My humble thoughts. Note, I’m not a Methodist...but had a relative who was a minister in the system.
After visiting the relative and sitting in their church, I just came to note that the place had space for 800 folks, and on a Easter Sunday, they were barely at 200 people there. It was about 50-percent over the age of 50.
I noted this to the relative, and this ‘dying-out’ population was identified as a major nation-wide issue. So the leadership of the church (nationally) felt that they needed to attach themselves to certain topics (pro-migrant, pro-LGTBQ, pro-environment, etc). In certain words...it had to be a fairly liberal church to attract young participants.
The further this message/brand carried...the less interested that the older members were. So they were dissolving membership at a healthy rate, in hopes of attracting younger members.
I’m not going to ‘dump’ on any religious group...they can go and morph into anything they desire. But in this group’s case, the longer they linger in this got-to-change mentality and fail to sell to the bulk of membership...more likely they will dissolve away into nothing.
There are memes of all sorts these days showing the "trendy" people who rush to accept "the latest thing," and these seem to capture the essence of the futility you so well describe. "Got-to-change" mentalities lure people not only into that "next thing," but in doing so away from long traditions and to the withering of cultures and identities.
It boils down to the postmodern streams of tearing away at society for that "new" man.
It has been a long game, serving little purpose ultimately. John Dewey longed for that "new man," as did the Frankfurt school in trying to enliven Marxism by other means after its failures.
A congregation of any sort which does not reproduce its next and coming generations is a congregation destined for extinction. Between abortion and homosexuality and pedophilia, the attack on children -- the ONLY future -- is so complete tjat the can be only a predicted future. As you so correctly say, and for simple demographic reasons:
"....they will dissolve away into nothing."
Influx of new peoples from around the world have brought the
change in religious beliefs. The world is not isolated in today's
enviorioment like it was back when Columbus sailed the ocean
blue in 1492.
New inhabitants became the force that makes the change. It will
continue until the end of times. Three score and ten and we are
history. Others follow and change is inevitable. Just look at the
influx of new peoples on a daily basis coming to this land. We
can't even secure the southern border along the Rio Grande.
You are probably correct.
I went to my Grandmother’s Methodist church as a child and it was not like this.