- May 15, 2020
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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?
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?