for detailed examination…’The large nationality groups in New Haven,’ Mrs. Kennedy found, ‘represent a triple division on religious grounds: Jewish, Protestant (British-American, German, and Scandinavian), and Catholic (Irish, Italian, and Polish)…’ In its early immigrant days, each of these ethnic groups tended to be endogamous; with the years, however, people began to marry outside the group. (Herberg’s quote of Kennedy data on page 33)

Kennedy found: Irish in-marriage was per cent in 1870; per cent in 1900, per cent in 1930, and per cent in 1940; German in-marriage was per cent in 1870, per cent in 1900, per cent in 1930, and per cent in 1940; for the Italians and the Poles, the comparable figures were per cent and 100 per cent respectively in 1900, and per cent in 1930, and per cent and per cent in But, ‘while strict ethnic endogamy is loosening, religious endogamy is persisting…” (Herberg’s quote of Kennedy data on page 33)

The USA Religious Scene in 1950: A Consideration of Inter-Marriage
By the 1950s, religion not only divided into the three ‘pools’; but those in each religious category tended to marry only within their pool. Hollingshead found in a study that: 97.1% of Jewish pool married only Jewish spouses 93.8% of Catholics married only Catholic spouses 74.4% of Protestants married only Protestant spouses (pp.33-34, Herberg. He is quoting the study of Hollingshead.)

“Members of Catholic stocks married Catholics in per cent of the cases in 1870, per cent in 1900, per cent in 1930, and in 1940; members of Protestant stocks married Protestants in per cent of the cases in 1870, per cent in 1900, per cent in 1930, and per cent in 1940; Jews married Jews in 100 per cent of the cases in 1870, per cent in 1900, per cent in 1930, and per cent in ‘Future cleavages,’ in Mrs. Kennedy’s opinion, ‘will therefore be along religious lines rather than along nationality lines as in the past….Cultural [i.e. ethnic] lines may fade, but religious barriers are holding fast….When marriage crosses religious barriers, as it often does, religion still plays a prominent role, especially among Catholics,’ in that such marriages are often conditioned upon, and result in, one of the partners being brought into the religious community of the other.’” (pp , Herberg)

“The traditional ‘single melting pot’ idea must now be abandoned, and a new conception, which we term the ‘triple melting pot’ theory of American assimilation, will take its place, as the true expression of what is happening to the various nationality groups in the United States….The ‘triple melting pot’ type of assimilation is occurring through intermarriage, with Catholicism, Protestantism, and Judaism serving as the three fundamental bulwarks…The different nationalities are merging, but within three religious compartments rather than indiscriminately…A triple religious cleavage, rather than a multilinear nationality cleavage, therefore seems likely to characterize American society in the future.’” (pp , Herberg)

The Breadth and Depth (Evidences) of these Religious Characteristics
By 1950, one’s personal identity, political qualification, social status, marriage, and a few other functional American characteristics were primarily determined by their identify with one of the three religions that was most appropriate for ethnic background and geographic location in the USA. (See Will Herberg’s Protestant-Catholic-Jew.) At the beginning of this era Franklin Roosevelt regularly and publically expressed his religious beliefs and prayers.

The Consequences of this Religious Environment
It was beginning to be true in the late 1930s, increased as being true in the 1940s, throughout the 1950s and into the early1960s that, to be elected to a significant state and national office in the USA, the candidate had to represent, or make the public think they represented, Judeo-Christian values or he or she would seldom ever be elected to a significant political office. This was especially true in the Bible Belt of the USA. And, except in pervasively Catholic areas, it was difficult for a Roman Catholic to be elected to a national office. Religious credentials were important for business leaders, salesmen and community leaders.

Pastors, Rabbis and Priests were at the top of the list of the most respected persons in American life. Those Judeo-Christian values that can be seen in the background of the US Constitution, had emerged as the broad American ideal by the mid-1800s and were commonly taught and nourished in the US public schools from the 1800s to the early 1970s. Prayers were said in the schools, prior to the beginning of any sports events, Ten Commandments posted in public places, and prayers to God for blessings habitually offered by politicians. It was the 1960s before the USA elected a Catholic as president for fear that a Catholic president would allow the Pope in Rome to influence American political decisions in ways unfavorable to Protestants and Protestant values. Also, until Reagan, no divorcee had ever been elected as President of the USA.

Southern Baptists, by 1950, not only emerged as the largest and most influential Protestant denomination in the USA, they existed predominantly in the “Bible Belt.” Methodists and Southern Baptists were the major denominations that produced the “Bible Belt” with Presbyterians following some distance behind them. The people who produced the Methodist and Baptist denominations and the Bible Belt were migrant peoples, mostly from Europe, mostly northern Europe. Most of these had fled Europe looking for religious freedom, while the others came to the colonies looking for decent work, land, a say in political matters, a vote and a better lifestyle which spelled “freedom.”

Evidence in 1950s of “Golden Age”
“No one who attempts to see the contemporary religious situation in the United States in perspective can fail to be struck by the extraordinary pervasiveness of religious identification among present-day Americans. Almost everybody in the United States today (1953) locates himself in one or another of the three great religious communities. Asked to identify themselves in terms of religious ‘preference,’ 95 per cent of the American people, according to a recent public opinion survey, declared themselves to be either Protestants, Catholics, or Jews (68 percent Protestants, 23 per cent Catholics, 4 per cent Jews); only 5 per cent admitted to no ‘preference.’” (p. 46, Herberg. Herberg gained this data from the Catholic Digest, January The survey was conducted by Ben Gaffin and Associates. Only adults over 18 are considered.)

Evidence in 1950s of “Golden Age”
“Much the same may be said about the high and growing repute of religion in the American public mind. ‘Religion is given continued public and political approval…’Godless’ is a powerful epithet…At least nominal public acceptance of religion tends to be a prerequisite to political success (Herberg quotes Williams’ American Society, pp. 326, 336.)….It was not always so; there was a time when an atheist or agnostic like Robert C. Ingersoll, who went around the country defying God and making anti-religious speeches, could nevertheless occupy a respected and influential position in American politics. Today that would be quite inconceivable, a professed ‘unbeliever’ would be anathema to either of the big parties and would have no chance whatever in political life.” (p. 51, Herberg) Congressional Religious Affiliations-1957 “The contrast between the days of Ingersoll and our day, when every candidate for public office is virtually required to testify to his high esteem for religion, measures the position that religion as a ‘value’ or institution, has acquired in the American public mind. Of the 528 members of the two houses of the 85th Congress, only 4 gave no religious affiliation; 416 registered as Protestants, 95 as Roman Catholics, 12 as Jews, and one as a Sikh.” (p. 52, Herberg. Herberg quotes the Report of the Legislative Reference Service of the Library of Congress, released April 6, 1957.)

Evidence in1950s of “Golden Age”
“The figures for church membership tell the same story but in greater detail. Religious statistics in this country are notoriously inaccurate, but the trend is so well marked that it overrides all margins of error. In the quarter of a century between 1926 and 1950 the population of continental United States increased 28.6 per cent, membership of religious bodies increased 59.8 per cent; in other words, church membership grew more than twice as fast as population. Protestants increased 63.7 per cent, Catholics 53.9 per cent, Jews 22.5 per cent. Among Protestants, however, the increase varied considerably as between denominations; Baptist increase was well over 100 per cent, some ‘holiness’ sects grew even more rapidly, while the figure for the Episcopal Church was only 36.7 per cent, for the Methodist Church 32.2 per cent, for the Northern Presbyterians 22.4 per cent, and for the Congregationalists 21.1 per cent. (p. 47, Herberg. Herberg found in Information Service, March 8, 1952 that “The trend continues. In the thirty-two years between 1926 and 1957, the population of continental United States increased about 45 per cent while the membership of religious bodies increased nearly 92 per cent, more than twice as fast. (Yearbook of American Churches, edition for 1959, p. 294.) “In 1950 total church membership was reckoned at 85,319,000, or about 57 per cent of the total population. In 1958 it was 109,557,741, or about 63 per cent, marking an all-time high in the nation’s history. (p. 47, Herberg. Data taken from Yearbook of American Churches, edition for 1960, pp. 258, 279.)

Southern Baptist evangelism and church planting methods, or approaches, tended to develop in the midst of this highly religious identification and historical period. It was upon this base of Judeo-Christian values that the post-World War II years, especially the1950s, rested. Those Judeo-Christian values were assumed to exist by an overwhelming majority of the citizens in the USA. These Judeo-Christian values permeated the justice and legal system of the USA and were assumed to be the best rules to live and do business by in the USA. (See Herberg’s book Protestant, Catholic, and Jew for multiple quotes documenting this.)

Consequently, Southern Baptists, and other evangelical denominations, and Para-church agencies such as Post-WWII Navigators, Campus Crusades, Inter-Varsity, and others, understood and established themselves and their Christian groups upon these assumptions and aspirations of typical Americans in the USA during this era. This was the situation just prior to the next stage of immigration and history in the USA.

A study of Christian materials, and especially witnessing presentations, in the period between 1945 and 1965 reveals the assumption that an American had enough background knowledge and beliefs about God and Christianity such that those basics would not have to be covered during witnessing sessions. It was also assumed that an American accepted the Bible as authoritative and that it was to be respected.

Looking Back on this Period from 1945 to 1960
We now look back on the period from 1945 to 1960 as the most formative and significant religious ingathering period in American history. This does not minimize the affects and the magnitude of the Great Awakenings in the 1700s, or the Great Prayer Revival in However, the growth of religious denominations, agencies and institutions within this period speaks for itself. Southern Baptists grew by 100% in this period. (Herberg)

Looking Back on SBC Growth from 1950 to 1960
Southern Baptist Convention Stats in 1950 (The Largest Protestant Denomination) 27,788 churches 7,079,889 members (255 Avg. Mbs. Church) 376,085 baptisms for year (13.5 A. Bap. Ch.) 5,024,553 Sunday School (70.9% of mbs.) $197,242,154 Total of Receipts in the Churches

Looking Back on SBC Growth from 1950 to 1960
Southern Baptist Convention Stats in 1960 (The Largest Protestant Denomination) 32,281 churches 9,731,591 members (302 Avg. Mbs. Church) 386,409 baptisms for year (11.9 A. Bap. Ch.) 7,382,550 Sunday School (75.8% of mbs.) $480,608,972 Total of Receipts in Churches

A Troubling Reality of the Most Homogeneous and Religious Era
Herberg’s Quote: “This is at least part of the picture presented by religion in contemporary America. Christians flocking to church, yet forgetting all about Christ when it comes to naming the most significant events in history; men and women valuing the Bible as revelation, purchasing and distributing it by the millions, yet apparently seldom reading it themselves. Every aspect of contemporary religious life reflects this paradox—pervasive secularism amid mounting religiosity, ‘the strengthening of the religious structure in spite of increasing secularism…America seems to be at once the most religious and the most secular of nations… can there be much doubt that, by and large, the religion which actually prevails among Americans today has lost much of its authentic Christian (or Jewish) content.” (p. 2-3, Herberg)

A Troubling Reality of the Most Homogeneous and Religious Era
Dr. Leonard Sanderson, Evangelism Secretary of the Louisiana Baptist Convention, a prolific writer and respected speaker within the SBC sounded the same note of concern as Herberg, Hamlin and others. He often said that, based upon lifestyles, he doubted that half of the members in Southern Baptist churches were really converted Christians. He spoke of finding a lot of cultural Christianity in SBC churches.

Major Missiological Issues to Notice
As the American population became year by year more homogeneously Anglo and as most of the American population had come to see itself as either Protestant, Catholic or Jew, a number of things occurred: Americans were more religiously oriented and thus more open to entertain religious discussion Programs and methods tended to work across minor cultural boundaries and barriers

Many kinds of denominational and para-church agencies were developed All kinds of witnessing programs developed during this period. This was the era of the development of the “Four Spiritual Laws.” Most Protestants were evangelistic “The Bible says” was a very respected and authoritative statement in public and private settings.

Programs, methods, approaches, whatever one wants to call them, became more and more generic. They were copied and used successfully in many different regions and locations in the US. This was especially the case with Southern Baptists who were mainly in the Bible Belt; Consequently Southern Baptists came to believe that “one size, meaning one model, fits all.” And to a great degree then, especially in the Bible Belt, one size did work quite well in many places among many people, because of homogeneous values that existed in America at that time;

In those cases in the 1950s when Baptists “hit the road” and took their evangelism teams to the Northeast, to the Midwest and to the Northwest, they tended to attract primarily transplanted Southerners who had a firm Christian base with strong Judeo-Christian values. In the 1950s, when Baptists went out of the Protestant Bible Belt and into Catholic territories they met the “we don’t swap religions” ethnic identity that was characteristic of America and Americans of that era. Protestants and Baptists grew better among unchurched & relatives than among Catholics & Jews.

Those transplanted churches beyond the Bible Belt with mostly southern members were soon sealed off from the locals. For, when the few locals who did come to see what church was all about, they saw “foreign folks,” heard sermons that assumed evangelical, Christian values & assumptions with southern Bible Belt terms. Most locals did not stay and join those non-local, southern churches, for a significant number did not hold the southern worldview values. Fifty years later, most of those churches are as they were then, or smaller.

Section 5: A Look At Immigrants (ta ethne) in the USA from 1960-2006
A note concerning this section: An in-depth coverage of this section will not be included in this PowerPoint. A more detailed coverage of this period is in an available document—Frontiers of Lostness. Contact this author or the Church Planting Group of NAMB for a copy.

The Period of American History: 1960-Present
By this time in American history Immigrant Chains were becoming a major trait of the ethnic status in the USA. “Immigrant Chains form when members of one immigrant family settle in America, and then convince family members and friends to join them. The established immigrants help the new immigrants find homes and work in the same area. Immigrant chains have influenced settlement patterns all over the country, helping to create large communities of Cubans in Miami, Dominicans in New York, and Chinese in San Francisco, among others.” (The Newest Americans, Edited. Greenwood Press; Page 9.)

The most homogeneous era and the most religious period in US history from soon: eroded into the most secular period of history in the US that rivals the period of the 1700s; began experiencing an ethnic immigration of different ethnic peoples in numbers that soon eclipsed those from 1775 to 1924; changed into an increasingly anti-Christian era that attempted to severely limit, if not remove, Christian witness and evidences from public places;

Contradicted, or reversed the flow of, the legal and ethical characteristics of the period from 1945 to 1965; (A major evidence of the anti-Christian and legal change is a “separation of church and state” interpretation that never existed in US history and that is totally out of character with the views and intentions of the founding fathers); saw the “God is Dead” movement in England in the 1960s come to the USA and escalate into Post-Modernism like England’s, especially in academia; witnessed major incursions in American culture by Transcendental Meditation religion/philosophy

saw Post-Modernism come from Europe to Canada and into the USA began experiencing a type of ethnic immigration that, with the possible exception of the ethnics coming from Latin America, is coming from very different linguistic, worldview and world religion sources; such that: Generic is no longer a characteristic in USA, even among Anglos. Pluralism exists within “ethnes” and even in denominations and churches in this era.

The most homogeneous era in US history and the most religious period in US history: was faced with a large percentage of ethnics from many different ethnic groups who want to keep not only their religion as did those of the 1800s, but who in addition want to keep their own language and their own culture as well; was without a geographic frontier that caused them to meld in with the Anglo population which is now dwindling to become a minority group;

The most homogeneous era in US history and the most religious period in US history soon: experienced immigrant ethnics who want the American dream but who do not want to assimilate into American culture to the point of giving up language, culture and religion; yet, who want all of the rights of any traditional American citizen; and who soon met Christians who do not see them as, or relate to them as, Jesus’ “panta ta ethne.”

A Summary of Immigration into US from 1820 to 2000 A.D.
From 1820 through 1924 = 35,999,402 From 1925 through 1960 = 5,841,559 From 1961 through 2000 = 24,248,470 From 1820 through 2003 = 69,869,450 In 2000 A.D. the projection prior to the Census was 26,800,000 foreign-born persons in the US in July of 2000 Actual foreign-born enumerated in 2000 Census was 31,100,000 persons

The Status of Immigrants in US from 1960 to the Present
Immigrants tend to come according to home country encouragement or conflicts Immigrants tend to come as a result of family members in the USA asking for their entry Immigrants tend to go to, settle among and work within the geographic settings and family contacts of family who petitioned for or facilitated their entry A sizable segment of immigrants are recruited by representatives of employers in USA There is a huge illegal immigrant flow into the USA that is facilitated by multiple sources

The Status of Immigrants in US from 1960 to the Present
Immigrants coming into the USA today tend not to meld, to assimilate, into the traditional American culture, more specifically, into the Anglo-oriented culture of the USA This is especially so of various cultures, with Muslims being a major example An overwhelming majority of immigrants today tend to maintain their religion which has been true of immigrants since 1775

Consequences of Immigrants in US from 1960 to the Present
A significant implication of Immigrants’ tendency to settle among their relatives, means that their ethnolinguistic people group language, culture and religion is being perpetuated within their own local ethnic enclaves throughout the USA This means that as these ethnic people groups gain size in terms of local population and spread geographically, they soon develop to own the social, educational, economic and political sectors of their local setting in the US At this point in time (2006 A.D.) large amounts of land in many US states is owned by foreigners

The US landscape will become more and more pluralistic as immigration increases Birthrates among immigrants averages from 2:1 to 3:1 of that of the US Anglo population. This is the major factor in the Islamatization of Europe. The increase in ethnic pluralism, ethnic population and thus ethnic domination will become a normal reality in more and more geo-political settings in the USA Since the majority of immigrants no longer come from Christian backgrounds, Christianity will also tend to diminish as a percent of the population

English will functionally face other competitors, especially in local ethnic communities where other languages dominate The issue of worldview will loom larger and larger in more and more settings in the USA Local ethnic Radio and TV stations and programs will likely proliferate within the USA Marketing will become more pluralistic in catering to multiple ethnic groups in order to engage and sell to the increasing pluralistic market setting in USA “Niche marketing” already exists in USA

Foreign marketers will increase to join and compete with already present and powerful foreign businesses such as Toyota, Samsung, British Petroleum, Shell, and many others. Language use in the USA will become more varied and will increase within specific languages yearly, if not more often. Evangelicals focus evangelistically mainly on Anglos with only a minor focus on ethnics.

However, at present, evangelical methods of engagement and evangelization are mostly replicas and renditions of methods used in the 1950s when religion was commonly in vogue, based upon Biblical values, and given attention and a hearing by most citizens. Today, none of those assumptions exist in a pluralistic America. The definition of an American becomes more difficult and pluralistic every day.

“Although immigrants can live anywhere in the United States, nearly two-thirds of them settle in just six states. California, New York, Florida, Texas, New Jersey, and Illinois count more immigrants among their population than all other stated combined. California alone is the destination of one-fourth of the nations immigrants.” (The Newest Americans, p. 17.)

“Because finding work and living near others who share their experience is so important, nearly all new immigrants (93 percent) live in urban areas. The most popular U.S. destinations in 2000 were New York City, Los Angeles, Miami, Chicago, and Washington, D.C.” (The Newest Americans, p. 17)

Immigrant Admissions in 2000 Types and Reasons of Immigration
Immediate Relative of U.S. Citizen = 41% Family Preference = 28% Employment Preference = 13% Refugee/asylee adjustment = 8% Diversity Program = 6% Other = 4% Source: The Newest Americans, p. 11 & Immigration and Naturalization Service

Illegal Immigrants into the USA
“In addition to the nearly 1 million legal immigrants who arrive in the United States each year, hundreds of thousands of people enter the country without permission…The Immigrant and Naturalization Service (INS) estimates the number at close to 300,000 a year.” (The Newest Americans, p. 13.)

The Most Sobering Reality
The setting in America today better fits the Great Commission’s “panta ta ethne” mandate of Christ than any other era in American history. It seems that God has brought the “uttermost” to our individual “Jerusalems.” Never in the history of America has ethnic, heart language, worldview sensitive been so appropriate and required than today.

Concluding Slide of “A Look At The Historical Periods of Immigration into the USA from 1775-2006”

Projections of Legal Immigration into USA
2000 = ,000 (Medium Assumption) 2005 = ,000 (Medium Assumption) 2010 = ,000 (Medium Assumption) 2030 = 1,100,000 (Medium Assumption) Notes: There are legal quotas by country that set restrictions on immigration into the USA There are no limits upon family members petitioning for others in their family to immigrate into the USA There are no limits upon the number of persons who can come into the USA through their seeking and being granted political asylum Projections of Net Migration to the United States. (June 2006 Publication) A CBO Paper as one in a continuation of A Series on Immigration. The Congress of the United States: Congressional Budget Office. David A. Brauer was final compiler. Projections are computed according to low, medium & high assumptions. In such research, the Medium Assumption is the norm within the research.

Prepared by: Dr. James Slack
Ethnographer, Missiologist, Growth Analyst and Field Assessments Consultant of SBC’s IMB Global Research Department of OOO January 16, 2006 Edition: Previous Edition This Edition 22 October 2007

Section 6 Is an Extension of the Previous Part One Document
Section 6: Part Two Implications for Engaging and Evangelizing the Lost and Ethnics in the USA in this Millennium Section 6 Is an Extension of the Previous Part One Document This section was prepared at the request of NAMB’s Church Planting Division for presentation in 2007

Thirteen (13) Realities that Face America & Christians Today
Immigration has been the most consistent, persistent and influential shaping force and agent of change in American (Canadian, US and Latin American) history Immigrants into the USA from 1700s to the 1920s melded and adapted to frontier and economic situations on the frontier that caused most immigrants to assimilate enough to develop a new American culture-Anglo

Given that an overwhelming majority of the immigrants from 1775 to 1900s were from Europe, their assimilation into American society created a strong and influential Anglo culture, incorrectly labeled as WASP—White Anglo-Saxon Protestant. In the process, a new ethnolinguistic people group was born. However, seeing that the new immigrants of the 1890s and early 1900s were not northern Europeans & Protestants, immigration rules were passed. The main one was in 1924.

The minority population of European Protestant Christian immigrants in the 1700s who brought the desire and the seeds for religious freedom and Judeo-Christian constitutional values to the USA was nourished by successive and successful church planting by Methodists and Baptists and aided by a number of Great Awakenings and evangelical revivals up to and through the 1950s.

Methodists and Baptists successfully and increasingly “carried the day spiritually,” first on the American frontier, and afterwards in industrializing America. A Protestant Anglo culture emerged in the 20th Century in the USA as the main influence and “conscience” of the USA. However, by the mid-1960s a new era of heightened immigration from non-Protestant and non-Christian ethnic settings arose.

Thirteen (13) Realities that Face America & Christians in America Now
Beginning in the late 1960s and early 1970s more and more non-Christian background ethnic groups migrated to the USA whose assimilation was minimal and thus far less thorough than the dominant Anglo American ethnic culture desired. The new ethnic groups coming to America want a “piece and place within the American dream and experience” with affirmation to perpetuate their own culture, language and religion in the USA.

As a result, secularism (in the form of New Age and Post-Modernism) and other world religions (with Islam looming as a major one) have emerged to change the face of America. To this date, Christianity has continued to hope for a return of the Golden Years of the 1950s when Anglos, Protestants, and thus Christianity will again undergird the foundational ethical values and lifestyle that will be the glue to hold the nation together.

In reality, by 2000 A.D. in the USA, Protestantism and Christianity are on the decline with Evangelicals showing some signs of continued numerical growth. At the same time, all forms of Christianity are falling behind the population, secularization and ethnic presence curves that are washing over the nation.

Anglo Christians, their churches and their structures (such as denominations) are reaching back into the Golden Era to recapture, clean-up and reformat methods that were applicable and successful then. However, that Golden Era is gone and those methods used in that era are inappropriate and irrelevant within the current non-Christian, secular (mostly Post-Modern) and increasingly varied ethnic migrant population.

Prepared by: Dr. James Slack
Ethnographer, Missiologist, Growth Analyst and Field Assessments Consultant of SBC’s IMB Global Research Department of OOO November 30, 2006 Edition (11:30 A.M.) Updated and Revised December 2007 Updated Edition for Kentucky DOM Session May 2008

A Review of American History to Understand America’s Current Cultural Status and The Implications for Evangelization (Part 1) Original Edition Prepared.

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A Review of American History to Understand America’s Current Cultural Status and The Implications for Evangelization (Part 1) Original Edition Prepared.

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Presentation on theme: "A Review of American History to Understand America’s Current Cultural Status and The Implications for Evangelization (Part 1) Original Edition Prepared."— Presentation transcript:

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