An Unsettling Trend

There is a trend of mainline denominations losing people over the last two decades while evangelical churches are growing. It has now been documented in a new book. Exodus: Why Americans Are Fleeing Liberal Churches for Conservative Christianity takes a look at this event through the eyes of the parishioners.

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Dave Shiflett gives us a book that is essentially a marketing research project on modern Christianity. The focus? Why are the conservative, orthodox brands of faith increasing market-share while mainline Protestant denominations are losing it? Shiflett uses personal interviews as his research tool. And there is undoubtedly a vicarious thrill as Shiflett presents hard questions to figures from both camps. For example on homosexuality, he asks the liberals whether they "…entertain the slightest worry that converting a former sin into a celebrated and even consecrated virtue might possibly have eternal consequences?" And to the conservatives, "If God is indeed omniscient and omnipresent, why [does] He allow disaster to occur, especially to those who have so closely cast their lot with him?" The answers Shiflett receives from his subjects measure out in words the true distance between the liberal and conservative positions.

According to David T. Olson the percentage of people attending a Christian Church each weekend decreased significantly from 1990 to 2000. This was a drop of about six million in church attendance. The greater number fell from main stream denominational churches while the evangelical churches held their own or lost a small percentage.

This means we are not doing our job or fulfilling our calling. We are called to build up people in Christ. When we do that people will come to know Him and find ministry and missions.