Code Blue In The Church Part One
A church leader, a great friend, told me today of churches closing in his city. Sadness and lament poured from his heart.
He is grieving for the church in his area, aching for his fellow believers and church leaders. Key phrases he shared with me:
“The apostasy grows day by day.”
“What we see around us these days is so disheartening and almost surreal.”
He is hurting for the Church in America – even as his own local church is growing in the Gospel and numbers. Yes, he praises God to see his church thriving, but he aches at the condition of the Church in general. His heart is for the Church in general and the souls of the people where he lives.
My friend’s thoughts left me grieving in my spirit. Not only because it is happening in his city, but because it is happening in cities and towns across America.
FIVE CODE BLUE FACTS ABOUT THE HEALTH OF THE CHURCH
1. Americans are not only skipping church services; they are skipping out of the church.
A 2023 study by George Barna and the Cultural Research Center at Arizona Christian University (CRC) found just 33% of Americans say they attend church once a week, down from 42% in 2000.
Studies also show a decline in church attendance over the last 25 years. Even before Covid, church attendance was decreasing in every stream of Christianity in America.
And there is no sign that this will soon change. In 2021, Lifeway Research found just 37% of Americans have confidence in the church. In other words, 2 of 3 Americans don’t trust the church. This is 4% lower than the year before. Americans’ trust in ministers is just 39%
2. Americans who identify as Christian are living more and more “atomized” lives.
Atomized: consisting of separate parts that do not have much contact with each other. The Cambridge Dictionary
We can discuss the possible reasons – from screens to lifestyles – but the fact is clear: Christians in America are tending more toward private faith.
Masses of people who have all eaten the one Bread of Life (I Cor. 10.17) are walking their faith individually, alone, apart from Christian community. They believe in the same Savior but do not do life as the body of Christ, members one of another.
They are not a part of a missional community. Church is an event they attend alone and leave alone to go back to their lives alone. Community and communion among brothers and sisters has been reduced to a plastic cup and a tasteless wafer we quickly digest once a month.
3. Churches are closing at an alarming rate;
And no, church planting is not keeping pace.
In their most recent study, Lifeway Research found in 2019 (Pre-Covid) that while 3000 new churches opened, 4500 closed: for every two churches planted, three churches closed. Just five years prior, Lifeway had found that 4000 new churches opened while 3700 closed across the nation. Church planting is slowing and church closures are accelerating.
In the denomination where I serve,
1. Nationally, we have 168 fewer total churches than a decade ago.
2. 1966-2016, with the exception of 2 years, annually, we opened more churches than we closed;
3. 2014-2023, we have closed, on average, 11 more churches than we have opened each year;
4. 2017-2023: closings have outpaced openings in six of the last seven years;
5. 2017-2023: annually, we have closed, on average 49 more churches than we have opened.
An observation: The vaunted Church Growth Movement has produced a movement, but one that has been out of the church, not into it. We should have kept singing “Trust and Obey,” adding a verse for pastors that emphasizes obeying Jesus in His command to focus on making disciples (Matt. 29.20, et. al.), trusting Him to build His church as He said He would do (Matt. 16.18). CGM focused the church on numbers, not discipleship. As a result, we’re now focused on the numbers leaving the churches despite our attractional model efforts.
A question: How many lives, how many souls, have been lost as a result? Numbers
4. The overwhelming majority of American Christians do not have a Christian worldview;
Even more concerning than the three code-blue alarms above, the American church continues to become less and less Christian in faith and in practice. So say the studies.
According to a 2024 study by George Barna and the CRC,
Just 4% of Americans have a Christian worldview, dropping from 6% only three years prior;
Just 6% of all Christians in America have a Christian worldview.
According to a 2023 study by Barna and the CRC,
Just 14% of Evangelical Christians have a Christian worldview (down from 21% in 2020);
Just 13% of Pentecostals-Charismatics have a Christian worldview (down from 16% in 2020);
Just 6% of Mainline Church Attenders have a Christian worldview (down from 8% in 2020);
Just 1% of Roman Catholics have a Christian worldview (the same as in 2020).
Here’s a sampling of the findings by Barna and the CRC in their 2020 study:
Percentage of self-identified Christians who AGREE with the following fundamental doctrines:
1. When Jesus Christ was on earth, He was fully human but He did not sin (2020):
Evangelicals who agree: 57%
Pentecostals-Charismatics who agree: 56%
Main Stream Church Attenders who agree: 41%
Roman Catholics who agree: 34%
2. The Bible is the word of God, is trustworthy and reliable (2020):
Evangelicals who agree: 74%
Pentecostals-Charismatics who agree: 68%
Main Stream Church Attenders who agree: 37%
Roman Catholics who agree: 47%
3. People are not basically good; we are sinners (2020):
Evangelicals who agree: 25%
Pentecostals-Charismatics who agree: 24%
Main Stream Church Attenders who agree: 19%
Roman Catholics who agree: 16%
4. The Holy Spirit is a person (2020):
Evangelicals who agree: 42%
Pentecostals-Charismatics who agree: 34%
Main Stream Church Attenders who agree: 27%
Roman Catholics who agree: 26%
5. There are absolute moral truths that apply to everyone, all the time (2020):
Evangelicals who agree: 48%
Pentecostals-Charismatics who agree: 31%
Main Stream Church Attenders who agree: 42%
Roman Catholics who agree: 31%
6. The Bible is the primary source of moral guidance (2020):
Evangelicals who agree: 58%
Pentecostals-Charismatics who agree: 62%
Main Stream Church Attenders who agree: 29%
Roman Catholics who agree: 23%
7. Human life is sacred (2020):
Evangelicals who agree: 60%
Pentecostals-Charismatics who agree: 46%
Main Stream Church Attenders who agree: 45%
Roman Catholics who agree: 43%
8. People cannot earn a place in Heaven by being good or by doing enough good works (2020):
Evangelicals who agree: 42%
Pentecostals-Charismatics who agree: 51%
Main Stream Church Attenders who agree: 39%
Roman Catholics who agree: 15%
9. History is the story of God’s plan for humanity moving toward fulfillment (2020):
Evangelicals who agree: 56%
Pentecostals-Charismatics who agree: 41%
Main Stream Church Attenders who agree: 21%
Roman Catholics who agree: 24%
Consider five key findings from a 2022 study of Evangelicals by Ligonier Ministries:
Contrary to the clear teaching of Scripture:
1. 73% agree that Jesus is the “first and greatest being created by God;”
2. 58% believe God accepts the worship of all religions;
3. 53% disagree with the claim that even the smallest sin deserves eternal damnation;
4. 44% say that Jesus was a great teacher, but he was not God;
5. 29% agreed with the statement that God learns and adapts to different circumstances.
Yes, it is very troubling that people are skipping services, leaving the church, and that churches are closing. But what is even more troubling is what self-identifying Christians across America believe. Those who make up the church are believing less and less the historic cardinal doctrines of the Church, the clear teachings of the Word of God.
These four code-blue alarms point to a fifth:
5. Pastors are discouraged
According to a 2022 Lifeway Research study:
2 of 3 pastors cite dealing with stress as a major factor in their life;
1 of 2 say they are discouraged;
1 of 2 say they wrestle with distractions in a significant way;
1 of 5 say they are in depression.
And the younger the pastor, the higher the likelihood of one or more of these factors.
It is clear that the Church in 21st century America is in the midst of a faith epidemic. Faith is waning in the hearts and minds of those who confess Christ as Savior and Lord. Many profess faith in a God whose truth they are ignoring and even refusing.
What then can church leaders do to not just revive the patient, but renew it?
We’ll explore that in two weeks in our next article. I hope you’ll check back to explore with us.
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