A perennial question over the past three decades, especially among Protestant denominations, is whether some congregations have become transactional and instrumental versus transformational and relational. The framing is intentionally provocative. Much traditional religious practice in America resists elements of secular culture that elevate individualism, consumerism, and competition—traits we usually consider transactional or instrumental. Sometimes this resistance is framed as therapeutic, sometimes as communitarian, sometimes transformational—and these are not mutually exclusive categories. But there is always a sense that traditional religion stands in judgment of dominant secular orientations that fall short of guiding people, or societies, toward their highest good.