Well, This is Interesting

James Dobson is resigning from the Focus on the Family board. The article states that this will "lessen his administrative burden" while keeping speaking on his radio programs and write the monthly newsletter.

The march of time includes us all, I suppose. Some are hoping this will hasten the end of FotF's relevance in evangelical culture, with younger evangelical families tending not to froth at the mouth every time the words "abortion," "gay marriage," or "feminism" is mentioned (issues FotF seem to be built to oppose), and who tend to be concerned about issues like the environment and feeding the hungry (issues FotF seems to give little heed to). Perhaps.

We're seeing a sea change of this generation's evangelical leaders retiring and a resultant implosion of their ministries (Crystal Cathedral, Oral Roberts University, to name two others). I would like to see evangelicalism embrace a wider agenda - though, not really being a part of the "club" I guess I don't really get a vote in how they view the world. And there are opportunities for that; it just seems as if evangelicalism is entering a new era of uncertainty. Will they continue to embrace a "cult of personality" approach with one central leader, or will they embrace postmodernity in a sense and give voice to multiple leaders, who may not speak univocally on the issues of the day?

I dare not speculate at the moment, but I suspect that these organizations will face the same problems that every organization faces when its founders die off....including the Church. (But that's another blog post.)