For Good-ness Sake: A Progressive Christian Call

by

Perspectives

Special to United Methodist Insight | Jan. 15, 2026

Christianity in America is indeed at a “turning point”. 

Right-wing Christianity got its martyr not long ago, when Charlie Kirk was assassinated.  His organization got a huge infusion of cash in the aftermath.  His followers claim that his death has resulted in a surge of young people turning to evangelical Christianity, although there’s little evidence of a substantial “revival”.

Renee Good had no intention of becoming a progressive Christian martyr.  A compassionate wife, mother, and citizen, she showed up to protest an ICE raid, putting her faith into action.  She had no motive to harm anyone, but was killed in what appears to be a murder by an ICE agent. 

Will we cede Christianity to those who have twisted the teaching and example of the Christ into support for the harsh authoritarianism on display in Minneapolis?  Or will we lift up and energize a compassionate, inclusive expression of Christianity?  If we want Renee Good’s understanding of the faith to prevail, progressives must work together as never before to get the support that we need.

“…God is love.”  1 John 4:8.  This passage, near the end of the New Testament, is a three-word expression of Christian faith and practice.  Looking at the state of Christianity in America today, it begs the question:  how did our faith get hijacked by the backward dogma and cruel politics of the Fundamentalist-Industrial Complex?

It’s a longer story that can be summed up with another three words:  “Follow the money.”

Focus on the Family, the hub of fundamentalist, right-wing Christian resources for families with kids, runs on a $135,000,000 annual budget.  ProgressiveChristianity.org, the global online hub of our movement, runs on an annual budget of about $250,000 (donate HERE).  InterVarsity Christian Fellowship, just one of several national networks of evangelical ministries on college campuses, runs on a budget of about $123,000,000.  ZOEoncampus.com, its progressive counterpart, runs on a budget of about $60,000 (donate HERE).

Right-wing political donors, many lacking any felt bond with Jesus, have made enormous investments in evangelical Christian organizations over many decades.  They know that fundamentalism funnels people into their cultural and electoral universe. When most Americans, whether or not they are Christian, hear or see the word “Christian”, they assume it refers to a socially and politically conservative religion.  Billions of dollars were spent to achieve this success at “branding” the faith.

Obviously, the donor class on the left has not done the same for the organizations that promote “God is love” Christianity.  Too many progressive donors are religion-averse, unaware of the importance of shifting the critical Christian constituency in a different direction.

Plenty of money still flows through the mainline Protestant denominations, weakened as they are.  Historically, these denominations were “big tents” covering a wide spectrum of theological and social/political orientations.  But there has been an accelerating exodus of conservatives from these denominations in recent years, reducing their membership and their budgets accordingly.  Meanwhile, denominational identity has become less and less meaningful to the wider public.  As a result, the Presbyterian USA, the Evangelical Lutheran, the Episcopal, the United Church of Christ, the American Baptist, and the United Methodist denominations are more alike than ever, having become overwhelmingly progressive.  The national progressive Christian movement could benefit greatly from consolidation of their functions across denominational lines.  But as they decline, they are mostly focused on organizational self-preservation.  As their congregations dry up and die, the denominations are getting a huge infusion of money from the sale of stranded buildings and grounds.  A lot of this money is spent on keeping their denominational staff and structures intact, even as they serve fewer and fewer people.

For the sake of the larger cause of progressive Christianity, the mainline denominations must concentrate their resources on projects that cross denominational boundaries. 

There are plenty of plucky progressive Christian activist organizations and churches doing impactful, creative work: I’ve only named a few here.  We’ve been able to do a lot with a little.  With much greater resources, we could do vastly more to re-define the faith in America.  For Christianity to be a significant force for the solution of America’s problems, instead of exacerbating them, we need substantial support from the liberal big-donor class and from cooperative ventures of liberal Protestant denominations.

This begins with our organizations working together to introduce ourselves and make our case for support.  We must hang together or we’ll hang separately in this time of crisis for American democracy.  Together we can inspire the support our wider movement requires, so that we can make Jesus’ face of unconditional love the face of Christianity once again... for Good-ness sake!

(Please spread this “musing” widely in your networks – let’s get a conversation going about progressive Christian movement-building!  And please get back to me with your feedback and that of others.)