Christianity in Decline?
Everywhere I turn, the reports seem to be grim. One can hardly deny that Christianity is in numerical decline in America.
One recent statistical analysis showed that between 1990 and 2020 the Presbyterian Church USA declined in membership by 58%. The United Methodist Church also saw a 31% decline during the same period, and churches among the Southern Baptist Convention reported a loss of 4% of their membership.
It should also be noted that Southern Baptists were about the only Christian denomination in America to see a surge in church membership at the turn of the millennium, so their relatively small reduction over 30 years is actually a far larger decline over the most recent decade.
A time for despair?
One way of looking at these statistics would be for Christians to despair in light of the present numerical decline of church attendance and membership. Even if some Christians want to argue that true Christianity does not necessitate affiliation with a local church, it would be foolish to claim that lower church membership and attendance numbers are irrelevant to the health and vitality of Christianity in general. And Christians would be right to lament the decline.
A time for doubling down?
Many Christians have responded to these dismal statistics by doubling down on their promotion of evangelism and their efforts to seek new converts. No doubt, Christians should always be engaged in teaching the gospel with the aim of persuading those who presently do not know it or believe it. If Christians are to increase in number over time, they must certainly make an effort to see non-Christians converted.
A time for honest evaluation?
Yet another way to think about these disheartening numbers is to do a little soul-searching. Many Evangelicals in America already admit that church membership statistics have often been inflated. There are commonly many more names on the membership roster than people in attendance on any given Sunday morning. These inflated numbers have been especially present among Southern Baptist churches and Evangelical non-denominational churches.
At least since the 1950s, Christianity in America has intentionally included a large number of those who adopted a cultural form of the religion without a personal conviction to live in keeping with its doctrine or practices. So too, the widespread practice of “easy believism” has promoted a truncated concept of Christian conversion that overemphasizes a “decision” to believe and downplays (or even denies) the ongoing obligation Christians have to live in keeping with that belief. These trends have coincided with a lack of seriousness in the practice of church membership, where churches make it quite easy to join the church and nearly impossible to be removed from its membership.
All of these practices (i.e., cultural Christianity, easy believism, and meaningless church membership) and more have contributed to an unrealistic measurement of a greater number of “Christians” in America than has truly been the case. It may be that the declining statistics of church membership and attendance are telling a negative story, but I believe we are also seeing a more honest one.
Furthermore, while cultural and nominal Christianity is receding in America, it is not apparent to me that convictional and serious Christianity is doing so.
Is serious Christianity growing?
All the churches I know that are taking Christianity (and especially church membership) more seriously, are holding steady numerically or even increasing. Long-established churches are maintaining (and sometimes even growing) when they renew their efforts to make clear the gospel of Christ, the cost of discipleship, and the importance of doctrine. New church plants with robust teaching and high expectations for membership are on the rise, and many of them are thriving in places that have seen many older churches die.
I don’t deny that the statistical picture looks bad. I also join many other Christians in mourning the loss of the positive societal reception many Christians of older generations once enjoyed. But I also refuse to buy into the narrative that Christianity in America is dying.
In fact, when I look around, many of the Christians and churches I see are doing quite well. Those who embrace doctrinally rich, personally engaging, and historically grounded forms of Christianity seem far less affected by the numerical decline. And they are even bucking the trend.
It seems to me that Jesus Christ’s promise to build His Church has not and will not fail. And, therefore, Christians don’t have to lose heart when we read a story or report that tries to tell us the opposite.
We can simply walk into a thriving church on a Sunday morning and look around.