Church Decline

The LA Times recently published an article stating that Christians are evangelizing hate against gays overseas. It's an article from five years ago, it's propaganda and it's completely untrue. 

First off, I find it hilariously sad that progressives want to quote the LA Times, the Boston Globe, even the local newspaper as the gospel, but they look at the Bible as an antique. "We've gained so much new knowledge since it was written--a new age of enlightenment." you will hear the progressive say. Matter of fact, liberal/progressive Christianity is on a decline; because the god of the modern Christian movement isn't the God of the Bible. 

Here is the truth: In 2010, the PCUSA fully affirmed homosexuality, and their churches have been declining since. Those leaving have done so and the numbers have increased from 21 churches and 4,718 members dismissed in 2011, the number jumped to 110 churches and 33,659 members dismissed in 2012. That pattern continued until 2017, when the number of dismissed churches fell to 45 and the number of members dismissed dipped to 6,910. The PC(USA) currently has 9,304 congregations, 147 fewer than at the end of 2016.

In July of 2018, Mike Tooley writes: Answers to some of these mysteries might be found at the Presbyterian Church USA General Assembly meeting last month and the Episcopal General Convention meeting this month. At their current rates of decline neither denomination will exist in 20 years. Yet neither convention focused on evangelism or church growth. Episcopalians debated whether to compel a handful of dissenting traditional dioceses to host same sex nuptials. They also discussed editing their liturgies to become more gender neutral. Presbyterians denounced Israel and USA border policies, opposed religious liberty in favor of LGBTQ and abortion rights, and pondered whether to divest from fossil fuels. A senior church official claimed there’s increasing excitement in their denomination over “ justice” issues. No doubt. They lost 68,000 members last year.

Americans and people around the world are vacating progressive pews and flocking to churches that offer more traditional versions of Christianity; most people go to church to get something they cannot get elsewhere. This consuming public--people who already believe, or who are attempting to believe, who want their children to believe--go to church to learn about the mysterious Truth on which the Christian religion is built. They want the Good News, not the minister's political views or intellectual coaching. The latter creates sprawling vacancies in the pews. Indeed, those empty pews can be considered the earthly reward for abandoning heaven, traditionally understood.

According to a study done, 69 percent of pastors at declining churches believe Christian beliefs need to change over time to stay relevant, not one pastor at a growing church says the same. The study goes on to say “Our research suggests that churches don’t have to abandon or water down their core beliefs to remain ‘relevant’ or attract people to their services, on the contrary, churches that stick to quite conservative beliefs that emphasize the truth of the Bible, the importance of sharing the gospel, and God’s continuing action in the world are actually more likely to grow.”