DEREK HUDSON for TIME NEW TO THE FLOCK: Religion is thriving in immigrant communities of all faiths

Posted Sunday, June 8, 2003; 16.45BST
And at least 40% of those at Ecumenical Church Day in Berlin were under 30. "At home, not many young people go to church anymore," said Andrea Barbi, 17, who traveled from Neu-Ulm in Bavaria for the festivities. "But when I look around here, it's not much of a problem."

GOD HAS GONE ALTERNATIVE
"Jesus, remember me when you come into Your kingdom," repeats one Taizé song, over and over and over. "Jesus, remember me when you come into Your kingdom." Few who have been to Taizé can forget its meditative, almost chant-like music. Many take the sound home with them, just one example of the staggeringly eclectic mix of worship styles all across Europe. "Parishes are looking for different ways to reach people — one-day retreats, moments of meditation, healing masses," says the Rev. Christina Berglund, dean of the Diocese of Stockholm, who believes the church must choose between flexibility and irrelevance. "There has to be room for people's own reflection and interpretation. It's individualism in a group context."

In London, the Anglican parish of St. James' Piccadilly hosts a popular program called Alternatives, which offers talks and workshops on a rich assortment of unorthodox spiritual realms in order to emphasize the "radical inclusiveness" of the Gospel. In Scandinavia, some churches have devised "Rainbow Masses" (for gays) and "Sophia Masses" (for feminists). Outside the collective context, the range of influences is even more diverse. Many people may be rediscovering spirituality, but they're not necessarily returning to the church or sticking to its tenets. Call it à la carte Christianity. More and more, says Christian Welzel, a political scientist at the International University Bremen, "people tend to construe their own patchwork religion that takes elements from Buddhism, for instance, or aspects of Hinduism that they find interesting, to create their own belief system."

Such unorthodoxy worries some church leaders, but it satisfies the yearnings of millions of people who prefer to chart their own spiritual course, getting help and guidance along the way from websites or the new age shelves at the local bookstore. They may be the toughest crowd for the traditional church, which seems to acknowledge the need to adapt to modernity, but just isn't willing to bend that far. "The church needs to enter modern culture and to get to know modern culture," says Godfried Cardinal Danneels, Archbishop of Brussels and Mechelen. "But it's a mistake to think that we should try to attract more people by diluting our message."

Last Sunday was Pentecost, which marks the moment nearly 2,000 years ago when, according to the Bible, the Holy Spirit gave the apostles the ability to share the gospel in all different languages. "When they heard this sound," the Book of Acts says, "a crowd came together in bewilderment, because each one heard them speaking in his own language." Pope Paul VI said Pentecost is not a one-day event, but an ongoing, much-needed phenomenon. The challenge for today's church is to translate the Christian faith into the life languages of modern Europe, a place more pluralistic and liberal than ever. "Through the centuries the church has found ways of expressing the dogmas of the faith that are relevant to changes in the society," says a senior Vatican official. But what does that mean in practice? Should the Catholic Church honor the humanity of its clergy — and bolster their shrinking ranks — by allowing its priests to marry? What stances should denominations take on divorces or homosexuality or the other realities of modern life? "Religion can make the good better and the bad worse," says Cardinal Danneels. "Religious leaders have a tremendous responsibility in guiding their flock." How do you do it when the flock isn't even sure it wants to be guided?

The obstacles are enormous. But at the very least, it's encouraging that the church "is conscious of its own sinfulness and frailties," says Ireland's Bishop Walsh. "We now have a more open and honest church." The faithful can take heart, too, from the knowledge that, while their God may not be in the E.U. constitution, He's still all over Europe.

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