Re-read recently, well worth noting:
“The sect-church process concerns the fact that new religious bodies nearly always begin as sects and that, if they are successful in attracting a substantial following, they will, over time, almost inevitably be gradually transformed into churches. That is, successful religious movements nearly always shift their emphasis toward this world and away from the next, moving from high tensions with the environment toward increasingly lower levels of tension. As this occurs, a religious body will become increasingly less able to satisfy members who desire a high-tension version of faith. As discontent grows, these people will begin to complain that the group is abandoning its original positions and practices, as indeed it has. At some point this growing conflict within the group will erupt into a split, and the faction desiring a return to higher tension will leave to found a new sect. If this movement proves successful, over time it too will be transformed into a church and once again a split will occur. The result is an endless cycle of sect formation, transformation, schism, and rebirth. The many workings of this cycle account for the countless varieties of each of the major faiths…
“Secularization is a self-limiting process that leads not to irreligion, but to revival.”
–Rodney Stark, “The Churching of America: 1776-2005: Winners and Losers in the Religious Economy.” Highly recommended read!
