Decline is the one word summary we all know summarizes the state of American Christianity, especially when focusing on membership numbers. It is true that the decline came earlier for Mainline Protestants, but also true they've been joined by Evangelicals. According to sociologist Ryan Burge, only one major Protestant denomination, "has seen consistently positive year over year growth over the last four decades." That denomination is the Assemblies of God. AoG on SWF The Assemblies of Read More …
denomination
Congregational Age (#1349)
While I was well aware the United Church of Christ includes many historic congregations that were founded long before the denomination itself was created in 1957, I was surprised to learn that nearly 7 out of every 10 current congregations were organized before 1900 (69.1%). Even more alarming is the fact that only around 1 in 10 were organized during the last 32 years (9.6%). So What? Congregational age matters. While a denomination can benefit from congregations with Read More …
United Church of Christ Tribute Song (#1313)
Currently, I serve two churches affiliated with the United Church of Christ. After writing yesterday about reasons why some clergy are leaving their denominations, today I am suggesting that all who are part of a denomination invest some time in learning more about the history and polity of that denomination. I would love to hear the ways you have done so in the past, and any plans you make for deepening your understanding in 2014. Whether or not you are a part of the United Church Read More …
Future Church – More Jesus-Centered (#0702)
Church v.2020 - Ten Changes: #6 More Jesus-Centered – Less Focused on Tradition When compared with the American church of 2012, the future church (v.2020) will be more Jesus-centered and less focused on tradition. This shift offers considerable hope for renewal within the church and growth from those who find its new emphasis appealing. While past efforts have tended toward extremes (e.g., Restoration movements on the right and the Jesus Seminar on the left) new quests will be Read More …
More Decline in the Mainline: UCC in Florida (#0645)
I recently received the latest statistics about the Florida Conference of the United Church of Christ. Between 2000 and 2010 membership declined 23.6% and giving through congregations to Our Church's Wider Mission (provides funding for the work of UCC Conference and National ministries) declined 42.7%. So What? The Florida Conference of the United Church of Christ is not unique. Mainline churches have been experiencing membership decline for decades. In Read More …
God is Still Speaking – the First Decade (#0553)
Ron Buford is the lead architect of the United Church of Christ's (UCC) Still Speaking campaign which began in 2002. He recently accepted a call to serve as Interim Minister for Discipleship at Old South Church in Boston, and authored an article about Still Speaking in the denomination's magazine (Vol. 2, Issue 2 - p.54-56). In that piece he explores his experiences over the last decade, including his travel to congregations in all but two of the UCC Conferences. Read More …
Beyond Survival: A Way Forward for Denominations (#0482)
Eric Van Meter's recent commentary, "Can Our Denomination Overcome its Fear of Failure?," considers the decades old struggle facing mainline denominations: reversing the trend of declining membership. Van Meter writes, "We United Methodists have launched one initiative after another in the past four decades, only to watch our churches decline in every measurable category, except average age." Well aware of the many initiatives, past and present, undertaken by his denomination and the Read More …
The Most Religious Universities (#0468)
John Blake recently wrote a post for the CNN Belief blog about the results of the latest Princeton Review survey of college students. Specifically, he focused on how schools fared with respect to how their students answered a question about just how religious other students on campus are. Students responded to the question using a Likert (1 to 5) scale ranging from strongly disagree to strongly agree. The top 5 schools with the "most religious students" are Brigham Young Read More …