[__ Science __ ] Poll: 80% of Churchgoers Want Pastors to Take a Stand

[AIG.com]

According to a recent poll, congregations really do want their pastors to address current issues in their sermons.

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[Barbarian]

Here's how the major Protestant denominations are doing.

Religion Data Wonk: Just How Bad Is Denominational Decline?

(ANALYSIS) The mainline is just a bloodbath. Five traditions are down by at least 30%. The ELCA is down 41%. The United Church of Christ is less than half the size it was in the late 1980s. The United Methodists are already down 31%, but with over 15% of their churches disaffiliating just this year,

religionunplugged.com

The Precipitous Decline of the American Evangelical Church: Abandoning Biblical Truth for Political Power​

The Precipitous Decline of the American Evangelical Church: Abandoning Biblical Truth for Political Power

A recent Christianity Today survey revealing a dramatic drop in church attendance of Americans identifying as evangelical Christians has prompted much hand-wringing among evangelical leaders. They are quick to blame cultural changes and a rejection of traditional values.

www.linkedin.com

Not just Protestants; Catholic and Orthodox churches are seeing declines as well.

 

[KV-44-v1]

How is this a surprise?
When one chokes out the YEC Truth originating from the Bible, of course people's morality will suffer.
Evolutionism has discredited Chrisitianity in western eyes. It is strong YEC's who have given it much credibility. That testimony you got there already debunked your point instead of proving it. The person wasnt athiestified by YEC. Guess what belief made him athiestic? Exposure to OEE. How much did he scrutinize the OEE stuff? He wasnt exposed to islam, buddism, or even direct arguments for athiesm! If YEC "makes athiests" why then has it strengthened faith? why was it oee that did that weakening?

 

[Barbarian]

How is this a surprise?

It's not. When ministers wander away from the Gospel and start in on politics, creationism, and other secular issues, it's not surprising that people will fall away.

It's no coincidence that the decline of Evangelical denominations began with the rise of the "Christian right" and creationism.

Abandon the Gospel and people will abandon the denomination.

A recent Christianity Today survey revealing a dramatic drop in church attendance of Americans identifying as evangelical Christians has prompted much hand-wringing among evangelical leaders. They are quick to blame cultural changes and a rejection of traditional values. But the truth is, the evangelical church and its leaders have no one to blame but themselves.

The percentage of Americans identifying as evangelical Christians declined from 23% in 2006 to 14% in 2020, an astonishing drop in just over a decade. This is partly due to generational differences, with younger evangelicals diverging from older evangelicals on issues like Israel, gender roles, and the environment. But the more significant factor is the church's wholehearted embrace of partisan politics and the Republican Party over the past few decades. The Southern Baptist Convention, the most prominent evangelical denomination, has lost over two million members in the last few years, and with the current fight over women in ministry, that number is sure to increase.
...
"The leaders who decided to ally with the Republican Party and abandon traditional Christian values for political expediency have led the evangelical church astray," says John Smith, a religious studies professor at Example University. "Their focus on abortion and other hot-button issues has replaced the focus on the gospel and serving the poor. No wonder young Christians are leaving in droves."

The Precipitous Decline of the American Evangelical Church: Abandoning Biblical Truth for Political Power

A recent Christianity Today survey revealing a dramatic drop in church attendance of Americans identifying as evangelical Christians has prompted much hand-wringing among evangelical leaders. They are quick to blame cultural changes and a rejection of traditional values.

www.linkedin.com

We now see young evangelicals walking away from evangelicalism not because they do not believe what the church teaches, but because they believe the church itself does not believe what the church teaches. The presenting issue in this secularization is not scientism and hedonism but disillusionment and cynicism.

Many have pointed to compelling data—from Robert Putnam and David Campbell and countless other sociologists, political scientists, and demographers—showing that the politicization of American religion is a key driver of people away from religious affiliation. Some would point to the fact that most of those leaving would identify politically as somewhere from moderate to progressive, to suggest that such people are better off outside the church in the first place. Let’s just assume for the sake of argument that such is true, which comes first here—the demand to line up politically in order to follow Jesus or the decision to reject the politics of those making such demands?

Russell Moore: Young evangelicals are walking away because the church itself does not believe what the church teaches

This is Russell Moore at his best: Many of us have observed, anecdotally, a hemorrhaging of younger evangelicals from churches and institutions in recent

currentpub.com

The good news is that the young evangelicals abandoning their politicized denominations are not abandoning their faith. The rise of non-denominational congregations, that focus on the Gospel instead of politics is due largely to such younger adults.

 

[JLB]

Thank God He has shown mercy to this nation and given us a leadership (President, Congress, Senate, Supreme Court) that embraces godly values.


God bless America.


Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD,
The people He has chosen as His own inheritance.
Psalm 33:12


When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice;
But when a wicked man rules, the people groan.
Proverbs 29:2



It’s not about “politics”, it’s about leadership; righteous vs wicked leadership.

 

[Barbarian]

Non-denominational churches usually do not engage in issues of conflict to the level that denominational churches do. A church has only a finite amount of resources of time, money, and energy. The more that is expended on divisive issues, the less that can be expended on local outreach. We understand that many of these issues are gospel-centric and must be discussed and debated. Sadly, though, the resources spent on these issues often come at the expense of those priorities with a Great Commission focus.

5 Reasons Why Non-Denominational Churches Are Growing | Church Answers

While we continue to see reports of denominational decline in America, we see fewer reports of the growth of non-denominational churches. It is actually an amazing story. Two denominations that receive a lot of attention are the Southern Baptist Convention and the United Methodist Church. These...

churchanswers.com

Matthew 16:26

It’s not about “politics”, it’s about leadership; righteous vs wicked leadership.

It's different with churches. In government, we can have morally reprehensible people in office, who still do a good job. At least, some of them have. But churches need leadership focused on the Gospel.