Saint Monica's Episcopal Church
Messenger
May 2015
The trouble with the Church: Or the simple way to grow by The Rev. Anthony MacWhinnie, II Christianity, in the US, it seems, is in decline. When you look at the numbers, and by that I mean church attendance numbers and membership numbers in specific denominations, they’re mostly all down. And, they’ve been going down for decades. The Roman Catholics and the mainline Protestant denominations are all in decline. The Mormons, the Assemblies and Pentecostals are slightly up, but it’s not enough to offset the lower numbers recorded by the big denominations. (Interestingly, of the churches that are growing, the larger churches are growing faster than the smaller churches, percentage-wise. So, it would seem that larger churches are doing something better or “righter” than smaller churches.) The question on everyone’s mind is “Why?” Why would American Christianity be in decline? Are we in a post-Christian world? Is post-modernity equivalent to post-religiosity? Is the new norm of “spiritual but not religious” a sea-change or is it a course that is reversible? Is our culture just done with church? Is this evolutionary or reactionary? Well, of course, I don’t have all the answers, but I have noticed something about our churches and about the parachurch world that is so inextricably intertwined in my view, as to offer at least one simple explanation. We have forgotten how to be church. And THEY have picked up that slack and are growing as a result. Let me explain… In the most reductive of senses, (which is how I operate best, honestly), Jesus gave us two great commandments and five missions. “Love God and your neighbor. And, do these things: feed the hungry, house the homeless, heal the sick, clothe the naked, and tend to the broken-hearted.” (He also said “make disciples of all nations” but, honestly, I think that’s the same thing as those first two things. We can argue that another time.) So, “Love God and your neighbor and do these five things.” That’s it. That’s what Christianity is. That’s what Church is.
Our Staff & Vestry The Rev, Anthony MacWhinnie, II, Priest in Charge Vestry: Chuck Barnett - Senior Warden Dan Ferguson- Junior Warden/Co-Treasurer Linda Aligood —Treasurer Susan Early, Frank Murphy, Ann Philen & John Velaski Viv Welch—Clerk of the Vestry Brenda Ferguson—Church Secretary Twinette McDonald - Music Director Sally Putters - Parish Nurse
But what we heard was “Go to church on Sunday and high holy days and sit next to people that are like you. Wear appropriate clothes. Hear lessons you agree with. Make sure the politics of your church agree with your politics. Make sure your church looks and acts, on Sundays, like you remember church looked and acted when you were a child.” Isn’t that how we operate? Isn’t that what you’ve seen time and time again, especially in small, declining churches? Sure, they have hobby ministries. They get together quarterly and do something for the less fortunate, and it’s a great first step into the world that Jesus has called us. It really is. But they never take the second step, or the third, or the fourth. It’s a hobby. It’s a toe-dip into the dirty world that Jesus loved so much. It’s a social club with other likeminded, good natured, well-intentioned people, who, if they are being honest with themselves, don’t really want to do the things that Jesus has called us to do. They want to know about those things and support those things in principle and be associated with people that actually do them, but not change their lives and especially not their Church in the way that Jesus calls us to do. And so, because we don’t do those things, we are in decline. But, do you know who is NOT in decline? The parachurch, and by that I mean church-like organizations that aren’t actually churches (or that are part of actual churches). Those would be thrift stores and soup kitchens and food pantries and free clinics and homeless shelters and free counseling services. These places are EVERYWHERE now. And most times they are loosely associated with churches, but not actually affiliated. They are booming and going wild and helping countless people all over the place. And you know why? Because they DO those five things… feed the hungry, clothe the naked, house the homeless, heal the sick, and tend to the broken-hearted… And that sure does look a lot like loving God and neighbor… And you know what else? That statistic that larger churches grow faster than smaller churches? It’s not about (Continued on page 2)