The End of the Church in America?

Good question. Newsweek asked it the other week in their normal week-before-Easter religious story. (Jeff Schweitzer at the Huffington Post disagreed.) A friend of mine used it as an illustration in a homily on Good Friday. As one who has gotten into trouble with denominational officials and others for talking like that, I was struck by the idea in new ways.

In general, the article comes from a couple of directions- namely that the number of church members/believers is on the decline (true) and the indications that the "religious right" has lost some of its power (also true). The former does have implications for the future of the church. The latter does not.

While that is, I feel a flawed, too-narrow understanding of the church in America, the question is still a legitimate one. The question may better be asked though, what will the church "landscape" look like in 25 - 50 years in America? What will be the role of the church in America in the lives of everyday people? What about denominationalism? Will it survive? Will there still be the "loyalty" factor to an individual denomination or congregation? What will the liberal/conservative/evangelical/fundamentalist split look like? Where will the pendulum swing be in terms of inward/outward/spirituality/ritual/worship be at that point?

On a greater level the American/European centrality of the church will definitely be different. How will that play out in terms of mission and service and self-understanding? What will happen when a "foreign" (to us) country, probably Third or Fourth World country at that, adopts some of what has been our American understanding of national Christianity as a civil religion?

These are only the beginning. There is no doubt that the church as we have known it in America for the past 50 - 75 years will not be here in another 50 years. While the church has been historically a turtle when it comes to change, the pace of change has moved so quickly in the past 20 years that it has had an impact on the church.

My guess- and it is probably an entirely uneducated shot in the dark- just like everyone else- is that the church will be just as fragmented and broken down less on the denominational lines as on the theological lines, which is where many denominations started. But the church that will continue to have an impact on people's lives will be the one that has honesty and integrity at its soul and will have a desire to serve people and the world. This will cross denominational and political lines. There will be both liberal and conservative churches that do this and those that don't.

Spirituality, service, caring for others, not being so inward that you become a selfish group of people. Serve others whether in or out of the church.

That sounds so obvious as to be simplistic. It may be. But that's as far as I am willing to go. You can call it "missional" if you like- I do. But the most important churches locally, regionally, nationally, will have service at their core. Spiritu

Which as I still see it is what Jesus was all about in the first place.