By what possible authority or logic is it possible or valid to "pare down" the faith?
Many of those who worship in churches that are heavy in ritual confuse the ritual with the real message of the church. Case in point: My son-in-law is nominally Catholic. He does not attend church, he has no "relationship" with Christ.
Maybe this is a BAD example. If you use nominal believers from any tradition, you'll get the same result. Nominal Baptists don't attend church or have a vital relationship with the Lord, either.
He will, however, baptise his daughter in the Catholic Church. He will also have her receive her First Communion in the Church.
Perhaps this is better news than you think. First it keeps him in contact with his Church. Second, it forces him to have his child receive SOME training in the faith.
...His side of the family will gather and have an all day celebration. The men will retreat to the garage and drink Budweiser and Tequila, and the women will gather in the living room to exchange gossip and to hold each others' babies.
Now I'm sure that many Evangelicals use their own church as one of their main sources for social contact, but I guarantee you that the underlying context for celebrations is different.
Of course it's different. If you were a family that was a committed Catholic family with a nominal Evangelical son-in-law, the example would go the other way!
I might as well have a conversation with a TV.
Good day....