Good luck with that. Senior pastors are so busy today, it might be a month before he manages to find a slot for you. Many churches have a "get acquainted" luncheon once a month where they tell you what the church is about, how they worship, what they believe, what ministries are available to become involved in, etc. The smaller churches might be able to do that in a one-on-one sit-down with the senior pastor, but not the bigger ones, even the "smaller" bigger ones with 500-600 members.
The OP on this thread (two weeks ago now) said the Methodist, Lutheran, and Presbyterian congregations were shrinking in her town, and that's a trend nationwide, particularly for those denominations but also for Anglicans, Episcopals and other liturgical churches. The Pew Foundation says the only reason Catholics are not experiencing a shrinking effect at the local parish level is the influx of Hispanic immigrants who are keeping the numbers up for the Catholic churches. But the question is, why?
Christian pollster George Barna is not among the negative opinion holder who say it is because the church is failing at its mission. Barna says it is an indication of a different kind of spiritual awakening.
One in Three Adults are Unchurched
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica]"A large and growing number of Americans who avoid congregational contact are not rejecting Christianity as much as they are shifting how they interact with God and people in a strategic effort to have a more fulfilling spiritual life. This suggests that we are on the precipice of a new era of spiritual experience and expression." [/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica]Barna expects the percentage of adults who are unchurched to grow during the coming decade. "However, the emergence of a national body of spiritual leaders who are assisting unchurched people in their quest for spiritual depth through means and relationships that are outside the usual institutional vehicles is significant.[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica]We anticipate substantial growth in the number of people who are not connected to a congregational church but who are committed to God and to their faith."[/FONT]
What should we do about it as faithful church-going members? I believe most churches are already responding to it, and our best move is to support the building of the kingdom of the body of Christ even if we don't recognize some of the new strategies as accomplishing that. One of the surprising trends is that college-educated professionals are much more likely to be in church than the working class, less educate people are, but the latter are more likely to describe themselves as spiritually active. The need is among both groups, to engage the professional in spiritually fulfilling lifestyles, and to assure the working class is really getting the gospel, and not just making it up as they go along.
It is an exciting, frightening time, Exciting because the house-church of the first century could be, for all practical purposes become the central spiritual force in America again, with larger less frequent congregational meetings keeping fellowship and doctrine in line. Frightening, because this trend lends itself to the false teachers Paul, James, Peter and John warned of, distracting the unbeliever from the true gospel and setting him up for failure in this life.
"Choose what you will do. As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord." That paraphrase of Joshua's words will become more and more important in the short time we have left.