The Twenty-First Century Church

Church attendance in America is drifting downward. Duke University sociologist Mark Chave said, "The decline in American religiosity is now incontrovertible." A 2014 Pew Research Center survey revealed that 29 percent of American adults are not affiliated with any church. Demographer David Olson said that over the last couple of decades, only one state experienced church growth that was greater than the state's population growth. Religious commentator Diana Butler Bass said that...
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Church attendance in America is drifting downward. Duke University sociologist Mark Chave said, "The decline in American religiosity is now incontrovertible." A 2014 Pew Research Center survey revealed that 29 percent of American adults are not affiliated with any church. Demographer David Olson said that over the last couple of decades, only one state experienced church growth that was greater than the state's population growth. Religious commentator Diana Butler Bass said that American Christianity is in a bear market. Biblical scholar John Drane said, "The church simply cannot expect to continue for long into the twenty-first century in its present form."This little book was originally written as a Festschrift ("festive writing") essay in honor of Ward Gasque, a friend, mentor and one of the founders of Regent College, a graduate school of theology in Vancouver, British Columbia. I have continued to read about and explore reasons for the decline in church attendance and have visited with clergy and lay people about things that churches can do to stem the decline, fearing that if nothing is done the United States will become a secular nation like so many in Europe.This book has three parts: Part One contains reasons for the decline in church attendance: Part Two is a list of things that churches can do to reverse the decline: Part Three contains books for those who want to do further reading and research on their own.