Posted on 09/06/2017 7:04:56 PM PDT by SeekAndFind
I wonder what the increase is for non-denominational Christian.
I don’t know. A large number of churches in my area are nondenominational though.
Disciple of Christ ping
Faith is often confused with values. There was once the assumption that people of faith shared ideals such as sobriety, monogamy, abstinence of sex before marriage, honesty, an abhorrence of pornography, respect for human life and personal responsibility and accountability in all actions especially dealings with fellow human beings. There was a time in America when the majority of people, most of whom were believers and members of some religious denomination were part of a consensus that shared those values. However over the past fifty years America has entered a neo pagan era. A large percentage of the people, nearly a majority has embraced hedonism,pornography, drug use, tolerates homosexuality and all its permutations, widespread abortion, earth and celebrity worship. It is not surprising that these people are agnostic, have left religion or embraced pseudo religious organizations that embrace those values. The decline in religious affiliations and the decline in attendance at services, reflects a loss of faith but also a fundamental shift in values. Face it. There no longer exists a reasonable social consensus in the United States.
The Methodists tend to be very liberal within its national bureaucracy but have many conservative congregations. The Church has not recognized homosexual marriage but there are many homosexuals within its influential positions.
What was once a conservative Methodist Women’s Missionary Society degraded into the WSCS (Women’s Society of Christian Service) and then changed further. The Methodist Board of Global Ministries was just as involved in Theology of Liberation as the Jesuit Order. Now some of those Christian congregations that missionaries started in places like Thailand, Tanzania, and China need to send missionaries to the United States and Europe to lead errant Churches back to the Bible.
SBC has not built an engaging culture - it's designed to be transmit only, one-way from church "leader" to congregation member. Today people are much more informed - we have multiple libraries, online bible studies, open source curriculum, and students of the word are prepared and ready to engage. SBC culture squashes this enthusiasm.
I’ve noticed the same.
I left SBC for a non-denominational Bible-based church.
Are there numbers for the Catholic Church in the United States?
Same - thank you ViLaLuz — I should have added that in my response!
Very, very well stated, Allendale!
The SBC is now officially anti-Confederate though many of the members may not know that.
The SBC literature is often not very interesting to read too though it’s mostly biblically-based.
RE: Are there numbers for the Catholic Church in the United States?
Not in this article, sorry.
Just my guess much of the decline is liberal denominations losing members because they simply don’t have a message that differs much from what any secular/leftist type group would be saying. And the decline in conservative churches may be due to people in mega churches just not feeling all that connected to the church. They go to a church where they don’t really know anyone so they just watch it on the internet.
Peek on Drudge. Turns out the measure is a decline in white Catholic percentages, overwhelmed by Hispanic Catholics.
Politically, this outcome was, I suspect, intended and with Rome going Marxist in the Vatican, things are going to get rougher, yet.
I don’t believe there ever has been at any point “a reasonable social consensus in the United States.” The “good old days” may have been so for some, but hardly for most.
But I do believe the Democratic Party, throughout its history and on every level, has been single-minded in its efforts to ENSURE that nothing approaching “a reasonable social consensus” can be achieved. Indeed, the Democratic Party has always thrived on fomenting chaos and us-vs-them-ism.
1. Focus on social issues such as BLM and race. SBC loses focus and people like the Ethics guy (forgot his name) try to appease every new SJW cause d'jour. SBC is not built for this and it will not win this battle.
2. Lack of engagement. Many SBC churches stand in non-Caucasian neighborhoods. Yet, put your nose in the front door and the congregation looks nothing like the neighborhood.
Two sizable SBC churches I attended loved to talk up raising young men, teach our boys to be men, yet no fathers would volunteer to chaperone camps. Again, lack of engagement.
To summarize, the SBC is broke. It's playing with fire bending to the culture, appeasing the world. It's a shame this is happening bc there are many great resources in the SBC, including a strong educational foundation. Perhaps the leaders can refocus on the Word and find ways to engage.
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