Southern Baptists, Catholics in Decline and Other Church Attendance Trends

February 27, 2009 at 2:50 pm (Uncategorized) (, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , )

Church demographers have been saying for awhile that Catholics are in big trouble if you take away growth from immigration and sure enough, the 2009 Yearbook of American and Canadian Churches, which just came out, showed the Catholic Church declined .59 percent or 398,000 members in 2007. They still have some 67 million adherents, though.

The Southern Baptist Convention, America’s largest Protestant denomination, have been seeing faltering numbers for years in their own head counts. Their downward shift is finally being registered by the Yearbook, a bible of sorts for religion writers and scholars. They lost .24 percent or 40,000 members. Which is a drop in the bucket compared to their reported 16.2-million-member total but no one likes a shrinking membership base, no matter how slight.

Just in case you wondered, membership of America’s top 25 churches equals 146 million souls or just under half of the population. Churches listed in the Yearbook with the highest rate of membership loss are the United Church of Christ (down 6.01 percent), the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church (down 3.01 percent), the Presbyterian Church (USA) (down 2.79 percent), the Lutheran Church – Missouri Synod (down 1.44 percent) and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (down 1.35 percent). The Missouri Synod loss is a surprise in that conservative groups generally do not decline in American churchdom.

The churches that are growing are: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (up 1.63 percent to 5,873,408; the Assemblies of God (up 0.96 percent to 2,863,265); Jehovah’s Witnesses (up 2.12 percent to 1,092,169); and the Church of God of Cleveland, Tenn. (up 2.04 percent to 1,053,642). The Mormons are now America’s fourth-largest church group, having surpassed nearly every mainline Protestant denomination.

Keep in mind that many of the groups listed below that say “no change reported” never send in their membership totals, so what the Yearbook lists them as is just a guess. Also note the biggest percentage loss happened in President Barack Obama’s denomination: The United Church of Christ, down 6 percent.

Here are the totals for the top 25, cut and pasted from the Yearbook’s press release:

The Roman Catholic Church, 67,117,06 members, down 0.59 percent. (Ranked 1)

The Southern Baptist Convention, 16,266,920 members, down 0.24 percent. (Ranked 2)

The United Methodist Church, 7,931,733 members, down 0.80 percent. (Ranked 3)

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 5,873,408 members, up 1.63 percent .(Ranked 4)

The Church of God in Christ, 5,499,875 members, no change reported. (Ranked 5)

National Baptist Convention, U.S.A., Inc., 5,000,000 members, no change reported. (Ranked 6)

Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, 4,709,956 members, down 1.35 percent. (Ranked 7)

National Baptist Convention of America, Inc., 3,500,000 members, no change reported. (Ranked 8)

Presbyterian Church (USA), 2,941,412 members, down 2.79 percent (Ranked 9)

Assemblies of God, 2,863,265 members, up 0.96 percent. (Ranked 10)

African Methodist Episcopal Church, 2,500,000 members, no change reported. (Ranked 11)

National Missionary Baptist Convention of America, 2,500,000 members, no change reported. (Ranked 11)

Progressive National Baptist Convention, Inc., 2,500,000 members, no change reported. (Ranked 11)

The Lutheran Church – Missouri Synod (LCMS), 2,383,084 members, down 1.44 percent. (Ranked 14)

The Episcopal Church, 2,116,749 members, down 1.76 percent. (Ranked 15)

Churches of Christ, 1,639,495 members, no change reported. (Ranked 16)

Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America, 1,500,000 members, no change reported. (Ranked 17)

Pentecostal Assemblies of the World, Inc., 1,500,000 members, no change reported. (Ranked 17)

The African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church, 1,400,000 members, down 3.01 percent. (Ranked 19)

American Baptist Churches in the USA, 1,358,351, down 0.94 percent. (Ranked 20)

Baptist Bible Fellowship International, 1,200,000, no change reported. (Ranked 21)

United Church of Christ, 1,145,281 members, down 6.01 percent. (Ranked 22)

Jehovah’s Witnesses, 1,092,169 members, up 2.12 percent (Ranked 23)

Christian Churches and Churches of Christ, 1,071,616 members, no change reported. (Ranked 24)

Church of God (Cleveland, Tenn.), 1,053,642 members, up 2.04 percent. (Ranked 25)

HT: http://washingtontimes.com/weblogs/belief-blog/2009/Feb/25/catholics-southern-baptists-losing-members/

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The Heresy of Empty Words: Why I Won’t Be a Good Pastor

February 25, 2009 at 3:08 pm (Uncategorized) (, , , , , , , , , , , , , )

*Just a few quick thoughts I’ve been thinking lately, don’t take them too seriously!*

I’ve been thinking a lot recently about what churches are looking for in a minister. Graduation is inching closer and closer and I know that soon enough I will be putting my resume out there in search for a position. This has caused a great deal of reflection on what it will look like when I’m a pastor…that is, how I will probably violate nearly ever stereotype most churches hold concerning what a pastor is supposed to be.

I feel in some ways that if I don’t let a church know what they’re getting into up front, that somehow I am deceiving them. But at the same time, I wonder if the problem isn’t merely with me, so much as it’s with this sleeping giant called the American church.

When I look at the church Job Descriptions a lot of what is see is people looking for a pastor to come in and tell them what they want to hear – “We want to know that our pastor holds to the Baptist Faith and Message,” “We want to know that our pastor isn’t a Calvinist or isn’t an Arminian.” The churches are concerned with towing the denominational lines or appealing to a certain subset of American culture (usually 20 something’s, but often enough it’s older members they’re trying to keep happy).

In the end, what these churches want is someone who will appeal to them, who is “relevant,” and, really, who will just tell them what they want to hear. But in this desire, the last thing they want is a prophet. The last thing they want is someone to challenge the injustices present within their community, call out their apathy, or urge them to theological thoughtfulness.

In the end, most Evangelical churches just want to know if I’m “conservative,” which is just another way of asking if I’m on “their side.”

But what if I’m not? What if I don’t care about “their side” or anyone else’s? What if I am more concerned with creating worlds with words, shaping theological understanding, or weaning us from our idolatry of things? That may not be the denominational line, but that’s who I am.

It seems most Evangelical churches will be happy to have a pastor who will lull them to sleep with his denominational jargon, proof-texting, and kitchy sermonettes, so long as they know he’s a “conservative.” But they want nothing to do with someone who will tell them the truth, which can rarely, if ever, be found in the political rhetoric of a denomination or our cheap cliché’s.

I fear most of us just want to hear this Heresy of Nothingness. But I also fear that I have no place in a world like that. Heck, I don’t even have patience for normal, everyday conversation that doesn’t move to something substantial within a few minutes. How then am I to survive in a church world where cheap has become the norm? Maybe I’m just not going to be a very good pastor. But maybe, in spite of that, I can be a faithful one. That’s my prayer at least.

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Pornography Impacts Girls and Women…Not Just Men

February 19, 2009 at 2:50 pm (The Bible and Gender) (, , , , , , , , , , , )

Matthew 5

27 “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ [a] 28 But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart.”

There is a whole industry set up to violate these words of Jesus – it’s called pornography. We know it hurts the relationship between the genders by encouraging men to treat women and girls as sex objects, rather than as persons created in the image of God. Yet what effect does pornography have on the self image of women and girls and how they value themselves? It’s not something I have heard Christians talk about much.

Here is an example of what I am talking about. In his book “Out of the Shadows: Understanding Sexual Addiction” (Page 88 and 89) Patrick Carnes says the following:

“A girl reads the sexually explicit magazines in her father’s pornography collection and becomes convinced about how to get a man’s attention. As an adult, she acts like the women in those magazines to attract the attention of the opposite sex.”

When I was growing up, a couple of my female friends showed me their fathers’ pornography.  At age fourteen, one of them acted out some of the things that were  described in her father’s magazines.  Later on, at age eighteen she married an extremely unstable man. I think if she had known a better experience in her family when learning what it means to be female, she would not have married him. Another girl who showed me her father’s pornography had the attitude that taking off as much clothing as possible was the ultimate thrill in being female. Even as an adult, she considers women with larger breasts to be of more intrinsic value than women with smaller breasts, and that’s what she has indirectly conveyed to her daughters.

When we talk about the cost of pornography, we cannot limit it to the way it causes men to treat women. We also have to take into account what it teaches women and girls about their value as human beings. It teaches them that their primary worth in this life is the sexual pleasure their body gives to men. It glamorizes being a sex object, and many women and girls, including Christians, accept this lesson without ever questioning it. In addition, many women come to accept the idea that their husbands’ using of pornography is normal. Again they accept this lesson without ever questioning it.

This is the  legacy of pornography in our culture. It not only causes men to view women and girls as sex objects, it causes women and girls to look at themselves as sex objects. What can we as Christians do to undo the lessons pornography teaches women and girls, and to show them how Jesus wants them to be viewed ?

H/T CBE International

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Why I Look Forward to Fatherhood-Reason 10: The Love of God

February 15, 2009 at 10:58 pm (Uncategorized)

When I coached high school basketball I always made it a point to look my players in the eyes. Whether they had just made the game winning shot or turned the ball over 8 times in a row, I wanted them to know they were loved by me all the same…success or failure.

One of the major reasons I thought about this so often is because I know how influential coaches can be in a kids life. For me, much of what I remember from coaches was their refusal to look at me ….I know, that’s probably a guy thing to remember, but the truth is, when I succeeded coaches were mild in their praise. When I failed coaches were indifferent because it seemed they expected nothing more from me. So when I coached, I vowed to be different.

The reason I mention this now, in a post that has the idea of fatherhood in the title, is that because though God claims to be my Father, I have seen him more as a coach. For me, God has been neither judge nor compassionate parent, just coach. When I succeed his praise is mild, if existent at all. When I fail, it seems that he doesn’t even want to look me in the eyes…after all; did he really expect anything more from me?

I look forward to fatherhood to dispel this myth of Coach God. I look forward to knowing, by experience, only a fraction of the way God views me – His child, his son, brother to his Son (Heb. 2:11), a person he greatly joys in and rejoices over! A child he delights in watching succeed, but also lavishes grace on in failure….grace that is not merely a lack of condemnation, but extends to assurance that he is not yet done with me.

I want to look at my daughter, see her messes, her mistakes, her blunders, and assure her that I am here to love her through all the oddities, struggles, and pain of this life. I want to see her face light up in the knowledge that I would give everything I have for her happiness and flourishing.

But this desire is not merely about me and my daughter. This desire is also about knowing that there is a God, incarnate in Jesus Christ, still present in the Spirit, who anticipates in joy a day when I no longer look at him as a transcendent Coach, indifferent to the mundane and painful realities of life, but see him as a God who rejoices in my flourishing and encourages me in my fears. God does not look away from me. His eye is always on me, his face shining in holy blessing, desiring holy communion and union.

My relationship with my daughter will not only reveal God’s love for her, but it will also reveal God’s love for me. For this reason, I look forward to fatherhood.

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