Last week I received the following email from a concerned church member offering a heartfelt and faithful lament for the mission of the church. I asked for his permission to share it with you anonymously:
I was going through some old documents at my parents’ house today. I came across an old bulletin and I was at first amazed… and then scared. I grew up in a small town in Texas. Our Lutheran congregation was the big church in town, but not the only church. As I think back, everybody I knew went to some church.
The bulletin dated December 2, 1956 showed the attendance the previous Sunday had been a whopping 255 people! And this was no fluke: the attendance on Thanksgiving Day was 212! The 1960 census population for the town was a little over 600 people. In other words, this Lutheran church had regular worship attendance of more than 40% of the whole town’s population while numerous other churches thrived nearby. Fast forward to today and that same church reports and average worship attendance in the 80s while the town’s census population grew by 30% between 1960 and 2020. Today, about 10% of the community’s population is in worship at this church. In 67 years, the attendance fell by 65% and the attendance as a percentage of population fell by 75%!
The attendance figures in my hometown church struck me to my core. Are we (the Church) doing something wrong? How do we deliver the Good News (law and gospel) to this generation? Are we missing some huge opportunity to get people to listen? For, if they do not hear, how can they believe?
I know that we can never bring back the past, but the Gospel can change the future and make it even better. Many people today feel hopeless, helpless, and numb. The news constantly talks about the divide among people: liberals and conservatives, skin colors and nationalities, rich and poor, religious people and the unchurched. Many people do not acknowledge their sin, are not willing to forgive and cannot comprehend faith, grace or salvation.
Contrary to the news reports and popular opinion, I believe that love, hope and joy exist in this world and are prevalent in the Church. The real Church is not angry old people criticizing sinners; nor is it Puritans conquering Satan. The true Church is the fellowship of saints who have grievously experienced sin, mercifully accepted forgiveness, and found the love, hope and joy that abounds within them as a gift of God’s grace. And they freely and joyfully share these gifts with others (especially those different than themselves) through their everyday lives.
If this was how the Church was known in the world, do you think people would want to listen? How do we (including the whole LCMC) become that kind of Church? Any ideas? Lots of prayers and contemplation. Enough for now.
