Probably after Vietnam and Watergate, there was an increasing distrust of institutions, so that Jesus was still in, but the institutional church was no longer an attraction. So, I think that the dropping of the denominational label is to become more generic, less of a threat, less of a reminder of negative stereotypes if you've walked away from church.

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It removes the preacher from the community, ... and I've got some problem with that. Ministry requires an ongoing dialogue with the community.

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You've got to find ways of being heard within that context, ... But we shouldn't get angry or try to reclaim the past.

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I think what we are seeing is the detribalizing of Protestantism, in that if you have a large external constituency, which would identify culturally or historically with a particular denomination, then obviously it's a plus factor to have that identification.

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