From notesfromthepastorsoffice.com

The Dying UMC in the USA: What’s the REAL Story?

Every time a story about the membership rate decline within the United Methodist Church comes out, I notice far too many people taking that opportunity to point out one of two things.  First, they point to whatever social issue they want and say that the UMC’s wrong focus on it is the reason for the decline.  Second, they usually point to the church in Asia and Africa and say that our problems can be fixed by using their methods.  These are in no way empirical facts.

A press release from The Institute on Religion and Democracy reports that–along with the Presbyterian and Episcopal churches–the United Methodist Church continues to decline in membership.  Conversely, the report says that the UMC in Africa is on pace to outnumber their US counterparts in 10 years.  You cannot deny a number like this: 40% of the delegation to General Conference this spring will come from outside the US.

What is the church doing wrong?  This is a good question, considering that denominations such as the Assemblies of God, the Southern Baptist Convention and the Catholic Church report steady to growing numbers.  Is it–as the IRD believes–that Liberal Protestantism is failing?  There is certainly an argument to be made for that.  However, that’s not it–or only it.  I’m gonna go with it NOT being…it.

We need to see the bigger picture.  The Assemblies of God and Catholic Church are growing outside the US–just like the UMC.  However, the Catholic Church is shrinking within the US, just like everyone else.  The developing world–Africa, Korea and Latin America–are the places where the church is growing.  You cannot gather too much information for the US church based on the church’s growth in the developing world.  they could very well have some things to teach us, but the problem in the US church is cultural.  The problem is not orthodoxical or orthoproxical–it’s not belief or practice.

I have used and will continue to use this imagery until it stops being relevant.  It isn’t the 1950′s anymore.  The 50′s were the height of the mainline church.  Of course, society was different.  It seemed as if the culture acted as a funnel to get people in the doors of the church.  Laws were designed to not give someone the idea of skipping Sunday worship and there was shame attached to not having a church home.  Since then, big corporations have lobbied across the country to destroy Blue laws and there has to be someone manning the shop.  Today, there are any number of reasons someone could give for not going to church.  And on any given Sunday, nearly all of them are used.

While there are bright spots across all religious landscapes, the church in the US is failing.  You can point to individual denominations and ridicule their declines, but the decline is not limited to Liberal Protestantism.  The problem–as I said earlier–is cultural.

What changes do we need to make?  My theory is that we are in our own time–much like Martin Luther was in his own time.  It was a time of flux and failure.  It was a time of great change.  The circumstances are vastly different, but I think it is our generation’s responsibility to be the new reformers of the church.  We need to figure out how the message of Christ and the reign of God translate to the Post-Modern world in which we live.  It is our responsibility.  We don’t need to look to the world of business for pointers.  We may eventually need to learn from the church in Africa.  But right now, we need get on our knees and seek the counsel of God–not keep up with the spiritual Jones’.