The Christian Church is Dying

The Christian Church in the United States is dying.  That should come as no surprise to anyone.  It happened in Western Europe and Australia after World War II.  It happened in Canada and Ireland as well.  Now it’s happening here.

Attendance at churches of every kind is declining.  Yes, even attendance in Evangelical churches is going down.  While the church had been the hub of the Black community since the Civil War, more African American people no longer participate in church activities.  Among Catholics, it’s mostly new immigrants who attend.  Christian churches have a very different landscape than two generations ago.

Churches continue to employ marketing tricks and gimmicks to gain attendance.  It’s not working.  That’s because the face of Christianity in the United States is nothing less than repugnant to many people.  A couple of years ago, I interviewed a number of millennials from different parts of the country about religion.  While they all considered themselves spiritual and could discuss their beliefs and practices, none participated in a traditional Christian church even if they grew up in one.  Why?  They quickly identified the egregious scandals of churches: the clergy sex abuse scandals, the prolific “God hates fags” propaganda, the alignment of particular Christian leaders with political power, and the shameless fundraising for personal gain by preachers.  Younger people often perceive that clergy and churches are not to be trusted.  Personally, I think they have good reason to be skeptical and critical of both clergy and churches.

“But my church isn’t like that!” you say.  I understand that may be true. Most churches aren’t representative of the egregious abuses I’ve cited.  But I think it’s too late to actually change the public perception of Christianity in the United States today.

There are many local churches doing very good things.  They operate food banks, are active in political demonstrations, work with migrants and refugees, provide shelter to the homeless, and pitch in where they can to address social ills.  Yes, many progressive congregations are much like social service agencies using their resources for the betterment of others.  That’s also part of the problem.  It’s not that I don’t think social justice is a good thing.  I march in protests and help when I can by donating money or volunteering my time.  But that’s not what makes a vibrant church.

In the end, what I find missing in most churches is a foundation in spirituality, spiritual experience, and spiritual formation.  People in the United States go out of their way to find things to make them whole.  They meditate, do yoga and tai chi, learn Buddhist chanting, and weave practices like mindfulness into daily activities including within the workplace.  But churches?  A few have spirituality groups or periodic classes.  But churches aren’t places where people find spiritual transformation.  Furthermore, clergy have no training in spiritual formation or transformation unless they’ve specifically sought it out.  Training for clergy is theological:  beliefs about God and historic perspective on those beliefs.  It’s far different from the actual experience of God.

That’s really what’s missing in Christian churches.  There’s lots of talk about God.  Many churches are friendly and sociable and engage in social justice activities for the betterment of the community.  But experiencing God? It could happen but usually doesn’t.  Honestly, I find that most Sunday services are designed in ways that prevent one from experiencing anything very deeply.

If there’s a future for Christianity, and I hope that there is, it will not be in traditional churches.  Nor will it be in monasteries as it was in the Dark Ages of Europe.  Instead, the future of Christianity will likely be found in small groups of people who gather as followers of the teachings of Jesus.  These people won’t be driven by theology and beliefs.  Instead, the driving force will be deep experiences of God.  They’ll also use the teachings of Jesus found in the Gospels as a guide for life rather than as some abstract basis for beliefs.

You see, the mission of Jesus was not to start a religion.  He already had one.  He was Jewish.  Instead, he gathered followers:  twelve male disciples and an unknown number of women.  He didn’t teach theology.  He taught his followers to look around themselves to discover God at work in them, in each other, and in nature.  “Consider the lilies of the field,” he’s recorded to have said.  He compared God to a woman who lost a coin and a father with two sons.  He enabled people to see God in the ordinary events of life.  Above all else, he taught people how to live in ways that would change themselves and change others:  yes, feed the hungry and heal those injured.  His teachings weren’t about some sort of program or class but about individuals taking concrete steps in daily life to care for others.

In the end, I think Christianity will have a future when people who follow the teachings of Jesus truly seek to experience God’s wholeness and live with compassion for themselves and others.  Until then, we’re just trying to keep the doors open to antiquated institutions which have lost credibility in society because of repeated scandals.  In the face of the death of the church as we know it, I trust the teachings of Jesus:  something needs to die before something new is reborn.  Isn’t that the heart of the Christian message?

Photo by carolinejohnston2 on Foter.com / CC BY-NC-ND