In August, 2018, The Pew Research Center, a nonpartisan “think-fact-tank” based in Washington, D.C., released demographic research to highlight the current level of church decline and engagement among different people groups in various age groupings.  The complete 34-page report can be found at www.pewresearch.org   In the next series of blogs, I will highlight and discuss findings in this research that opens a window for us into the thought progressions and preferences currently active in our western culture’s post-Christian mindset.  The aim of these analyses is to highlight how many of us presently “do church”, as contrasted with the new “receptivity factors” that many people now deem as “faith-connecting” to them.  We know that “the times, they are a ‘changin’”; however, I fear we often fail to give regular, serious attention as to whether we are truly engaging the culture of the communities we seek to serve and to reach with the Gospel.  Therefore, the need for fresh introspection is always timely.

These discussions will not revolve around “church music style preferences,” whether or not you use “laser lights and fog” in your worship venue, or what kind of “clothing tastes” are most preferential with your current congregants.  In my mind, those matters are surface issues that have no lasting depth.  I have witnessed numerous churches across the various styles, tastes, and preferences “spectrum” who both struggle to connect with their culture as well as those that do.  There are more significant issues involved in engaging and reaching a culture than the topics just mentioned, and this Pew research report moves us in the right direction.

When U.S. adults were asked, “why do you only attend religious services a few times a year?”, here were some of the primary reasons:

• “I practice my faith in other ways” (The largest response).
• “I haven’t found a church that I like.”
• “I don’t like the sermons.”
• “I don’t feel welcome.”
• “I don’t have the time.”
• “There isn’t a church for my faith in my area.”
• “I am not a believer” (the second largest response; 33% gave this answer!).

In contrast to these current responses, I grew up in an era where going to church was considered “the good” or “the moral” thing to do.  In many instances, it wasn’t about the hymns/songs that you sang or did not sing.  It wasn’t about whether the preacher’s message was appealing or not.  It wasn’t even about whether the church’s ministries (programs) met your “needs.”  You simply went to church because “people ought to go to church.” 

Certainly, that’s not the way things are now, nor do I believe we will be returning to “Mayberry days” any time in the foreseeable future.

So, the challenge now is to ask ourselves in probing ways, “why are more people repelling from the church than attracted to her these days?”  We will see in the weeks to come that behind every proposed answer, there is a larger issue, that if properly addressed, can potentially turn the church’s prospects in favor of becoming a more spiritually “magnetic” congregation, regardless of a church’s liturgical style, music taste, and/or clothing preferences. And yes, whether you use “laser lights” or not.

To quote a famous law of science into this discussion, “for every action (what a church does or doesn’t do), there is an equal and opposite reaction” (how people respond to it).  We don’t need “change for change’s sake” just to appease the culture, but maybe the bathwater for the baby does need to be checked.