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John Shelby Spong grew up in Charlotte, North Carolina. Segregation was an accepted part of life during those years, based on the fundamentalist ideal that white and black should not co-mingle. This belief was based on a literal interpretation of a bible passage from Genesis, where Noah's son Ham looked on Noah in his nakedness, and was for all time cursed. The Africans being the supposed descendants of Ham, they were also cursed.
To say that Spong rebelled against this idea would not necessarily be accurate, but he does not hold that interpretation of the bible passage to be accurate. He does not hold with a literal translation of the bible at all, as he wrote in his book Rescuing the Bible from Fundamentalism: A Bishop Rethinks the Meaning of Scripture.
Ordained in the Episcopal Church in 1955, Spong was consecrated bishop in 1976, at which time he took charge of the diocese of Newark, New Jersey. He has come to be seen as "controversial" because of his numerous books, the most recent being Why Christianity Must Change or Die.
He receives, on the average, 100 pieces of mail per week commenting on his books. Over the years, the ratio of negative to positive has changed, where now the average is 75% positive. These letters come from church dropouts and laypeople (members of the "church alumni association" as Spong likes to call them), with stories of painful experiences they had as young people, or questions that have been left unanswered.
"How can the Church claim to have all the answers, when no one is asking questions?" Spong stated. The people who write to him are seekers who have found that many ordained clergy are out of touch with what they think and feel. For this reason, an enormous gap has developed between the religious right and these seekers.
In many cases, these seekers go on to try New Age religions, such as Paganism or Wicca. Spong does not criticize this trend. "I've traveled to China and India," he related, "and met holy people - Hindus and Buddhists. I can't judge them just because they don't follow the same faith I do."
Spong sees individual faith as paramount, in fact. The view "my faith is best for me" is what makes it work. Faith "doesn't capture God, it only points me toward that which is holy. Other people are journeying into holiness, too, just not along the same route."
For that reason, Spong sees the importance of continued enthusiasm in the ecumenical movement. The Millennium will bring radical changes to existing churches, with (hopefully) more sense of community, more dedication to the search for God - in all forms - more recognition of God as part of every human life. He cited the way to accomplish this is, "Living fully, loving wastefully, and having the courage to be everything a person is capable of being."
This may be a pipe dream, however, Spong admitted. He referred to Darwin's view that creation is still evolving, and we are "unfinished people struggling to survive." He does not deny that there is evil - humans are capable of enormous evil, are self-centered. A piece of humanity, nonetheless, is "embarrassed by this behavior." The job of the church is to raise humans above their primal fears, to "call people into the fullness of humanity", rather than letting them continue on as frightened and threatened.
The Christian view of God also needs to be refined, Spong asserted. "There is a problem doing this within the context of the English language," he explained. The translations currently available which refer to God in masculine terms confirm old prejudices that only men were held to be in God's image, and women were inferior. It is well beyond time to combine the masculine and the feminine in God.
For this, education is needed. Ordained clergy are trained to educate others, but this does not always occur. Opportunities for adult education in many Christian churches are few and far between. This leaves countless seekers to fend for themselves and, chancing upon New Age reading materials, they may find what they want in those pages, because the Church is not meeting their needs, does not "communicate with the deepest soul".
Conversations Spong has had with teenagers convinced him of this truth. To them, church is "boring" because it doesn't connect with the reality of their lives. When people watch late night television, "it seems the only religions are diet and exercise," Spong said. Health has become an almost spiritual issue, made commercial.
Religion should not be made commercial, however. The explanation of God needs to be separated from the experience of God. Knowledge leads to faith, and vice versa in a never ending circle. The existing church hierarchies - formerly believed to speak with "God's authority" - are questioned today. No one formula can capture the meaning of God definitely anymore. Growth and change must be made part of religion.
While the traditional forms of religion may continue, Spong sees the need for other religions to "crack open" these traditions when they become stale and ineffective. Whether it be Christian Protestants, Pagans or Wiccans, the need clearly exists.
These independent views may be controversial from the Christian standpoint. They serve to reinforce the need for personal responsibility in faith, though, which is what Pagan and Wiccan religions call for. Spong never intended to be controversial, but he feels strongly about speaking out in the face of all-too-common errors.
At age 67, Spong is looking toward retirement. He has been offered a teaching position at Harvard University, when that time comes. His autobiography, as yet untitled, will be published by Harper San Francisco toward the end of the year. He plans, as well, to continue researching and writing, working from 6:00 AM until 8:00 PM daily, traveling, giving lectures, and trying to promote positive change.
He sees himself as speaking for the "religiously alienated", seeking the truth. Religion - whatever religion - "touches humanity deep in the psyche". Bishop Spong wants to be sure we all have a chance to practice these respective religions, in some kind of harmony and understanding, in the days to come.
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