Thriving Church, Dying Culture
By Neil Stewart A
pparently, we now live in a post-Christian world. However, this is not and His Church. So please forgive me if I don’t start panicking just yet. But the statistics certainly do make grim reading, and, in particular, four trends should concern us. First, the “nones”are on the rise. Since 1991, the numbers of those with-
American population. Second, the mainline, Protestant churches are collapsing, bleeding members
Protestant churches have either plateaued in their membership or are in decline. Third, the Non-denominational, Evangelical Church movement continues to
undergo an identity crisis. Desiring to be as inclusive as possible, it has almost always been reticent to draw credal lines in the sand. As such, even in its best quarters, it is often willing to trade theological depth and precision for the sweet illusion of market share. But as a result, this movement runs the risk of falling - come. And if we attract people who don’t really care too much about theology, who don’t really care too much about God. And that just might be a problem. Fourth, and this one strikes a little bit closer to home, our own denomina- tion is struggling to keep its head above water. In 2018, ARP statistics showed a reside in declining rural areas and have less than 70 members. At the other numbers in even starker relief, this top numerical tier of congregations repre- sents almost half of our total membership. If these trends are not reversed, and quickly, we face the very real danger of losing a game of denominational Jenga.
6 What to do?
We Must Not Focus on Growth Healthy churches are like healthy
children; they tend to grow. So, as one of my mentors likes to say, we count numbers because numbers count. Denominational shrinkage, therefore, should alarm us. But we must not re- act to this by simply trying to reverse the trend. This is the way mainstreet responds to slumping sales. Their playbook goes something like this: what they want, and give it to them. Many churches adopt this same mar- - tremely well. But there is a problem: When it comes to identifying con- sumers, mainstreet only knows how to look down; she views her consum- ers only on a human level whereas a higher plane. And when we forget this, we risk losing the One consumer who really matters - God Himself.
We Must Not Focus on Cultural Impact
churches to impact the world. Back in The Associate Reformed Presbyterian
Synod Emphasis
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