new wineskins…with some hirschy cab-sav in it
Did an interview with New Wineskins ezine. Thought it was worth a post.
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About a year ago, I was tasked with going to a fund-raiser that one of the inner-city missions (in Indianapolis) was sponsoring. A very prominent Baptist speaker was the main attraction. Being a not so prominent Charismatic undergrounder, one might say I felt kind of like a fish out of water, however, my buddy - who headed up a much smaller inner-city missions house convinced me to go. This fund-raiser was by invitation only, and somehow we had done something to make that list.
When we arrived - they had us sit at a round table with 10 others. Most of these people were wearing suit and tie. This event was first class - a meal was catered - the facility was immaculate - the service was wonderful. There were about 1,200 people there.
The speaker was very eloquent and gracious. Somehow, not surprisingly, I had stereotyped the Baptists and this guy wasn’t at all what I expected. However, about half way thru his presentation, I noticed that the vast majority of the people in the room (about 90% I would say) were probably over 70 years old - and a large number of that group may have been over 80 years old. Our table was about the youngest table in the room. This stunned me.
If this was an accurate representation of these people’s support structure, I estimated that attrition was about to cut their budget by 10% a year - and that their support would totally be gone in less than 10 years.
Last year for my dad’s 80th birthday - all of us kids surprised him by showing up at his church. 3/4 of us no longer live in that small town. When we got there, same thing - 90% (or more) of those people were dad’s age or not too far behind him. When I asked him about it, he assured me that the vast majority of church goers in the little town were elderly. Again - 10 years max - at current progression and that church would be gone (it (the gathering) was over 130 years old).
So what Michael is saying - I absolutely witness with. In 20 years, much of the American church will not be there anymore - and we are talking groups and structures that have been in place for well over 100 years. When I bring this up to people here - they just look at me like I’m totally nuts. Church as we know it in America is pretty far down the slope - only a major revival can do anything about that.
Hey Alan, great interview. I’m looking forward to you hearing you all at the “Missional AND Attractional” discussion at Exponential. That should be interesting!
I agree with Jerry above about the decline. It will accelerate and tons of churches and ministries will fold. However, my experience as the pastor of a 140 year old church convinces me there can be a turn-around if people stop worrying about surviving and focus on serving in the name of Christ…living for others rather than self.