The Years Leading Up TO THE 50’S-60’S

TWO GREAT WARS AND FISCAL RUIN

Why study the years leading to the 50’s and 60’s ?

The 50’s and the 60’s the American Church experienced record growth

and stability despite the obvious cultural upheaval of the time. Why is that?

We believe part of the answer can be found in the decades leading up to

the 50’s and 60’s. It would be foolhardy not to look at WW1 and 2 and the

Great Depression and how the darkness that humanity itself faced made it

look deep within to ask the questions. The only questions: Why am I here?

What is my purpose? Why does is this happening? We will look at the events

that benefitted the Church and Gospel.

World War 1

The explosive that was World War One had been long in the stockpiling; the spark was the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, in Sarajevo on 28 June 1914.  Ferdinand's death at the hands of the Black Hand, a Serbian nationalist secret society, set in train a mindlessly mechanical series of events that culminated in the world's first war. (1)

The Church After WW1

“Holy war" is a loaded phrase, and Jenkins is careful to define what he means by it. It goes far beyond what theologians such as Augustine of Hippo and Thomas Aquinas meant by "just war." Just-war doctrine says that, in a fallen world, as a last resort one fallen nation may use deadly force against another to promote long-term peace and avert grave injustice. When nations embark on holy war, in contrast, all moral complexity falls away. The country's cause becomes God's cause. The nation is wholly righteous, its enemies purely evil. Those who serve the nation in battle are the instruments of the Lord. Those who fall before the demonic foe are "sacrifices" and "martyrs.“ (2)

We see from this quote that post war disillusionment ran high. How could God sanction or be behind such death and destruction. The American Church had to answer these questions in a compelling way. For the most part we did.

WW 1 and The American Church Cont…

But the optimism of the American people and her Church was at an all time high after WW1. Our boys were home and God appeared to be on the US’s side. We won and established ourselves as the world power we know today. For the average American a sense of manifest destiny was expanded beyond our country as we eyed other country's and South America. The economy starts to balloon in unprecedented ways. This in turn leads to ballooning church membership. Unfortunately it doesn’t lead to a large conversion of hearts to Christ in our opinion. In fact it instills a more liberal social gospel theological framework. The idea that we are a moral society headed towards a man made utopia becomes more entrenched in our minds.

The Great Depression and Optimism Dashed

“The Great Depression lasted from 1929 to 1941 and only ended with America’s entry into World War II. –Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal programs employed hundreds of thousands of workers, many who were unskilled. One of the most famous New Deal programs was the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), and these workers are credited improving dozens of US National Parks.” ( 3)

The optimism of the Social Gospel adherents and the like was dashed by a top heavy economy and intense wall street speculation that led to over valuations and the crash of 1929. The Economy is actually in a similar spot today but is propped up by Government manipulated Interest rates.

The Great Depression and The American Church

The effects would be hard to quantify. We know theologically that Pastors and other clergy started to swing towards a more Gospel driven and centered message at this time. Theologically you can watch the pendulum swing more towards the center at this point. One could venture a guess that the helplessness any caring leader would feel trying to serve his Church at time when food was scarce had to be deep and cut to the core. Helplessness as we know leads most to Christ dependency. Although the rise of sects was certainly on the rise. The Pentecostal movement and the Azul street revival was a huge thing, and I wouldn’t call our Pentecostal brothers and sisters a sect, others that were completely unbiblical rose to prominence. Main line Protestantism stayed stagnant.

World War 2

Unsurprisingly the cause of WW2 was likely WW1. The defeated nations hungry for order allowed dictators to rise. The League of Nations set up harsh restrictions on the offending nations, Germany particularly was at its lowest point. The German people hungry for direction and with an already political cauldron brewing unrest the Nazi Party and Adolf Hitler rose to power. He then created an Axis of world powers that were shunned by the League of Nations for various reasons.

The American Church during WW2

“Coming out of World War II, America was not very religious. The war had put a halt on many of the things that increase religiosity, particularly marriage and procreation. Churches, just like other organizations, were slowed by drain on resources and volunteers during the war. The post-war years turned this around. The economy improved. The baby boom ensued. And religion grew.” (4)

The immediate effects of WW2 were not felt by the Church until the 50’s. But the war set the conditions that ballooned Church growth. Political changes made us start identify ourselves as a Christian nation for the first time in our history. The population growth and a deeply wounded an introspective public licking its wounds from the world being pushed to brink. Here we see all the factors that lead to main portion of our presentation.

So What Actually Happened in the 50’s and 60’s?

The war raged on but wasLargely forgotten since

ra-tioning didn’t occur as it

did in WWII. The economyshifted basically from war To piece time production.As housing boomed so didother industries, such as

the auto industry.

Entertainment

With the 50’s and 60’s the entertainment era was upon us with the advent of TV, our favorite shows, rock n roll was new, Elvis was popular and street rods were the craze with the Beach Boys making the little duce coupe famous. Out were the LP records of grandma’s because the 45 single records stole the scene as rock music filled the airways and American Bandstand was the show to watch.

Sports became very popular with TV coverage

increasing the public’s appetite for more as

America cheered for its favorite sports.

Jim Brown

Arnold Palmer became king of the golf course

IN GOD WE TRUST

The 84TH Congress passed joint resolution that declared “In God We Trust” to be the

national motto having come from a line

written by Francis Scott Key in the Star

Spangled Banner.In 1956 ”World War II veteran Congressman Charles Bennett (D-Fla.) introduces the bill, stating: "At the base of our freedom is our faith in God and the desire of Americans to live by His will and His guidance. As long as this country trusts in God, it will prevail.“

In 1954 the words, “under God” were added to pledge of

allegiance.

Oral Roberts evangelism &

healing ministry began televising in

1958 reaching a hungry and needy

nation.In 1953 “…Rex

Humbard becomes the first evangelist to host

a weekly television show, Cathedral of Tomorrow. Widely

broadcast, the program ushers in a new era in

evangelism.” (2)

In 1952 Norman Vincent Peale’s book

“The Power of Positive Thinking”

merged religion with self-help movement, was very successful.

(1)

Technology & Science

There was an explosion of advances. Polio was eradicated in late 50’s, TV became popular, super computers that filled a room were now in; jet planes, electricity from nuclear energy

now being produced. NASA, created 1958, starts launching satellites into space, including 1st weather satellite, and puts 1st man on moon

in 1969 with Wernher Von Braun as lead scientist.

Creation and Science

“Von Braun often stressed that “science and religion are not antagonists.  On the contrary, they are sisters”  (Hill, intro.).  He had no problem with “knowing” and “believing” living side by side; in fact, he thought it most irrational to deny the obvious: “It is as difficult for me to understand a scientist who does not acknowledge the presence of a superior rationality behind the existence of the universe as it is to comprehend a theologian who would deny the advances of science” (American Weekly, Jan. 10, 1960).  Science can observe rationality and order and design, but the details of the Who behind “the grandeur of the cosmos” requires revelation.  That von Braun believed in the revelation of Scripture, including Jesus Christ who died on the cross for our sins, will be apparent from an essay we will quote in its entirety from an Introduction he wrote for a book on creation.In regards to creation vs. evolution, von Braun opposed the one-sided teaching of Darwinian evolution in the public schools.  In 1972, he wrote a letter to the California School Board, which was considering a controversial bill on the teaching of evolution.  He used his influence as a scientist and well-known public figure to argue that students need to hear the case for creation:To be forced to believe only one conclusion—that everything in the universe happened by chance-would violate the very objectivity of science itself. Certainly there are those who argue that the universe evolved out of a random process, but what random process could produce the brain of a man or the system of the human eye?Some people say that science has been unable to prove the existence of a Designer... They challenge science to prove the existence of God.  But, must we really light a candle to see the sun?”

Einstein and God

America looses a great mind: Albert Einstein 1879-1955

Even Einstein would have agreed with this

saying:Someone has observed

that to believe in evolution is to believe

that Webster’s unabridged dictionary

came about as the result of an explosion in a

printing factory.

Billy Graham

From the start of his national and worldwide ministry in 1949 Billy would touch the Lives of Americans from sea to shining sea. He took his authority from the one book that has the answers to life’s deepest questions- the Bible. He presented Jesus as the One with the answers and throughout his crusades invited a searching people, desperately needing help, to come to the foot of the Cross. Billy touched the lives of the common man. He showed us that while great men may not be common, common men can be great by the power of the Holy Spirit.

The Judeo Christian

Faith Hits The Big Screen

1953

1956

1959

1961

1965

“Except for the largely forgotten war in Korea, life was good and church attendance would go from nearly 50% in 1950 to nearly 70% by 1960.”

Church Culture in 50’s & 60’s America

“The National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA [founded 1948], usually identified as the National Council of Churches (NCC), is an ecumenical partnership of 37 Christian faith groups in the United states.” “The NCC's influence reached its peak in the 1950s, largely because of its commitment to ecumenism, and to the popularity of a wide variety of collaborative programs and ministries undertaken by its member churches, including the humanitarian movement, Church World Services. The NCC's strong position against the Vietnam war in the 1960s alienated many laity, leading to a decline in influence among pro-war members of some of its member bodies.”  

Mainline Churches: The Real Reason for Decline

Benton Johnson, Dean R. Hoge & Donald A. Luidens

Copyright (c) 1993 First Things 31 (March 1993): 13-18.

“America's so-called mainline Protestant churches aren't what they used to be. For generations on end, the Methodists, Presbyterians, Congregationalists, Episcopalians, and kindred denominations reported net annual membership gains. As recently as the 1950s their growth rate equaled or exceeded that of the United States as a whole.”

Cold War Arms Struggle

As America continues to test the A-Bomb in Nevada each test blast not only shakes the earth but the faith of many Christians as well. It is they who realize there is only one true way to stop war. The transformation they call for is a changed life in Christ Jesus. But cold war tensions push Russia and U.S. to Breaking Point. In 1962 President Kennedy and Khrushchev face off in growing tension in the closest the world ever came to nuclear war during the Cuban Missile Crisis.

Black Panther Poweractive from 1966 & beyond

Even with the good times there was social unrest. The Black Panthers wanted “self-determination” for the African Americans and they were not afraid to use more violent means to achieve those ends. Our nation’s sins of the past, once tucked safely away, are now thrust in the nation’s face. What others tried to do through peace they backed up with firepower. People were desperately searching for equality that only Christ can bring.

Martin Luther King Jr.active 1955-1968

Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., the man who had a dream, was willing, whether from the pulpit or jail, to preach his Christian faith of equality, where peoples of all races and colors were living together in harmony and peace, before the God who made them in his image.

National TragedyThe first family is

shattered and a nation mourns the

loss of its President Nov. 22,

1963

THE VIETNAM WAR1962-1975

The Vietnam war would rage through the 60’s claiming the nation’s young men, with many drafted, and many more drawn by the indescribable siren’s call to war. Boys entered the battlefields of war and only men, older beyond their years, emerged. Racial tensions were there, but the battlefields

made them brothers. As the war dragged on the nation took sides and wanted the war to End. The war is commemorated not for what it was but for what it cost in human lives.

Civil Rights Movement

It was an unrest that

spread across racial as well

as gender lines as

equality was taken to the

streets of America.

The NAACP had its birth

during this time period.

Segregation in the South came under attack as protest after protest took

to the streets.

A nation watches one of its great cities go up in smoke as the Watts race riots of 1965 set more than buildings ablaze in 6 days. With inequity piled upon inequity 34 people died as a result, with more than 1,000 injured, and 3,438 arrested with support of nearly 4,000 national guard. ( Slide 14/1)

Then in 1967 for 5 days Newark N.J. erupts in riots that leave 26 dead and hundreds injured as the unrest of the soul spills out onto America’s streets once again. (slide14/2)

Again the nation reels in horror as

Martin Luther King Jr. is

Assassinated on April 4, 1968 and the Civil Rights

Movement looses its greatest

leader. Two months later, on June 5 John F. Kennedy’s younger brother, Bobby, is gunned down.

With the 60’s came the hippies and the drug scene with marijuana and LSD at the top of the list to do some “day tripping.” The decorative love bugs were very “in” at the time, and in 1969 WOODSTOCK, largest rock festival yet with 200,000+ people; Sex, drugs, and rock N roll. One of the largest gatherings of people searching for some meaning in life and a good time.

Did the Church Have an Impact during these years?

The 1950s and 60s were a trying time for the church but did swing wide a door that had never been opened before in America. A new outlook on life was being introduced into mainstream America. This meant that mainline Protestantism or even Protestant-Catholic-Jews no longer represented all of society's spiritual interests. Americans now had to take into account different kinds of spiritualties and practices, they were forced to take on diversity like never before. The Civil Rights to the hippies opened up a new generation that desired peace and love over structure and war. This was the new church and this is the impact our church had on that time period.

Whether it was the world wars, Korea, or Vietnam, all of our wars left us with a bitterness, hardness and a deep sense of loss. Though so many

had died still there was no true peace of heart for the human spirit that was desperately longing for more in life than the bitterness and death that

war brought.

Analysis of a “Christian” nation

Even with all of our pastimes filled with pleasure, TV shows, dancing

and music, these could not fill, adequately, the longing of this nation that sensed there was

something more to life.

Even filling our large stadiums with adoring fans, for America’s favorite pastime, all of this showed a public, that while filling their lives with fun,

could still leave these stadiums empty and wanting for more, the more was that something that Christ can truly

bring.

With the advances of our technology and science man began to believe in his own greatness and the

dreams that he had for the future. With every advancement his dreams grew, and his pride grew

even more. The churches, which had reached a high point began to decline as man gained more

confidence in himself.

But even with all of the advances the depths of unrest of the human heart spilled out over into America’s streets as racism

and inequality and unrest showed that the progress that was needed most was in the depths of the human heart. The peace that was lacking was something only God can

truly bring.

As much as America was souring into the future with her power and might nothing

makes a person more mindful of their mortality than the tragic deaths of a number of its leaders. These tragedies did bring the

nation to its knees before God for awhile, but it would not last.

But this was also a busy time period for the Church in America as its missions

grew and young men and women from our mixed racial culture united to bring

Christ to the World.

Christians were busy on the home front as well.

1950 World Vision founded by Bob Pierce, Billy Graham Evangelistic Association established.

1951 Campus Crusade for Christ International organized by Bill Bright

1952 President Harry Truman signs National Day of Prayer resolution

1956 Five American missionaries killed by Auca Indians in Ecuador

1957 Two million attend Billy Graham NYC crusade, 55,000 decisions

reported

Were we ever truly a Christian nation? No, but we are still a nation made better by the influence that is to be had by people truly touched by the life changing influence of a living Savior. The Church continues to struggle in and with the ever changing and challenging structure of the society in which it finds itself. In the end view then, the Church’s hope in this life is not built on the temporary things that man can build. No height of buildings, no greatness of military might, no matter how far we fling ourselves into space, none of these matter if the heart of this nation’s people strays from the One God who adds greatness to any nation under heaven.

Works Cited

Slide 3 – “Firstworldwar.com." First World War.com. Web. 18 June 2015.

Slide 4 - "The Forgotten Side of the First World War." ChristianityToday.com. Web. 18 June 2015.

Slide 6 - "Facts About The Great Depression | Great Depression Facts For Kids." The Great Depression. Web. 18 June 2015.

Slide 14 - "Timeline: Faith in America." PBS. Web. 25 June 2015. 

Slide 15 - Peale, Humbard1. "Timeline: Faith in America." PBS. Web. 25 June 2015. 2. Ibid.

Slide 17 - "World's Greatest Creation Scientists from Y1K to Y2K." World's Greatest Creation Scientists from Y1K to Y2K. Web. 25 June 2015.

Slide 22 - "Mainline Churches: The Real Reason for Decline." Mainline Churches: The Real Reason for Decline. Web. 25 June 2015.

Slide 29 - "1967 Newark Riots." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation. Web. 25 June 2015.

Works Cited (continued)

Slide 39https://www.cmalliance.org/resources/archives/timeline