church structure

[J_B_]

I have no doubt the Gospel will be preached until Christ's return, but there is also no doubt that traditional church attendance is in rapid decline. Do you see this as a temporary trend in history's ebb and flow? Or is the church undergoing a more or less permanent change in the way the Gospel is dispersed?

For much of history, the church complex (synagogue, temple, whatever) was not A community center, but THE community center (with maybe the market square as a major competitor). Now it seems that sitting in a church building and expecting people to show up for worship on Sunday has become a rather foolish thing to do - at least in terms of spreading the Gospel. Or maybe that always was foolish? That's not to say people went to the church because they were more religious in the past. In many cases it was simply because they were more dependent on the church. For example, I know in the early Americas the Lutheran pastor was often the only educated person in the community, so he performed more than pastoral duties. He was lawyer, teacher, clerk, etc. to the community.

Regardless, do you have any thoughts on what future church structure might be?

 

[Shane R]

I've thought about your initial post a lot. I have many thoughts but some of them need to marinate longer.

There is one thing I've learned and am thoroughly convinced of: most churches are addicted to their building and it's an unhealthy thing. The building was almost always built at the zenith of the church. There were 400 people and 40 in the choir, 90 kids in the Sunday school, etc. Now there's just 40 people and the old place is getting kind of run down. There may or may not be the money to fix it but there's no energy from the congregation to do the work. Everyone still sits to the back and you can't hear if anyone is singing the hymns or not if you're in the chancel. If a visitor shows up, they think, "Where are the people?" Because the church looks empty at 15-20% of its capacity. They should downsize but they won't; it's too uncomfortable.

 

[RileyG]

I've thought about your initial post a lot. I have many thoughts but some of them need to marinate longer.

There is one thing I've learned and am thoroughly convinced of: most churches are addicted to their building and it's an unhealthy thing. The building was almost always built at the zenith of the church. There were 400 people and 40 in the choir, 90 kids in the Sunday school, etc. Now there's just 40 people and the old place is getting kind of run down. There may or may not be the money to fix it but there's no energy from the congregation to do the work. Everyone still sits to the back and you can't hear if anyone is singing the hymns or not if you're in the chancel. If a visitor shows up, they think, "Where are the people?" Because the church looks empty at 15-20% of its capacity. They should downsize but they won't; it's too uncomfortable.

I wonder if that is more common in rural areas? Especially those with an older population?

 

[Shane R]

I wonder if that is more common in rural areas? Especially those with an older population?

Your digging into the metrics of a piece I'm currently writing. I have folks ask me all the time, "Where are the young people?" And there are several fairly obvious answers to the question.

Firstly, we need to define 'young people' and I find they usually mean anyone under 50. So I ask these folks how many siblings they had and they reply 4 or 5 or 6 or whatever the case is, but it's always more than 1. Then I ask them how many children they had and the answer is 1-3. Mmhmm, now let's think for a minute: just from that response you should expect less than half of the young people there were when you were in that demographic. Now, how many of your children still live in the county? Typically 0-1. And how many go to church? Uhh. Well, you see pastor, uhmm, well. . . Sports!

 

[J_B_]

Firstly, we need to define 'young people' and I find they usually mean anyone under 50. So I ask these folks how many siblings they had and they reply 4 or 5 or 6 or whatever the case is, but it's always more than 1. Then I ask them how many children they had and the answer is 1-3. Mmhmm, now let's think for a minute: just from that response you should expect less than half of the young people there were when you were in that demographic. Now, how many of your children still live in the county? Typically 0-1. And how many go to church? Uhh. Well, you see pastor, uhmm, well. . . Sports!

Yeah, I've been through all that as well. And the apathy you mention is all about me.

The Divine Service will always be needed. But beyond that, I think the LCMS needs to engage with the community rather than doubling down on the place of worship. Maybe a revival is in our future (though I'm not sure this type is the right kind of revival).