Solomonia Archive: 'Is he really so clueless...?' (Updated)

Wednesday, March 1, 2006

'Is he really so clueless...?' (Updated)

A letter to Presbyweb concerning their coverage of the recent (leftist) World Council of Churches Assembly (emphasis mine):

I am deeply grateful for the excellent balanced coverage you have given to the just concluded 9th Assembly of the World Council of Churches. Unfortunately, it is difficult also to be grateful for many of messages that have come out of that Assembly. For example, while some declarations called for increased evangelical and Pentecostal involvement in the WCC as crucial to the future health of the ecumenical movement, at the same time WCC General Secretary Samuel Kobia condemned American megachurches as promoting a kind of Christianity that is "two miles long and one inch deep." Is he really so clueless as to think that we evangelicals would be interested in an organization which by the testimony of many of its own leaders is faltering and yet whose General Secretary finds it necessary to issue denunciations of the ministries of the likes of Bill Hybels, Rick Warren and T.D. Jakes? If the WCC is really serious about dialogue with those of us in the evangelical and Pentecostal camps, then we need a sustained dialogue about how one goes about measuring the breadth and depth of strategies for promoting the cause of the Gospel!

Richard J. Mouw
President and Professor of Christian Philosophy
Fuller Theological Seminary
Pasadena, California

Left of center mainline denominations are bleeding membership, while, as I understand it, "conservative" Evangelicals and the like are gaining. Myopically holding to the siren-song of politics while slighting the real and original "mission" is a phenomenon not confined to college campuses alone.

Update: An emailer sends in a few stats on the United Church of Christ (one of the mainline denominations that's been listing more and more to port):

1965

6952 Churches

2.1 million members

Total U.S. Population in 1965: 194 million

2003

5,800 churches

1.3 million members

Total U.S. Population in 2003: 291 million

Kids enrolled in UCC sunday schools:

1965 -- 1.1 million
2003 -- 296,000

"Upshot: The membership of the UCC shrunk by almost a half during a period of time when the total population in the U.S. increased by 50 percent. It's market has increased, its numbers have shrunk."

Update2: In fact, here is an article at The Layman that contains a handy chart of a number of denominations and how they have fared between 1965 and 2003: While mainline Protestants lose members, others are gaining them. A few examples from the chart included in the article:

PCUSA 1965: 4,254,460 -- 2003: 2,405,311 -- Pct. Change: -43.5% -- Loss: -1,849,149

Assemblies of God 1965: 572,123 -- 2003: 2,729,562 -- Pct. Change: 377.1% -- Gain: 2,157,439

Southern Baptist Convention 1965: 10,770,573 -- 2003: 16,439,603 -- Pct. Change: 52.6% -- Gain: 5,669,030

Posted by Solomon at 2:23 PM on Wednesday, Mar 1, 2006 | Comments (6)
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6 Comments

#1 Larry | March 1, 2006 2:41 PM

Not only are the mainline churches losing members while the conservative evangelical Christian churches gaining members...

BUT...

The mainline churches are also anti-Israel while the conservative evangelical Christian churches are pro-Israel.

For Zion's Sake at
http://fzs.blogspot.com/2006/02/why-we-encourage-christians-to-stand.html

had this to say:

"Some would say those who bless Israel are blessed, and those who curse Israel - even if they convince themselves that they are not really cursing Israel, but acting out of a noble desire to be pro-Palestinian, even if that means enabling a little terror along the way - may hear Him say, "Depart from me, you who are cursed... for... whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me."

#2 Michael B | March 1, 2006 3:37 PM

T. D. Jakes (and Joel Osteen) are the only "tv preachers" I can listen to for any length of time, so any org which denounces T. D. Jakes is immediately suspect in my mind, allowing for specific or highly qualified exceptions. That doesn't mean I agree with them always/100%, but they are terrific orators and are eminently and thoughtfully human in their approach. By contrast the World Council of Churches is a wastreling ideological backwater, predictably rife with moralistic pretense and trumpery and ever and always ready to give themselves a pat on the back (i.e., I don't like 'em, they're the bad guys).

#3 Larry | March 1, 2006 4:59 PM

The UCC is leading the race among the mainline churches to see which one will become extinct first.

The Presbyterian Church USA leadership keeps pushing contemptous leftist programs upon the membership in hopes of taking the lead.

Unlike the other mainline churches the UCC has no control over the property (buildings and land) of the individual churches. Since the UCC's last convention in July 2005 88 UCC churches have formally withdrawn. See the list at: http://www.faithfulandwelcoming.org/faw/content/content.gui.show.asp?mne=withdrawn-churches

#4 Larry | March 1, 2006 5:32 PM

If the Mainline Presbyterians had grown at the same rate as the Evangelical Assemblies of God, the Presbyterians would now have over 16,000,000 members.

Instead, the presbyterians pursued leftist socialism for the past 40 years and now only have 2.3 million members that is declining every day.

#5 Libraryguy | March 1, 2006 9:57 PM

As an ex-Catholic I am pretty much ashamed of my old religion..the leftists stances of my local church were bad enough then the priest scandals pushed me over the edge. I can see why folks gravitate to the more conservative churches ( if you HAVE to believe in ol'JC)

#6 John Ruberry | March 2, 2006 1:35 PM

Sol, the ones growing are the "fire and brimstone" Christian faiths.

It's the lame ones, such as UCC, that are shrinking.