Thursday, March 12, 2009

What will become of churches?


"...is the decline of religious adherence in the U.S. a sign of the death of evangelicalism? Or is it an opportunity for the gospel?"

A recent blog post on Out of Ur addresses the decline and potential collapse of Evangelicalism in America. The number of people claiming no religious affiliation has doubled since 1990.

The climate for evangelism has shifted dramatically since 1990. It has been a quantum leap and is accelerating. The need to plant churches in this new culture, and to reconfigure/revitalize existing churches is a herculean task.
Churches that stand still and fail to respond will appear more and more like relics unable to fulfill their missionary call. What is God asking us to do in this environment? Will America end up a hostile mission field like Europe?

What do you think?

"Whatever becomes of churches, the Church of Christ shall never have its strength so sapped by abuses that it must perish, or its lustre so dimmed that the Lord of the Temple must depart from His sanctuary." Alexander MacLaren

3 comments:

Gerry Stoltzfoos said...

Well said Rich. The call is urgent, and serious. Church planting it the ultimate tool to reach this culture and turn it around in our lifetime!

Zeb Cameron said...

I think the biggest thing about this type of leadership, is the faithfulness of those who really understand the importance of doing the will of God. Mayny will say to him "lord lord" did we not do this or that but they will indeed not be known because they never knew him nor entered into his kingdom.

the original
Zeb Cameron
http://blog.nccomputers.com/wordpress/

Zeb Cameron said...

What a waste of resources.... And relationships however.