Dear Church Family, In my conversations with people, folks sometimes ask me about "the competition." Usually, they are referring to other churches in our area, especially the seemingly endless churches on or near Franklin Road. However, I've never viewed other churches as the competition. For one thing, we are all brothers and sisters in Christ. In the end, we are on the same team. And, most of the churches around us have a very different culture than we do. As a centrist mainline church, we reach a different constituency than most of the churches in our area. So our competition is not other churches. The real competition that threatens our church (and every other church in America) is nominal Christianity and the growth of the "nones." Let me explain. The primary competition for the health of American churches is nominal Christianity. Nominal Christians profess faith in Christ. They hold membership in a church. But they rarely participate in the life of their congregation. If these people ever got serious about their membership vows (to be faithful to God and church with their prayers, presence, gifts, service and witness), every Sunday would be like Easter, and the ministry, mission and impact of American churches would dramatically and exponentially explode. This group, more than any other "competitor," prevents the American church from reaching its
potential. The second major competitor for American churches is the rise of the "nones." The "nones" are the fastest-growing religious group in America. These are the people who have no religious affiliation. Their numbers have more than doubled since 1990. They now make up from 16% to 19% of the American population. Recent research discovered (see Robert Putnam and David Campbell's book, American Grace) that the growth of the "nones" is primarily due to negative reactions to religious-right fundamentalism. The "nones" believe that American churches are arrogant, judgmental, closed-minded, overly political, antiwomen, and anti-science. Therefore, they have abandoned the church, although not necessarily the spiritual life. I wish I had easy solutions for dealing with nominal Christianity and the rise of the "nones." I don't have a simple answer for making nominal Christians fully devoted followers of Christ. If you have one please let me know! And I don't have an easy formula for turning the "nones" into engaged members of the body of Christ. The best way I know to reach these two groups for Christ and Church is for congregations and Christian believers to live like Jesus. When we embody a vibrant, Christ-centered, joyful, loving, orthodox but open-minded, grace-filled, nonjudgmental, service oriented Christian faith and lifestyle-people will be attracted to our Lord and his church. May that be true in your life, in my life, and in the life of Brentwood United Methodist Church. I missed being with you last weekend. A special thanks to Mack Strange for preaching in my absence while several SLI members and I attended a conference at a multiple-campus church. I hope to see you this weekend as we begin our journey through The Lord's Prayer.
Finally, it was good to receive Susan Mathews, Hadley Williams Caldwell, Cade Thorsen Goff and Morgan Steel Gracey as new members. Welcome to our church family. In Christ's Love and Service, Martin