Do you think that the church is in trouble to get new members?

I saw this question and my mind went racing. Just so many issues wrapped up in this one little question… I don’t even know where to start. First let’s be clear “the church” in this context is not “THE CHURCH”. THE CHURCH is the body of Christ in the earth identifying a supernatural collection of believers that called according to his purpose. “the church” is the business of building a congregation and collecting tithes and offerings to support the business of building a congregation and collecting tithes and offerings to support the business of … (you get the picture). So in the context of your question we are talking about “the church” and not THE CHURCH because we both know that the purpose of THE CHURCH is not to “get new members.”

Alright, on to your question about membeship in “the church”… I have sooooooo many things to say on this subject because the perversion of the mission and charter of the church is rampant and runs deep. Just not enough space here to address it adequately… But I will say this, when a church turns its focus from “winning souls” to getting “new members” it is out of order. This is a perversion of the intent of the church. This need for “new members” is tied to a need for the money that a church expects to extract from these “new members. Most churches aren’t working to create brothers and sisters in Christ, they are working to create additional sources of income. Members = money. In the end membership is about money and not about winning souls. Who should care where a soul that is won to Christ will worship? Don’t be fooled that conversation is not about souls.

Secondly, to answer your question more directly, YES the church is in trouble… major trouble. Again I’m not talking about THE CHURCH, I’m talking about the church. It is most definitely in trouble… particularly “traditional” churches. Just look at the largest churches you know. Think about the churches you know with the most members/attenders. The idea of church spans a wide array of implementations and to get new members a church has to change the way it conducts its worship services. People are changing and being changed by technology. Churches that do not follow suit will become further and further disconnected with each new generation. That’s why our elders make up such a large percentage of the population in “traditional” churches.

My last comment on this issues is this, the biggest challenge to the church in coming years will not be how to “get new members” it will be how to keep its current members from leaving. The church has had a revolving door for years. As people come they are usually passing people on their way out. Historically, the survival of any church was to make sure it could get new members at a faster pace than the current members leave.

People are coming to the church by the millions everyday… but for the first time in history they are leaving just as fast as they are coming. Note the high turnover in faces and leadership within the church. Why is this? Ultimately, people are much more educated and much more capable of understanding scripture for themselves and this higher spiritual IQ creates a lower tolerance for foolishness. Bottom line is if leadership is real and committed to truly serving the community and the body of Christ members will stay. Churches need to be transparent with their finances, open to democratic leadership, and accountable to the membership. Anything less will be flushed out eventually and people will leave.

Hope that helps sis.

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