No Boost in Church Attendance during Economic Crisis

I believe Christianity Today wrote not too long ago that during the depression the church did not grow either.

But while some churches have seen higher numbers, the recent Gallup Poll found "absolutely no change" in church attendance after reviewing almost 300,000 ...

I have seen a significant drop in attendance in my circles and truly the bad economy has not helped. I have wondered at it all. I think we need to really examine Biblical Christianity and what it means to be a light in this world. I think most of all that we need to ask ourselves if we are preaching the 'good' news.

[color=000066]As he spake by the mouth of his holy prophets, which have been since the world began: That we should be saved from our enemies, and from the hand of all that hate us; To perform the mercy promised to our fathers, and to remember his holy covenant; The oath which he sware to our father Abraham, That he would grant unto us, that we being delivered out of the hand of our enemies [u]might serve him without fear[/u], In holiness and righteousness before him, all the days of our life. (Luke 1)[/color]

I found this passage in my devotional time to be very challenging. Christ came so that we might serve God without fear. I wonder why the temptation seems to always be to use fear as a means of getting people to live righteously rather than really seeking God for grace to serve Him in holiness and righteousness?

I have reservations that fear and dread will be the means by which God moves the masses. I have employed it for years and I see nothing but burned over and charred fields. I see many empty pews.

KingJimmy wrote:
I believe Christianity Today wrote not too long ago that during the depression the church did not grow either.

Perhaps this is because, ever since the age of "Indulgences", people have been given the general idea that the "church" asks for money to fund the programs, pay the pastors, etc...?

Just a thought.

History has shown that a significant crisis usually results in fuller pews, as was seen after the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. During this latest crisis of economic challenges, some reports have indicated that houses of worship have drawn larger crowds. But while some churches have seen higher numbers, the recent Gallup Poll found "absolutely no change" in church attendance after reviewing almost 300,000 ...

Could it be that all those people who crowded churches after 9/11 found that most churches didn't have any real answers for their questions? Maybe they remember that and are turning elsewhere this time.

I am reminded of David Wilkerson's sermon [url=https://www.sermonindex.net/modules/mydownloads/visit.php?lid=4218]The Towers Have Fallen but We Missed the Message[/url].

In Christ,

Ron

InTheLight wrote:

I am reminded of David Wilkerson's sermon [url=https://www.sermonindex.net/modules/mydownloads/visit.php?lid=4218]The Towers Have Fallen but We Missed the Message[/url].

In Christ,

Ron

Yes, don't forget also:

[b]Sodom's Sister[/b]
https://www.sermonindex.net/modules/mydownloads/singlefile.php?lid=3400

Both messages go side by side. Both are delivered right after 9/11.

Ron's: Could it be that all those people who crowded churches after 9/11 found that most churches didn't have any real answers for their questions? Maybe they remember that and are turning elsewhere this time.

I think Ron has a point here. It is the whole Humpty Dumpty thing. Someone has to take Dumpty past the King's men and to the King Himself.

Perhaps this is because, ever since the age of "Indulgences", people have been given the general idea that the "church" asks for money to fund the programs, pay the pastors, etc...?

Just a thought.

Indeed, I had a similar thought. When folks walk into a place and see a lot of overhead, they realize how that got there and get turned off (perhaps at least on the subconscious level, if not consciously).

I see many empty pews

They are looking for believers who have the true ANSWER and are living other-worldly.

And honestly, these kind of people and the modern church system usually do not mix.

just my observation,
phil

They are looking for believers who have the true ANSWER and are living other-worldly. And honestly, these kind of people and the modern church system usually do not mix.

I am often challenged when I contrast what I perceive is Christianity and holiness with the person of Jesus Christ. Holiness seems to descend into a system of 'don't(s)' in most cases leaving an attitude of superiority with the people. We are not like 'them' because we don't:

1.?
2.?
3.?

But when Jesus came He did not come off like that. The religious people made the sinners feel like God hated them and didn't want them. They grossly misrepresented God. If they did try to help them they got a cold treatment like clinical specimens or something.

[color=000066]Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye compass sea and land to make one proselyte, and when he is made, ye make him twofold more the child of hell than yourselves. (Matthew 23:15)[/color]

This is sobering. This smacks of a selective-ness in the Pharisees evangelistic efforts. They looked down on common folk and had no compassion for the common needs of the people. Carter Conlon dealt with a similar attitude in his message on the ANGRY watchmen.

[color=000066]There is a generation that are pure in their own eyes, and yet is not washed from their filthiness. (Proverbs 30)

There is a generation, O how lofty are their eyes! and their eyelids are lifted up. (Proverbs 30)[/color]

The filthiness here are not those things that particularly characterize so-called holiness people; it is the filthiness of pride and the absence of compassion that is devoid of even a natural affection for their parents (see previous verses).

People do not need a dead religion. They do not need the [i]formaldehyde[/i] of legalism that seeks to preserve a move of the Spirit long after the Spirit has moved on. Legalism tries to preserve the carcass, but it cannot put breath back in the lungs.

What happens when a sinner comes into a church? What happens when they ask for prayer? What about a hurting saint? What about someone that has lost their job? Are they made a spectacle? Are they singled out and embarrassed to add to their suffering? Are they made to feel like, "See sinner you should have listened!" Maybe it is not being said, but is that how it comes off?

How would Jesus handle these things? The world is hurting and needs answers. I am not convinced that because many have not been washed of their own 'filthiness' that they are not qualified to minister to the lost. They know not what spirit they are of. They are right in their own eyes. They believe they have the answers, but they are devoid of the genuine love of Christ that flows in a believer (Romans 5:5).