That numbers matter is obvious to me as a former banker and consultant: There is always room to rationalize about the true meaning of numbers. However, one can hardly deny the negative effects of declining membership on churches across the spectrum of American denominations. Today, numerous churches are unable to afford full-time ministers and staff. Budgets for missionary work, community outreach, and discipleship are dangerously shrinking. Buildings are crumbling, and basic services are lacking. Consequently, congregations are not equipped to make the required strategic, tactical and operational decisions to survive and thrive.
Congregational leaders often act as if the church is impervious to such issues. Pastors, who are not generally trained in organizational development, and trustees, who are mostly volunteers, are not always best positioned to address the problems that arise when membership declines. Temporary solutions are often adopted in order to fix large-scale elemental issues. For example, a church may decide to install shinier carpet in an attempt to increase attendance.
To a large extent, American Christianity is in the early stages of an existential crisis. Failure to come up with disruptive innovation in our ecclesiastical culture will likely lead to further decrease in attendance, more church and seminary closings, fewer professionals in ministry-related careers, less missionary work, more diminishing influence over public opinion and policies, and, more importantly, an increasing inability to witness for Christ in this world. Ignoring the multiple warning signs we have today might end up being one of the most tragic failures of Christianity in the 21st century.
There is no silver bullet for this existential crisis. Only through a range of decisions implemented with effectiveness over multiple years will we be able to overturn the current trends. Ideally, global Christianity would organize a truly ecumenical council that could generate a joint strategy for addressing changes in church membership in various parts of the world. Since such a large-scale project is very unlikely today, denominations must each find ways to address this crisis. To its credit, American Baptist Churches USA has tried to deal with the overall decline in attendance through various means including the promotion of diversity. However, what we need today is a radical reengineering of the church. There is a growing need to go back to the drawing board and devise new ways of “doing church.”
That numbers matter is obvious to me as a former banker and consultant: There is always room to rationalize about the true meaning of numbers. However, one can hardly deny the negative effects of declining membership on churches across the spectrum of American denominations. Today, numerous churches are unable to afford full-time ministers and staff. Budgets for missionary work, community outreach, and discipleship are dangerously shrinking. Buildings are crumbling, and basic services are lacking. Consequently, congregations are not equipped to make the required strategic, tactical and operational decisions to survive and thrive.
Congregational leaders often act as if the church is impervious to such issues. Pastors, who are not generally trained in organizational development, and trustees, who are mostly volunteers, are not always best positioned to address the problems that arise when membership declines. Temporary solutions are often adopted in order to fix large-scale elemental issues. For example, a church may decide to install shinier carpet in an attempt to increase attendance.
To a large extent, American Christianity is in the early stages of an existential crisis. Failure to come up with disruptive innovation in our ecclesiastical culture will likely lead to further decrease in attendance, more church and seminary closings, fewer professionals in ministry-related careers, less missionary work, more diminishing influence over public opinion and policies, and, more importantly, an increasing inability to witness for Christ in this world. Ignoring the multiple warning signs we have today might end up being one of the most tragic failures of Christianity in the 21st century.
There is no silver bullet for this existential crisis. Only through a range of decisions implemented with effectiveness over multiple years will we be able to overturn the current trends. Ideally, global Christianity would organize a truly ecumenical council that could generate a joint strategy for addressing changes in church membership in various parts of the world. Since such a large-scale project is very unlikely today, denominations must each find ways to address this crisis. To its credit, American Baptist Churches USA has tried to deal with the overall decline in attendance through various means including the promotion of diversity. However, what we need today is a radical reengineering of the church. There is a growing need to go back to the drawing board and devise new ways of “doing church.”