Tradition of church has fallen by wayside

Doug Heacock, contemporary worship leader, Lawrence Free Methodist Church, 3001 Lawrence Ave.:

Although Lawrence is probably not a typical Bible Belt community, I’ve seen demographic data within the past few years indicating that on any given Sunday morning, fewer than 10 percent of Lawrence’s residents attend a church service. I suspect there are two main reasons.

Before the 1960s, most people had some kind of church background. Our parents and grandparents either went to church regularly or at least had what they considered to be a “home” church, which they attended at Christmas and Easter. During the ’60s, many people began to question the faith of their parents, perhaps as a byproduct of a growing counterculture movement, and many left the church behind. That generation has raised the current generation without nearly as much concern for church attendance, and now we have large numbers of people who have little or no exposure to the church beyond the unflattering portrayals of churches and Christians in the popular entertainment media, and feel no compelling need to check the church out.

But perhaps more significantly, many people today simply don’t see the Christian faith as something that has much relevance for their lives. This may be partly because many churches have (a) failed to effectively teach Christians how to “live out” their faith authentically among their friends, neighbors and co-workers, and (b) failed to adjust their worship styles, teaching methods and outreach ministries to speak in relevant ways to the current generation.

The message of the cross is still a compelling, life-changing message that is capable of turning the world upside down, but unless we Christians are willing to actually live according to what we claim to believe, and to update our methods and ministries to adapt to the times, we’re likely to become increasingly irrelevant.

– Send e-mail to Doug Heacock at doug.heacock@gmail.com.

Many Americans just don’t understand

The Rev. Shaun LePage, pastor, Community Bible Church, 906 N. 1464 Road:

There are multiple reasons why so many Americans are unchurched today. Many believe the church is irrelevant and boring. Many have witnessed too much hypocrisy, fighting and pettiness. No doubt, the church must shoulder much of the responsibility. But I think most Americans are unchurched because they don’t understand. They don’t understand that Jesus started and is building the church – it belongs to him. They don’t understand that the church is the central work of God in this age. They don’t understand how much Jesus loves the church – he died for it. They don’t understand that the church is people – imperfect people who needed a perfect savior to save them from sin and reconcile them to God. When you understand how important the church is in God’s eyes, you realize it can never be irrelevant and boring. It is wildly important and has eternal significance. Those who understand how important the church is find it much easier to put up with boring preachers and immature bickering and all those things that imperfect people bring to an organization. Our families are imperfect, but we know how important family is so we put up with the irritations and work through the problems. I grew up in a church that was legalistic. I later attended a church that was constantly fighting over something. But I’ve also been a part of churches that were healthy. They were like families – not perfect, but full of love and joy and encouragement. My advice to the “unchurched” is to not give up. There are churches out there that will love you and help you and encourage you. Give it another shot.

– Send e-mail Shaun LePage at shaunlepage@sbcglobal.net.