For my grad school class this semester we are charged with doing a research project on a movement, person, or group of people in church history. I have been formulating a hypothesis which I think could be quite interesting.
Part 1
What is the causal relationship between the “Burned Over District” of the northeast after the 1st & 2nd Great Awakenings and the birthing of many Christian cults? (Same timeframe, same area. Christian Science and Mormonism especially.)
Part 2
If there is a correlation between those, what can present church leadership glean from that experience to prevent the same from happening in the present.
Where I want it to go
As I think of this project, I think there is a strong tie between the “burned over district” and the weird happenings in the Northeast in the mid-late 19th century. If my understanding is true, the people in this area were so confused by all the revivalists that they weren’t sure what to believe. The result was that the people were confused and mislead.
I feel the same way today with relation to the Model-based ministry that is so “important” to church leaders. I feel models are not as important as the current popular church leadership says they are. (Just get in a room with a group of pastors and you’ll be sickened by their chatter of models… What about Jesus?) My fear is that all of these church growth models are frustrating and confusing people today. As a result of this frustration good people are choosing to not fellowship with local churches anymore. This leaves the door wide open for a new religious movement. It is this thought that I’d like to explore.
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