8/3/13- Divided by Those Leaving

8 Watch out that you do not lose what we have worked for, but that you may be rewarded fully. 9 Anyone who runs ahead and does not continue in the teaching of Christ does not have God; whoever continues in the teaching has both the Father and the Son.  (2 John 8, 9)

Thoughts: There are always a certain percentage of the population who show no interest in the faith.  They may even be Christian in the sense that they identify themselves as Christian as opposed to Buddhist, Muslim, Hindu, or atheist.  In our day this percentage of the population (18%) are very vocal, and are pushing the culture to become secular.  There have been a rise in fundamentalist and catholic churches while mainline churches have declined (see statistics below- From the Barna group through Wikipedia):

• From 1958 to 2008, mainline church membership dropped by more than one-quarter to roughly 20 million people—15 percent of all American adults.
• From 1998 to 2008, there was a 22 percent drop in the percentage of adults attending mainline congregations who have children under the age of 18 living in their home.
• From 1998 to 2008, volunteerism dropped 21 percent; adult Sunday school participation decreased 17 percent.

It is clear mainline churches are losing their ability to retain their young, while evangelical churches have for the most part grown, making up for the decline in mainline churches.  What we hear everywhere in the press is that the church is declining, while in fact regular church attendance has remained steady at 25% of the population once a week and 43% regularly.
    Mainline churches used to rely on institutions to sustain them- conference centers, Christian colleges, homes for the orphan and the elderly.  But most of these institutions have become more and more disaffiliated from their church base and their original charter and endowment.  Mainline churches have had a decline in both practice and in the basics of belief.  Despite all the talk of inclusiveness- mainline churches attract less minorities, and are become more and more homogeneously old and white.  With less children in the numbers, the statistical decline will likely continue.  

     Mainline churches are also dividing rapidly in the last decade over the debate about the 3% of our culture who are homosexual.  While most are falling in the camp of trying to include homosexuals fully in the church (Episcopalian, Presbyterian USA, Lutheran ELCA) there is division going on in all three denominations.  The homosexual debate is a symptom of a larger problem of the lack of a basis for belief in these denominations.  The lack of Sunday School, Bible study, and catechism participation (cited somewhat above) also leads to an illiteracy among the members.
    Currently divisions in the church are the number one reason these mainline denominations are in decline.  Young people do not like these divisions and the lack of change in music or technology and they are staying away in droves.  There are even divisions among people over why the church is declining (some are insisting it is not; some because the church is not secular enough; and others because the church is not conservative enough).  The church fails when it divides- and cannot find a way to love and respect our differences without losing our common faith.  

Prayer: Lord, let me listen to you and to how you are speaking providentially.  Let me not be afraid to adapt the old story in new ways to reach others.