I believe it means we have our work cut out for us to be even more intentional at building relationships, meeting real and personal needs, and gaining individual trust. It will certainly put more emphasis on individual believers and cause us as leaders to do a better job of growing reproducing disciples. Evangelism will happen not as much in the church, but in places where those uninterested in religion congregate.

Sounds almost like the first century.

I don't know if I can get the thought down but I'll give it a shot:

"Lost and Found" seemed to indicate to me that churches were less "socially acceptable" than they used to be. And I think that shows up in society in general in things like churches getting sued, folks objecting to zoning for churches, and less respect now, than previously, for churches, ministers, or religion in general.

Now, given the church population as compared to total population, I think the survey results speak more of a decline in society's opinion ABOUT religion, than it does of the religious character of the people themselves.

There's a huge difference between expressing a preference for Christianity over something else, or for Baptist vs Catholic vs Methodist, and actually BEING one of those things.

Or not. And I don't think I expressed it well anyway.

Oh well.

I don't think the numbers tell the real story. I think the polls reflect religious people are coming out of the closet. They've found a new boldness are not ashamed to tell the world who they really are. "Church" people are feeling more comfortable disassociating with their Sunday obligation. Due to declining social and familial pressures, fewer individuals are calling themselves "Christian" that would have went by that title 10 years ago. I just think those being polled are having the courage to be accurate with where they've actually stood for the past 10 years. Even now the sides are being drawn up, for the battle will soon be joined.

What does this mean for the church?

I think Michael Frost, almost prophetically in his book Exiles (p. 7-8), says it best:

The church no longer occupies the high ground. Christianity is believed by many to have been tried and failed. However, there are other voices that express real hope - not in the reconstitution of Christendom, but in the idea that the end of this epoch actually spells the beginning of a new flowering of Christianity. The death of Christendom removes the final props that have supported the culturally respectable, mainstream, suburban version of Christianity. . . leaving only the faithful behind to rediscover the Christian experience as it was intended: a radical, subversive, compassionate community of followers of Jesus.

I tend to see research like this as not so "earth-shattering" but rather normal ebb & flow.

The media outlets eating this up for the story of the day - the same folks that live and die by the "if it bleeds it leads" motto - have been drawing all kinds of conclusions on this research.

Unfortunately I think we can jump to conclusions too quickly on the data. The data is easy to gather, just ask the right questions. The interpretation and forecasting is where it gets tricky and becomes less science and more alchemy.

I think the church must be careful to not be reactionary to research like this.

Bob hits the nail on the head - "the survey results speak more of a decline in society's opinion ABOUT religion..."

I agree - it's just a trend and trends are often reversed. My 403(b) looks like trash right now, but I'm hopeful someday I'll have something with which to retire!

If I may borrow & turn a thought from Dallas Williard, let me suggest that the lions hurt 'Christian' statistics too.

It doesn't change reality though.

I say with tears that I am not surprised. One only needs to open their eyes to see that the church is in a decline if not a steep decline following the example of most of Europe.
As if we needed one more piece of evidence that indicates that the way we have been doing 'church' for the last several decades is not working here it is. We as the church must wake up and smell the coffee. The time has come for us to stop thinking like it's a Christian nation and begin to think like missionaries on a mission field.

"Do you not say, 'There are yet four months, and then comes the harvest'? Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes and look on the fields, that they are white for harvest." -John 4:35 NASB

Americans are very religious and into spiritual things, but not very Christian. Even many self-professed Christians don't believe basic Christian tenets as the earlier post on Barna's research shows.

Relativism, religious pluralism, and what I like to call "today's tolerance"--the idea if you say someone is wrong or you are intolerant!!!--are the reigning beliefs and values of our culture. In that kind of milieu, any religion claiming to be the way, the truth, and the life will have a tough time gaining an audience and those willing to openly commit to it.

What does it all mean for the church? I'll leave that to experts like Ed to figure out! But the numbers don't lie, as they say. People are dropping out of church that were once committed, and many who consider themselves very spiritual have no interest or desire at all to be connected to the church because they find it irrelevant and unnecessary for their spiritual lives.

The Truth and power of the Gospel is unchanging. But perhaps it's time for many of us church leaders to begin re-evaluating how we've been communicating the Truth if we hope to gain a hearing in our culture.

I find the article interesting and I believe this is an indication at how naive we've been as believers. The REAL question that comes to my mind has more to do with how those who've been scarred by the church (believers who are no longer willing to publicly own their faith due to our relational miscues).

I agree that more evangelistic efforts are absolutely necessary here in our own country. However, I think the institution of the church should really take a good look into the mirror and ask ourselves the tough questions:
#1 Do we really love God w/ all of our heart, mind, & strength?
#2 Do we really love our neighbor as ourself?
#3 How can does my life (individually and corporately) reflect the answer to the previous two questions?

I am hopeful that it means we can return to being the Church and not a country club of charlatans.

The Frost entry above is a good one.

Maybe we can finally find our place in the midst of poor, tired, weak, diseased, and miserable. Too many of our churches are attempting appeal to the elegant and wealthy. We have lost who Jesus first loved.

We have churches full of good, honest, believing Christians who we have overlooked. May we be filled the grace of reconciliation and humility. It's about time God knocked us off our high horse and onto our knees.

You are the Church!
R.A.

To clarify one point (of my opinions), I do think the church .. most denominations and, relatively speaking, a lot of churches. But that's not going to be reflected in the opinions of the general population, IMHO.

Ed, I do think there are correlations between your last post and the present one. For example, according to Church Executive magazine there was a marked difference between a church's growth when they advanced lay leadership training/education and when they mass marketed to the general public and did in-house promotions of events. The former sustained growth while the latter declined. Our overall decline in the midst of more church events than ever before may very well be a confirmation of Neil Postman's thesis in his book Amusing Ourselves to Death.

As a youth minister I find that fewer and fewer students even know what it means to have a biblical worldview. I only have them for so many hours, and without the example at home then it feels like a losing battle. We are the supplements and the parents are to be the main providers of spiritual leadership for their children. They get to me and barely have any biblical knowledge at all, and I am talking about churched kids.
We are definitely amusing ourselves to death. I have called my youth ministry team to not plan anymore events, but covenant together to pray for 3 months and wait to see where the Lord leads us and then go there.

Bobby W.- I agree with you. I have the same experience working with youth. Parents are the spiritual leaders of their children- not us. There is too much "outsourcing" going on with the spiritual upbringing of children.

As it relates to this post, if adults are not moving toward Christ, neither will kids. Honestly, I'm glad in a sense to have read this from the post: "The percentage of Americans who call themselves Christians has dropped dramatically..." There are too many people who call themselves Christians but don't follow Christ, and it ruins it for everyone else.

Frankly, I'm tired of reading books and blogs about the church declining and not doing its job. Everybody is writing about it. How do we finally do something about it, or can we? Is it a problem with the church or a problem with the culture? It's very difficult to know what to do in response.

Thanks, Ed, for posting this, and for your work on trying to do something about this "trend."

The church is victorious! The church is spotless! Jesus is God, King, and Priest! He has and is accomplishing all that He will's to accomplish. We are to be faithful in preaching the word, the gospel. To Him who is victorious over death, hell, the grave, and my sin all Praise and Glory and Honor. The survey changes nothing. Lets read His word and not worry about survey's. Let's be faithful to preach the gospel to all peoples and let God do what only He can do in saving all those whom He has chosen before the foundation of the world.

"For am I now seeking the approval of man, or of God? Or am I trying to please man? If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ." Gal 1:10

I would like to see the stats on whether those leaving served in some capacity within the body of Christ. Were they there to serve or be served? When the preacher pointed at Jesus did they see Him as they were filled with the Holy Spirit (a believer) or did they fool themselves in to believing that some part of them would be filled by something they perceived to be "religious"? That would be interesting to look at.

Mike

Maybe it's time we return to thinking of the church as the people and not the various denominations or institutions, as 1st century believers did in referring to themselves as the ekklesia. I gather with believers from various church backgrounds in various places, and we are the church, or at least part of it, in those gatherings, though we have no formal organization. And we continue to witness to Christ through our lives, like 1st century Christians did - a minority reaching out to whoever is in need or is willing to discuss what we believe. I feel like I have more impact when I work from this kind of understanding of what the church is suppose to be.

I beleive that the Catholic Church for example, and the Vatican in particular, does not speak to us as Americans, as free thinkers, who traditionally fled Europe and the Church, as the Pilgrims did, to seek our own undrstanding of the powers that be. We as Americans vote on what we beleive in, such as issues like: Abortion, the Death Penalty, Stem Cell Research, etc. We don't beleive in taking the final word from someone like the Pope, who doesn't even live in America, and is in turn, out of touch with it's people.

Wow. Caesar. Not sure what that has to do with the post at all. But, thanks for the reminder that the Pope does not live in America.

We are dying for lack of leadership. Obama is a strong leader, but I don't like his direction. As someone has said, "I didn't do such and such a thing because nobody asked me. We need to start expecting things from the flock

This is not what any of you want to hear, but I thought I would add this as it might be somewhat useful to your discussions. I am a recovering Christian, a lifelong church-goer, who after 42 years finally figured out that Christianity, as well as all other religions, are just mass delusions. So I disagree that the decline in religious behavior is the fault of the church leadership being out of touch, but rather it is the result of a faulty product. Maybe it is just now that secularism is reaching critical mass here. I think America is following the path of Europe, but I think we may be on an accelerated schedule because of the explosion of readily accessible knowledge and human interconnectedness available on the internet. I think humanity will have taken a great leap forward when it finally, completely throws off the yoke of religion. I don't mean for this to be inflammmatory, as I feel like a party crasher, but to us, what you see as a problem to be addressed is not a problem at all but a sign of progress.

Thank God!