catapult magazine

From today’s “slices” over at relevant mag:
“According to a recent survey by Ellison Research of Phoenix, the majority of pastors are not upbeat about the future of Christianity in America.”

Here is the actual link to the study:
http://www.ellisonresearch.com/ERPS%20II/Release%204%20Future.htm

The thing that is interesting to about this to me is that this isn’t the first time that any of us have heard Christianity is going down hill. I heard a telling statement a few months ago that I don’t know if I believe (but it is scary):

Christianity in America will be dead within the next 10 years if things keep going as they are now.
(paraphrase from a speech by Dr. John Mark Reynold, Biola U.)

So my question:
Can Christianity die in America?
Will Christianity die in America?

I read another study from George Barna’s latest…he says that American “Evangelical” Christians only compose 5% of the population…and that number is decreasing.

I want to be a part of what makes Chrsitianity thrive again in America. That’s why we have places like *cino.

but will it be enough?

Granted it’s been 10 years, but in high school I spent six months in Germany on an exchange program. The church in Germany and the other places in Europe that I visited somewhat frequently seemed nearly dead. My exchange father, for instance, was an elder in his church though he attended maybe once a month. There were very few younger people who ever attended.
Has anybody spent any time there recently? Has there been an improvement?
Kind of a scary thought to think about that happening in America. I’ve put myself into a Christian atmosphere any everyplace I’ve lived, so I’m not sure I am seeing with the clearest of eyes the state of Christianity as a whole in America, but I’d like to think that it’s better than I remember Europe being. Any support one way or the other?

I can say that what you are describing as true in Germany 10 years ago is true in England right now. A group of christian college students that I know went on a trip over there about 6 months ago. They mentioned the same dead feeling in the churchs that you experienced. One of the pastors that they stayed with said that they would give anything to have 4 or 5 young people that are excited for the Lord. America isn’t there yet…but 10 years can make all the difference.

what will turn the tide?

The same is true of Hungary. My brother has visited there several times in the last few years as a volunteer and document translator for a Reformed pastor, and he says that their churches consist mostly of small groups of elderly people, with one pastor serving several congregations. They, however, are woking to change that. They send vans into the countryside every Sunday to pick up youths from nearby villiages to attend Sunday school, and are trying to reach out to the younger generation. The students from the Reformed seminary in Budapest volunteer their time to assist in this endeavor, and are slowly making headway.
I think I’d agree with the assessment that Christianity seems to be declining in “popularity” (I suppose that’s the term…) here in America. Do I think it will ever entirely die out? No. But I think it will take the faithfulness of current Christians sharing their beliefs (and realizing the importance of practicing your faith by commiting to some form of Christian community) with their children and their friends. There are many faithful Christians left in America, though it seems that number is dwindling, and there can continue to be a Christian body in the US as long as we are faithful to pass on our joy in Jesus to the next generation. The future of the church is not in the elderly or middle-aged (though it is certainly important to reach them with the Gospel, as well)—it is with the youth.

Now this is a HUGE topic. If you want to find an area where protestantism is growing, look at Latin America. Catholics are converting en masse to all kinds of evangelical groups, foremost the pentecostal variety. It’s to the point in some Central American countries where protestant groups are able to exert more political power than the catholic church.

You should think carefully about what you are wishing for though when you wish for Christianity to “thrive again” in the United States. Exactly which Christian golden age are you referring to? The 1950s? The 1850s? The 1750s? The 1650s? If any of those can be called “Christianity thriving” then I stand corrected. Isn’t there a way to refer to jump-starting Christianity without having to go back to those horrible times?

Also, a comment on European Christianity. In all three countries mentioned (Hungary, Germany, England) there are interesting evangelical and mainstream movements that attract young people. What they are not is big. Nor are they loud and obnoxious. They tend to be small. There are groups that meet in homes, churches that meet in classrooms and gymnasiums, and then there are movements within established churches themselves. For example, in Austria and other catholic countries there is a charismatic movement within the catholic church, and there are German lutheran and Church of England equivalents. Some of the most “cutting edge” church developments of late have come from England, including “rave churches.”

So whether you like what is happening there or not, I don’t think you can just make a blanket statement saying the church in Europe is dead and that the same will happen here. In many ways the church is most in its element when it is the minority, when it is mocked by society, when it doesn’t have the option of exerting political power. In this sense the tiny European church has a distinct advantage over the Latin American church which is bound to get tangled up in the losing battle of theocratic-oriented political change.

Also if you want to find churches that have a real sense of community and purpose, look no further than a baptist church in Vienna, a pentecostal church in Copenhagen, or a gypsy reformed church in rural Hungary. (I was going to add “a synagogue in Baghdad” but decided not to :)

Hmmm…interesting.
This thought never entered my head until now:
Maybe it would be a good thing for “Christianity” to “die” in America.

I say this for the following reason…maybe we would be better off if the “Christian culture” of our day didn’t exist. What i mean by this is that the lines between Christian and the world have been blurred. Maybe it isn’t a good thing that Max Lucado books are at Walmart or that you can buy Veggietales almost anywhere. Maybe by trying to become relevant with society at large Christianity has suceeded in becoming invisible and non-meaningful. Luxury and afluence never seem to be helpful to religion in the long run.

The small movements that you are speaking of in Europe, Dan, seem to be authentic byproducts of the death of some of the more traditional means of doing church. I didn’t mean to generalize at the expense of such movements, but I do feel that the statesments of the death of “something” hold some water.

With some careful thought about what I would wish for I would say that I wish some present practices would die and authentic Christianity would remain. Maybe jump-starting isn’t what we need. Maybe we need to have the courage to say no to 2nd rate fakes and money mongers.

I wouldn’t mind being spat upon once in a while, at least then I would know I was doing something worthy of notice.

And yes, Shari, our future indeed falls into the hands of our youth. Oh wait, do I still fit into that category!? Oh no, I’m in a crisis.

Thanks for the post Dan. Please don’t get me wrong that I was trumpeting the death of Christianity in Germany. I’m very happy there are dynamic, albeit small, resurrections in Germany and elsewhere in Europe. It was necessary.
The Latin America church is interesting. We just recently moved from South Florida, and though not exactly Latin America it does serve as a fantastic cross section, and the Hispanic and Carribean immigrants in the area were starting churches all over the place. Our dying RCA church was, at least temporarily, saved by a Hispanic Pentacostal church both administratively and financially. This type of thing, though unfortunate for us, really is kind of cool. The fact that other nations whether they be from Latin and South America, or Africa feel the need to turn the tables and witness as missionaries to the States, and to Europe I suppose. Do you know of any web sites to catch up on these types of things?

I’d like to add two other historical facts that may add to the phenomenon we’re talking about.

One is that European Christianity was often promoted by mass-conversions of whole countries (as in France where the whole nation was forcibly converted because its leader had been converted to Christianity). America has more of a democratic way of thinking about conversion. In America, one is persuaded to vote (with their hearts) for Jesus. It would appear that people are more committed when they choose Jesus themselves. (Though I often think that what they are committed to is not very consistent with the way Scripture defines Faith)

Second, many devout Believers from Europe (my Dutch fore-mothers and fathers especially) moved to the U.S. for religious freedom or to get away from the progressivism (liberalism) of Europe. This might partially explain the feeling that America is religious and Europe is not.

Another thing I’d like to mention. I don’t really agree with the stress on young people as the future of the church. Old people have a responsibility to model the kind of Christianity that young people will aspire to take on as they grow up. If the state of young people is in despair today, it’s partly because old people aren’t doing their job.

Okay, what to comment on first… I guess I’ll start back and work my way forward.
A quick disclaimer, however: one reason that message boards like this make me nervous is because I feel that sometimes my exploration (thinking out loud online) is taken instead as my set-in-stone belief. The following is merely a series of reflections from a Christian mind seeking to grasp concepts far beyond itself…
I’d like to think that I am not advocating for a “revival” of the church. I must have taken it out, but originally I had commented that my view was that the future church would not have the same face as the church today or the church of the past. One of the interesting things about the church is that it changes over time. It “adjusts” (I suppose) to the cultural and religious concepts of who God is and how we ought to worship. It is a constant striving to serve God, but it takes on different faces at different times because we are uncertain exactly what serving God is supposed to look like in our context.
I guess the above sorta covers a few of the things I was going to respond to, so I’ll end with…
Grant, you say that you “don’t really agree with the stress on young people as the future of the church” and then go on to say that it’s old people’s job to model for the young people. It still seems, somehow, like the focus is on young people. What reason have old people for acting as models, if not as an example for the young people who will become the main body of the church? The job of the elderly is to model for those coming behind them. The focus is always on the youth, on passing on our faith from generation to generation. Am I reading you wrong somehow? Am I being unclear? I understand that older people are a vital part of the church, yet it still seems that the focus is on younger folk.
Admittedly, I am still a “young person” to most people—thus, my thoughts might be immature or biased. Reflections, anyone?

I hear what you’re saying. I was mostly concerned with the wording of your last sentence or two, which seemed to suggest that the future of the church lies only with the young and not also with the middle-aged and the elderly.

I’m 36. Several of my friends form college and I were discussing this topic this past summer. Almost all of us (or our wives) are now elders or deacons and we agreed that the generaltion that had their formative years in the sixties, the me generation, I think it was called, seems, genrally, uncomfortable about chruch leadership and pessimistic about the church’s future. In my church (with several notable exceptions) there were a lot of people who ought to be the leaders of the curch seeking a vision for the future, who, when we were seeking a new pastor, said they just wanted someone who would do a good job at their funerals.

Yet my friends and I were optimistic about the future because it seemed to us that those of us who graduated in the late 80s are very much interested in taking responsibility for the church and seeking new directions and new vision for it.

I know this is a look at the future of Christianity in a much smaller way, but it does give me some hope.