Are We Focusing on the Right Stuff?

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From David Grizzle’s General Convention posting of last night (extra paragraphing added):

… One of the more engaging reports is by the Committee on the State of the Church. It quantitatively documents the continuing decline of the Episcopal Church, in total membership, church attendance and inflation-adjusted pledges. One area of growth is in the number of congregations with fewer than 10 members.

Estimates by the committee’s expert is that no more than a third of the decline can be attributed to the actions of the 2003 General Convention. (The other two thirds is explained by the fact that Episcopalians don’t have many babies and they’re so old that they’re dying real fast right now.)

Solace is derived from the observation that other mainline denominations are also declining. (Is that really who we want to compare ourselves with? I mean, I like to compare my running pace to that of other overweight, middle-aged white men; but it’s not a compelling comparison when I’m trying to recruit college guys to run with me.)

There is no firm conclusion in The Blue Book as to why Episcopalianism is not selling in the ‘hood, but there is a lot – that would be 400 pages worth of lot – of reporting on matters that Episcopalians presumably believe are very important and, implicitly, relevant to reversing the decline of the denomination. The reader immediately recognizes that, even though we may not fully understand what makes a church appealing to the unchurched, we are experts on global warming, developmental economics and international trade policy.

Read it all. David’s and my theological views diverge on many subjects — and the health of a church isn’t purely a numbers game — but I can’t help but agree with him about this.

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5 responses to “Are We Focusing on the Right Stuff?”

2006-06-13

bls

Well, I think we’re just the worst at evangelism, and that we really ought to learn something about that and start doing it.
And I also agree that there’s way too much politics in the Church, and not nearly enough religion. And that’s a realy shame, because this particular expression of religion is so incredibly beautiful that I can’t really see how anyone could resist it.
We do need to work on attracting people to our churches much, much more than we do now.

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2006-06-13

Wayne

As a member of another mainline denomination (United Methodist) I think that Mr. Grizzle’s observations apply here as well.
I’m working in Brazil at the moment and I’ve been talking to my co-workers here about their country and _the_ mainline religion, Catholicism. Between 70 and 80% of Brazilians are Catholic in name, but the consensus among the educated people here seems to be that religion is for the very old or the very uneducated. I think the issue for all denominations world-wide is one of relevancy. I think that many of the unchurched in many countries just don’t see how the church is relevant to their life.
For those of us who hear the ring of truth in some post-modern themes, it’s hard to know what to say to them. It’s difficult to translate what I experience in my devotional life in a way that would differentiate it from other forms of mysticism. I have grown up in church and the themes of Christianity and the teachings of Christ are meaningful to me; but to those who have not grown up in my tradition, finding a reason to step into the tradition seems difficult, in my experience.

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2006-06-13

bls

I think Wayne is saying something really important. It’s not just ECUSA; it’s all the old churches who are seeing this decline. Catholicism in South America (from what I’ve read) is also losing people to Pentecostalism – or perhaps, as here, to nothing at all.
I think we’re at a wrinkle in history. Religion is viewed as something passe and no longer relevant. This is partly a function of its history and the place of science today; partly because of theological concepts that people don’t understand anymore; partly – probably largely – due to economics. People don’t need religion anymore, at least not in the way they once did.
But I think they will again; I think we’re in the low part of a cycle. We are not talking properly to other people about Christianity, it’s true, and we have to figure out how to do this. But I don’t think we’re going to get huge results right away; it’s going to take time. As Wayne says, educated urbanites do not see the need for religion anymore – and this group has been one of TEC’s traditional constituencies.
We do need to work harder at evangelism. But I don’t think we’ll see the results we hope for in our lifetimes.

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2006-06-13

bls

Two other things: if we’re going to attract that group of educated urbanites, it’s possible that traditional evangelism won’t be enough. So perhaps ECUSA’s not crazy for talking about those other issues, too; I just wish we’d get serious about religion as well.
Also, Wayne mentioned having difficulty trying to “differentiate [Christianity] from other forms of mysticism.” But I think this statement is actually a plus; most unchurched people don’t recognize Christianity as mystical at all – due to years of Pat Robertson et al., I think – so this, to me, is a good start.

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2006-06-13

D. C.

I continue to think that many, many educated moderns take a pass on “Christianity” because so much of the traditionalist variety simply doesn’t ring true to them.

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