Posted on 08/26/2019 9:01:00 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
The Disciples of Christ could lose half their membership within ten years if the current rate of decline remains the same, according to a report by the Institute on Religion & Democracy.
Also known as the Christian Church, the Disciples saw their membership decline by 7 percent, going from approximately 411,000 in 2017 to approximately 382,000 in 2018, according to an entry posted Tuesday on the IRD’s blog Juicy Ecumenism.
Worship attendance fell 11 percent, going from about 139,000 in 2017 to about 124,000 in 2018, and baptisms declined by 13 percent, from approximately 4,300 in 2017 to approximately 3,700 in 2018.
Jeff Walton, author of the theologically conservative group’s entry, drew from statistics provided by the mainline Protestant denomination’s Office of General Minister and President, which appear in the Church’s 2019 yearbook.
“At the current rate, the denomination will shrink by another 50 percent within a decade,” wrote Walton. “This annual rate of decline exceeds that of the Presbyterian Church (USA) which reported a nearly 5 percent membership drop for the year 2018 and held the distinction of ‘fastest declining’ for much of the decade.”
Walton added a disclaimer that the denomination switched to an online reporting format and as a result, a smaller number of congregations submitted a report.
In an interview with The Christian Post, Walton explained that the Disciples’ decline in membership exceeded that of all other mainline Protestant churches, with their 7 decrease being larger than the 1-3 percent annual declines reported by The Episcopal Church and American Baptist Churches USA, or the 5-6 percent declines reported by the PC(USA) and the United Church of Christ.
“The denomination is aging out, shown in a steep decline in baptisms. A universalist theology appears to be sapping the evangelistic vigor of clergy,” said Walton.
“The Disciples trace their origins to the Restorationist movement, which has a history of dynamic preaching and evangelism. Unfortunately, that history is increasingly discarded as those charged with spiritual leadership instead choose to figuratively ‘marry the spirit of the age.’”
Walton also told CP that he believed the theological views of the Disciples was contributing to their decline, citing research that found the denomination’s clergy to be more liberal than their overall members.
“On a more anecdotal level, I'm hearing from Disciples members who are tired of political lectures in general from their clergy during Sunday worship services,” continued Walton.
“They'd like to hear the Gospel preached, but their clergy are more focused upon social witness and, in the words of one Disciples' congregant, ‘milquetoast sermons.’”
The Christian Post reach out to the Disciples of Christ for this story, however their spokesperson was unable to respond by press time due to travel issues.
The reported numbers represent a steep decline from 2000, when, according to the Association of Religion Data Archives, the Disciples had approximately 820,000 members.
Disciples spokesperson Cherilyn Williams told CP in a 2018 interview that the denomination was taking measures to counter their years-long decline, including the planting of several new worship communities.
"Our New Church Ministry, as part of Hope Partnership for Missional Transformation, includes a 'leadership academy' that trains both planters and people from existing congregations looking to transform their mission," explained Williams at the time.
"Other congregations have shifted tactics and found they are appealing to people who have been uninterested in organized religion. We have regions that are doing workshops aimed specifically at supporting rural congregations in their unique situations. And the list goes on."
We should swap our UMC liberals for the DOC conservatives. Then the DOC can die a quicker death and the UMC can continue our conservative swing.
Surprise, surprise.
There are lots of nice social clubs out there who will give you fellowship in return for your donation dollars. A church which follows this model is no different.
Duh.
They are no longer culturally relevant, nor biblically accurate.
Like so many other mainline protestant churches and catholic churches.
God continues to be faithful to congregations that honor Him and follow His Word.
I think this is a deliberate process. Leftists infiltrate a church. At first they claim they just want to be tolerated as a minority voice. They gain strength and they want to “start a conversation” about changing the church. Once they get in control, they announce “the time for discussion is past” and it is their way or the highway. The church hollows out as conservative members and clergy leave or are kicked out. What remains is a “church” that is little more than a pressure group for various leftist causes.
The decline was inevitable when the Disciples of Christ became the Disciples of Marx.
when churches refuse to hold TIGHT to the word of God- and begin throwing out passages that conflict with the world’s political correctness=- and turn into an ear tickling factory then they become an apostate church- Paul warned the churches NOT to let go of their hold on ALL of God’s word- NOT to sell their souls for the sake of popularity and bringing in ‘religious’ people for the sake of tithes- but many churches today have compromised so badly that the Word of God is hardly even taught anymore—
We were originally attracted and stayed because it was, and is, made up of very friendly and welcoming people of a largely conservative bent. A sizeable portion of our congregation are former or "lapsed" Roman Catholics who have felt welcomed and at home in a church that is centered on weekly sharing of the Bread and Cup (grape juice, but still vine derived).
BUT, one of the previous pastors preached more politics (including harangues about Global Warming and Islamophobia, both of which set me to getting up and walking out several times) than Gospel and was overall a fat, arrogant, second generation ("family business") @$$hole of a minister. And till he left I eventually stopped attending. He was replaced by an older interim minister we liked, and then by a younger pastor with wife who has till lately avoided the political minefield and preached, very well and articulately, from the Bible.
But lately he's begun to veer off into the same sort of territory that lost his predecessor a sizable portion of the congregation. I personally like the guy and last week had a two and half hour private conversation to express my concerns about this. But I doubt it will have any longer term effect. It appears the denomination from the regional and national offices on down is far more Liberal than most members and as people leave out of frustration and die off from old age the churches will continue to decline into nothing.
A pity, really. The Disciples were the church of Ronald Reagan and were from the 1830's midwestern stolid but bible based and welcoming ("Churches aren't resorts for saints, they're hospitals for sinners") community centers. Currier and Ives small town churches. But the infection of humanism and SJW ideology is killing them off fast.
They deliberately hire teachers that do not believe in the Divinity of Christ but in the supremacy of man. By the time the student is awarded his D.Div. he has been talked out of what ever faith he might have had going in.
Thanks for sharing. Just shaking my head in sorrow as I read this :(
I think most people who attend religious services want to hear about religion and have a religious experience. I know I do. I don’t care to hear a minister’s political opinions, even if I agree with them. I want the minister to help me “work out my salvation.”
I found out about 2 years ago there is apparently a movement within the DOC of what I suspect is more “conservative” congregations to separate themselves. I first noticed this when I discovered the lone DOC church in the small town I am originally from had dropped the red chalice symbol from their sign and literature and simply called themselves First Christian Church. I suspect they are still not identifying with the more conservative Independent Christian Churches who are their religious cousins.
Here is a thread from 20 Aug that also highlighted the decline of DoC membership. One can see that the social justice leftism of the national leadership is at odds with the members who are leaving: http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/3773453/posts
I can happily say that the minister of the Disciples of Christ I’ve belonged to for 30+ years (yes he has been there for the same period) has never spoken of politics except to remind people to vote on election day. And that is all he’s ever said, no positions or candidates are endorsed.
I was raised and baptized in the DoC and am now 72. I agree with your comment about the structure, origin and view of the DoC. Our Maryland congregation has both conservatives and liberals in it, but we don’t discuss politics inside the church and our minister has never adopted the “modern” social justice gospel. Yes, he does speak out against events like the school shootings, but focus’ on the aspect of the cause being the loss of morality and respect for human life. He came as minister in 1987, shortly after my family and I arrived in the DC area for a new Army assignment and then ended up staying there until we moved back to our original hometown in Indiana. One of the key aspects of our Maryland congregation was the familyness of it. And the high percentage of active and retired military. We too have had a number of former Catholics and other Protestant denominations join as members. The common thread they comment on is the quality of our minister’s sermons and his dedication to serving the needs of all our members.
MachIV,
I was not aware of the “movement in the DoC” that you mentioned. However, I know that a DoC congregation a friend of mine in Indiana belongs to, chose to separate from the DoC because of the leftward orientation of the national leadership in Indianapolis. The DoC congregation I belonged to and referenced in my posts # 16 & 17, has not agreed with the national leadership, but has not left the denomination or discussed it.
G-F
That is most likely the situation I noticed. It also was in Indiana.
Posted to Free Republic in 2005.
Disciples of Christ to Israel: Drop dead
http://209.157.64.201/focus/f-religion/1458942/posts
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