���� ����� the key to growth
We have seen the rise and fall of mega-churches and charismatic ministers that try to be all things to all people and eventually fail because they don ’ t stand for anything lasting .
Mainline Protestant churches in the United States are learning the lesson all over again . A recent report by the Pew Research Center says they are shrinking by about a million members a year , which has ominous implications for the future . It also has a lesson for us about the right and the wrong ways to grow the Church .
Twenty years ago John Shelby Spong , a bishop in the U . S . Episcopalian Church , published a provocative book , Why Christianity Must Change or Die . Mainline churches were already experiencing decline and this was to be the antidote . The theologically liberal Spong was confident that congregations would grow if they just abandoned their literal interpretations of the Bible and accommodated them to “ changing times .”
This has become a popular approach in many churches , also endorsed by academia . A leader of the Harvard Divinity School said the book “ should be required reading for everyone concerned with facing head-on the intellectual and spiritual challenges of late 20 th century religious life .” But the embrace of liberal theology has not stopped the decline in their churches .
A study of 22 mainline congregations in the Canadian province of Ontario over the past five years found that churches sticking to more conservative literal views of the Bible were growing while more liberal churches were in decline . This tracks with the general trend that churches which are firm and clear in their religious convictions are the ones that are growing .
That should not really come as a surprise – and it ’ s a factor to consider as we look to ways to increase our own church growth . Whether services are informal or traditional it shouldn ’ t make a difference – and should support growth – as long as we are clear , consistent and uncompromising in what we stand for and maintain doctrinal integrity , not water down doctrine to fit “ changing times .”
Spong may be right that Christianity must change or die . But it all depends on what you change – and what you don ’ t .
( BMH ) good questions in a painting
“ Where Do We Come From ? What Are We ? Where Are We Going ?” is a large painting ( more than 12 feet long ) of a mystical Tahitian scene , like a vision or a dream . Gauguin regarded it as his masterpiece . I ’ ve seen it twice : many years ago in its home at the Boston Museum of Art , and more recently when it
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