Are conservative churches growing?

A recent article from church history guru Martin Marty raises the question of whether or not conservative churches are still growing. Dean Kelley's seminal 1972 book "Why Conservative Churches Are Growing" paved the way for studies on the significance and reasons behind the conservative church growth movement of the last half of the twentieth century.

And while conservative churches continued to report growth until recently, a new move may be under way, according to Marty. He cites several statistics that demonstrate that certain conservative denominations are declining in numbers--the same sorts of declines liberal and mainline churches began to experience in the 1960s.

What does this mean? It's too early to tell. It could just be a blip on the radar screen of evangelicalism. Or, it could signal a long-term change in the size and structure of conservative-leaning churches.

What we do know is that it's definitely worth watching.

Thousands "'Rocked' the River" in St. Paul on Sunday

Some 23,000 people attended the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association's "Rock the River" event in St. Paul on Sunday. Several of Christian music's most popular bands performed, including Kirk Franklin (photo far left), Superchick, DecembeRadio, FLAME, Lecrae, and Flyleaf.

Between sets, Franklin Graham stepped out on the stage and presented the Gospel. More than 900 people came forward throughout the event when Franklin gave the invitation to commit your life to Christ.

While the event was billed as a youth event, the crowd included people of all ages.

The September issue of MCC will have a full report.

Crowd gathers to support foreclosure victim

As we reported yesterday, several dozen people, including members of Missio Dei, gathered to stand with Rosemary Williams (first row, middle with green headband) as she will soon be arrested for trespassing at her now-foreclosed upon house in south Minneapolis. Williams claims she tried to work with the mortgage company to find a solution, but they were not interested.

Mark Van Steenwyk, one of the leaders of the Missio Dei community (second row, brown shirt with glasses), feels the Church has not done enough to stand with those suffering as a result of the housing crisis.

Foreclosure

Rosemary Williams has lived in her south Minneapolis neighborhood for more than 50 years. After losing her job, she was unable to pay her mortgage. Even though she tried to negotiate with the lenders, her attempts were unsuccessful. She now is awaiting arrest at her home for trespassing charges.

Her story, like thousands of others across the country, pull at our heart strings.

One group--Missio Dei--is challenging the Church to become more involved in the foreclosure crisis.

Stay tuned to this blog and the September issue of the MCC for updates on Williams and how Missio Dei feels the Church should respond.

Terri Schiavo

We all remember the Terri Schiavo case that riveted the country a few years back. Various significant debates emerged over the battle for Terri's life: issues of life, the role of the government, the importance of family law, etc.

In the July MCC, we review a new DVD about the Terri Schiavo story. According to the reviewer, this is a must-see for a variety of reasons.

Make sure to pick up your copy of the July issue to read this important review.

Megachurches: Just like the rest of us?

The Hartford Institute for Religion Research recently released the study "Not who you think they are: The real story of people who attend America's megachurches." There are a lot of interesting findings, including:

1. Young and single adults attend megachurches in greater numbers than smaller churches.
2. Those who attend megachurches report a marked increased in their spiritual growth, involvement in the church and in their needs being met.
3. Attenders were first attracted by the worship style, the senior pastor and the reputation of the church.

Some of the other findings go against the grain of what many people think of megachurches.

We'll be doing a more in-depth look into this study in the July issue of the paper.

The end of Evangelicalism?

Evangelicalism is once again a popular topic in newspapers, on TV, on the radio and on the various Internet-based media sites. The concern is no longer with Evangelicalism’s size and influence but with the potential for the movement to collapse.

Michael Spencer, writing in The Christian Science Monitor, argued that Evangelicalism will follow the decline witnessed by mainline Protestants, which started in the 1960s and continues to this day.

Spencer writes, “Millions of Evangelicals will quit. Thousands of ministries will end. Christian media will be reduced, if not eliminated. Many Christian schools will go into rapid decline…But the end of Evangelicalism as we know it is close.”

Dean M. Kelley, in his seminal book, “Why Conservative Churches Are Growing,” argued that mainline churches suffered their decline as a result of weakening their adherence to time-honored beliefs.

When a church or a movement loses its belief system and can no longer offer its members something that only the church or movement can provide, then its followers fall away or find another manner to meet their specific needs. There were a host of other reasons why mainline churches suffered their losses—demographics, birth rates among members, etc.—but the movement’s loss of its unique belief structure was paramount to its decline.

For Evangelicalism, the problem is less serious and based more upon a redirection of priorities. The early 1970s witnessed the rise of what we have come to call the Religious Right or Christian conservative movement. Evangelicals began to become active in politics again after a 50-year hiatus that dated back to the Scopes trial in 1925.

And for the next 40 years, Evangelicals became increasingly involved in politics and began to see their faith more intertwined with political action.

What is happening now is a reassessment of the political strategy. Evangelicals tend to be more aligned with conservative politics and so when conservative candidates suffer huge losses—like they did last fall—it’s normal for many to reassess the movement, and even for some to predict its demise.

The point some people are missing, including Michael Spencer, is that Evangelicalism is a much broader and deeper movement than just the political component. While politics has played an increasingly significant role in the movement, particularly since the 1970s, it in no way accurately and exhaustively defines Evangelicals.

Evangelicalism, more than anything else, is defined by its commitment to Christ and the importance of a personal relationship with Him. As long as that remains the central component to the movement, the talk of its demise is much exaggerated.

Evangelicalism is certainly not dead. From non-profit organizations fighting poverty and homelessness, to para-church ministries giving voice to the voiceless, to ministries working for just public policy, to Christian schools training up the next generation, to small, medium and large churches reaching the lost, discipling the newly saved, and walking with those on the verge of their eternal journeys—Evangelicalism is far from death.