Christianity is not a Lone Ranger religion; it is experienced in community. In most cities or towns in American would be church goers have many options, including Protestant or Catholic, contemporary or traditional worship, theologically conservative or progressive, and small or large membership. So What? If you currently belong to a church (whether or not you are a member), think back to your original experiences that helped you discern this was the fellowship for you. Why did Read More …
membership
Just How Small Are Most Congregations? (#0627)
Recently the Presbyterian Church (USA) released information about the distribution of its congregations by size. The chart below provides the data in a manner that clearly displays the prevalence of small congregations. Put differently, 51.9% have 100 or fewer members 83.7% have 300 or fewer members 3.6% have 800 or more members So What? Since completing my education I have served exclusively in mainline congregations with well over 800 members, including a PC Read More …
Liberal Protestant Decline – Fact Check (#0506)
Yesterday, I wrote a review of Mark Chaves' new book American Religion: Contemporary Trends (2011). In that post, I included a quote that offers a basic overview of something most people take for granted: the decline of liberal Protestant churches over the last several decades. As a result of this shift, there were twice as many Americans who "claimed affiliation with conservative denominations as with theologically more liberal ones" (p. 87). Chaves goes on to Read More …
Joining a Church – It’s Complicated (#0480)
Michael L. Lindvall, Senior Pastor of the Brick Presbyterian Church in New York City, wrote an article in the September 6, 2011 edition of the Christian Century about the mixed motives people have when joining a church. Sharing insight from his own experience and data to show that this is not merely a recent or American trend, he suggests that people do not join churches out of "pure conviction." He suggests that this assumption "underestimates God" and also "misunderstands Read More …
Could Church Membership Soon Be A Thing Of The Past? (#0397)
Will Mancini is an author, pastor, and speaker who founded Auxano – a church consulting group with a unique approach to developing a church’s vision frame before providing traditional consulting services. He recently blogged about why church membership is no longer as helpful a construct as it once was. In addition to references to churches that have moved away from church membership in favor of partnership, Mancini suggests five reasons churches should consider making the Read More …