We're Probably Dying, But It's OK

We’re Probably Dying, but It’s OK
by, Charles W. Christian

Dying Denominations

As a pastor, I get lots of literature about the church.  Not just my church or denomination, but about the global church.  I also get lots of statistical reports.  The  reports lately point to a trend in my own denomination as well as in many others: more people are leaving than are coming in.  Some are shifting to other denominations, which “pads” their numbers regarding incoming people.  Others are shifting to the denomination I am in from other denominations, meaning that our numbers may be a bit padded in regard to newcomers.  Most denominations, including my own, show as many or more people leaving than coming in, and regardless of how padded the incoming numbers are, the outgoing numbers are clear!

Denominations have expert sociologists and strategists that speculate why these numbers reflect such a dismal downturn.  I have read many of their reports, both outside and inside my own denomination.  Among the reasons for decline seen across the board are the following: aging Baby Boomers, failed attempts at “entertaining” and “marketing to” various age groups by certain trends in church growth, decline in the sense of community among North American churches, lack of depth in regard to connecting to the “roots of the faith” (which causes spiritual and then physical drift), and the rise of technological distractions.  These things, accompanied with the downturn in economic growth, has resulted in a more mobile nation that averages far less time in a single place than ever before.  This makes it difficult for churches to connect and likewise difficult for people to connect for a long period of time with places of worship.  Even when there is a connection, the economic downturn has affected giving, which causes overall instability in the staffing and planning of local congregations. 

Even on a denominational level, as noted expert and denominational leader in the National Baptist Convention George Bullard recently wrote, many denominations’ attempts to restructure or even downsize, while important, are often viewed as all that is needed (i.e., merely a financial solution) and are substituting this for other kinds of vitality.

What To Do?

In the sea of options of “what to do,” I simply toss the following two pebbles.

First, admit that death is part of renewal.  We are Christians, after all, and we follow a Savior who, as our Creeds remind us, truly died, but was also truly risen.  As the 20^th Century theologian Karl Barth reminds us: Without a true death there can be no true resurrection (see his classic work, Dogmatics in Outline).  Instead of explaining how the numbers “really are not that bad,” perhaps we should say, “Alright, we are in a phase where we seem to be dying, so we need a true resurrection.”  In this way, instead of creating debates about whether or not we are dying, we can form prayer-focused teams of people seeking God’s direction and seeking innovative leadership in moving from death to resurrected life.

Secondly, stop simply trying new programs.  The Church in North America has literally been programmed to death!  This is because we have made a consistent habit of jumping on innovative sounding ideas and riding them until the next popular innovative idea comes along.  We have been very much like the family in financial distress who burns through one credit card after another in the hopes of achieving a dream that will never come.  Like them, most denominations are sacrificing a sound future for short-term “big gains” on their pastoral, district, or international reports.  This has led (and will continue to lead, in my opinion) to long-term decline and even death. 

We must rediscover what millions of people in our younger generation – the generation we say we are trying to “reach” – is trying to tell us: give us authentic Christianity and do not be afraid of it!  We must recapture the depths of our theology, creeds, and history as Christians without trying to simply be “trendy.”  Along with this, we must not be afraid to hear voices inviting us to push once-comfortable denominational boundaries.  Some things need to die, other things need to renew.  Thankfully, we are, according to Jesus, designed and built with the remedy for ultimate death (see Matthew 16:18).  The resurrected Christ has empowered those who will dare to follow Him - and not just follow the trends and shortcuts - into resurrection.  We may find that when we arrive at these new places of exploration, both God and the Church have already been there ahead of us!