An Evangelism Deficit

An article on Baptist Press today (March 24) claims that North America is suffering from an evangelism deficit. The number of new church starts is lagging behind the population growth. As a church ages, it's evangelistic effectiveness tends to diminish. So, while the population grows- both biologically and by immigration- new churches are needed in order to create an atmosphere of healthy evangelistic growth.

After another Easter Service I agree, and yet I wonder if new churches are THE answer. OVer the past 16 1/2 years I have attended every Sunrise Service in our community. I have noticed attendance dwindling year after year. Though we never 'count' attendance, there has been a noticeable change in two groups of attenders. First, those who were in their 60's and 70's a6 years ago are in their
80's now. Their health makes attending a sunrise service difficult. The cold, damp air tends to accentuate already existing health conditions. The other group I have noticed- rarely do young adult couples/families attend. The children that I noticed yesterday were apparently with grandparents- not parents (unless 50-60 year old adults are having children...).

Our church attendance reflects yet another interesting trend. There are a group of adults in our church whose children are in the same age range as mine (early to mid-20's). Instead of the adult children coming home for Easter, their parents (i.e. those in their early to mid-50's) travel to their children's homes for Easter. (Not all of us- Cindy and I kind of feel linked to our church congregagtion, and with our son and his wife in Rapid City SD and our daughter currently living in Washington DC going to either of their homes/apartments was a little out of the question!)

While I wholeheartedly understand the need for new churches I sometimes wonder if the leadership of our mission organizations hear what their message often sounds like- since older churches are less effective evangelistically we need to replace them with new churches. I know that is not the message, but there are times-particularly after evangelism conferences- when the message is proclaimed and new church starts are highlighted, and those pastors who are starting new churches are held up as role models- there are times when I wonder what the real message is?

I am not quite ready to give up on the tradtional church (i.e. the one I pastor). I want to see our church used by God to reach people effectively- and at a rate similar to the one reflected in many new churches. While I certainly see a need for new churches, the communities near where I live are small and timber dependent communities that barely manage to keep basic infrastructure alive- roads, postal service, schools and other services. Will starting new churches and the financing the require really be viable in these communities? If these communities cannot afford basic services and are becoming more and more dependent on government assistance (i.e.families living on unemployment and other types of government subsidies, communities depending on county, state, and federal grants), how can we expect 'self-supporting' churches to grow, and sustain a long term ministry presence?

I pray regularly that my church- and those like mine in my community and the small communities nearby- will sense the challenge to allow the Holy Spirit to penetrate our communities with the good news of Jesus. I pray that God will open doors of ministry- and if new churches result, we will praise God.

Just some radnom Thoughts

Steve