When Churches Lose Members

I'm happy to be a part of a church that is moving in a direction contrary to the trend - we increased in membership over the last year, thanks be to God; though we have also recently had years of declining membership as well. In my position as denominational director of Safe Church Ministry over the last 2 years, I have talked directly with probably 100 people or more who have left the CRC, and some who, sadly, have left their faith entirely. Their reasons for leaving have to do with the way they feel that they've been treated by pastors and/or church leaders in the CRC. They felt unable to share their own opinions honestly, especially when they went against the majority opinion; they felt that church leaders did not listen to them and never heard their concerns; they felt coerced, intimidated, manipulated, or abused by those in power in their church.

If we are concerned with declining numbers in our pews, we must look at models for church leadership. Leaders who do not follow Jesus' way of humble, servant leadership are turning people away from our churches. I see and hear about it on an almost daily basis. In this Christmas season we celebrate Jesus, who came down from heaven for our sakes, humbled himself in obedience, even to suffer death on a cross. We are called, as a community, to follow his way. I'm afraid that we have instead become products of our culture, which contrary to the Gospel, uses power for it's own gain. Our leaders must show a different way, the way of Jesus. As we lift up Christ, and follow his way, he will draw people to himself and to our communities.

“Give me one reason to stay here, and I’ll turn right back around.”  This was the plea of Tracy Chapman in her popular song of 1996.  This is also the plea of people who reluctantly leave the congregations they love.  And I suspect that the all too common response is an awkward, tongue tied silence.  So what do Tracy and many of the below forty crowd need to hear from the ones they love?

In the church of my youth the answer was quite compelling: “we need you”.  The church was developing a Christian response to the heart-of-scripture issues of justice and mercy across the world.  In those heady times our kitchen tables and church basements were places of passionate discussion to develop the Christian Farmers Federation, the Christian Labour Association, the Institute for Christian Studies, the Alliance of Christian Schools, the Christian Reformed World Relief Committee, Citizens for Public Justice and some others.  People I looked up to gave every spare moment and most spare dollars to a Kingdom-of-God based revolution, travelling and speaking in the churches across the land.  It was clear that I and my friends were needed in this active, visionary church body where every part was important.

Having now successfully assigned these matters to the well-run organizations that we worked so hard to begin, we wonder how to answer Tracy’s hard but simple challenge.  Meanwhile, the march of evil continues and injustice multiplies itself daily.

I see those who tirelessly work for justice in the organizations I name above.  They are the young, the visionary, the crazy workers inspired by the Kingdom of God.  They line up to staff these organizations, often for lesser salaries, in order to engage God sized causes bigger than themselves and perhaps bigger than their churches.

And so I wonder; have these organizations, in a way, replaced the church?  Have they usurped her vision?  Has the role of the church been relegated to some kind of support club – sending money and training the future workers?  Has the church lost her revolutionary role?

And so, coming back to Tracy’s plea that resonates with Loius’ question that started this conversation, the church needs to give people a reason a reason to stay here.

This is not just a CRCNA issue, but a North America wide phenomena that is sweeping through ALL churches and has been documented since at least 2005 in research studies.

Looking at the numbers from the perspective of families is problematic when individuals who use to get married in their 20's today get married in their 30's, if at all. Moreover, those families also have fewer children today. My own research indicates that Yearbook membership numbers are out by approximately 25% - 30%, quite apart from the yearly drop in membership numbers.

Though the work of SPACT is helpful, I feel as if we are a community "inside a box" looking out, self referencing our analysis without really coming to grips with the socio-cultural changes occurring around us.

Individuals are disaffiliating from participation in institutional, community, and neighbourhood life. Though they may have personal reasons, there are broader philosophical changes afoot that consciously or unconsciously affect those decisions. Matters of the "common good" have been fractured into privatized relativistic worldviews making consensus in civic life ever more difficult.

Below are some references to articles on why "churches are losing members..." 

Angus Reid 2013-12 Poll – Christmas – Religion

Barna Group 2003-09-24 Twenty somethings Struggle to Find Their Place in Christian Churches

Barna Group 2011-07-26 [Part1] Examines Trends in 14 Religious Factors over 20 Years (1991 to 2011)

Barna Group 2011-07-27 [Part2] Describes Religious Changes Among Busters, Boomers, and Elders Since 1991

Barna Group 2011-09-28 Six Reasons Young Christians Leave Church

Barna Group 2011-11-16 Five Myths about Young Adult Church Dropouts

Barna Group 2012-08-12 Christian Women Today – Parts 1 - 4

Barna Group 2013-05-09 Three Spiritual Journeys of Millennials

Barna Group 2013-09-17 Reasons Millennials Stay Connected to Church

Barna Group 2012-01-09 What People Experience in Churches

Beaty, Katelyn 2009-10 Lost In Transition. Christianity Today

Bellah, Robert 1986-02-20 Individualism & Commitment In American Life. Lecture, University of California

Chong, Shiao 2013-01-28 Relationship, Religion Or Both? Christian Courier

Coggins, Jim 2012-09-17 Why Canadian young people are leaving the church. Canadian Christianity

Dyck, Drew 2011-11-19 The Leavers – Young Doubters Exit The Church. Christianity Today

Evens, Rachel Held 2013 Why millennials are leaving the church. CNN Belief Blog

Greusel, David 2013-11-12 Yearning for community - or not. Think Christian

Kim, Steve Hemorrhaging Faith / A Brief Synopsis. Apologetics Canada

Kwon, Lillian 2011-04-22 Survey Reveals Decade – Long 'Erosion' of Traditional US Congregations - Hartford Institute

PEW 2010-02 Religion Among Millennials

PEW 2010-09-28 Religious Knowledge – Full Report

PEW 2011-03-09 For Millennials Parenthood Trumps Marriage

PEW 2011-12-14 Barely Half of U.S. Adults Are Married – A Record Low

PEW 2013-03-18 Decline Of Institutional Religion

PEW 2013-03 Lugo, Luis – The Decline Of Institutional Religion & Implications For American Civil Life

PEW 2013-06-27Canada’s Changing Religious Landscape | Pew Research Center's Religion & Public Life Project

Pimblott, Kerry 2012-11-09 The Election and Why Millennials are Leaving the Church Margins. Blog marginalife

Postma, Gayla 2007-08 Where Did Our Young Adults Go – The Banner

Reimer, Sam Demographic Look At Evangelical Congregations 2010-08. EFC Church & Faith Trends

Roozen, David 2011 Decade Of Change In American Congregations 2000-2010 Faith Communities Today

Roozen, David 2013-12-03 Negative Numbers – The decline Narrative Reaches Evangelicals - The Christian Century

Smith, Christian 2005 Portraits Of Protestant Teens. National Study on Youth & Religion

Smith, Christian 2007-11&12 Getting a Life: The challenge of emerging adulthood. Books & Culture

Smith, Christian 2008 Religion & Spirituality On The Path Through Adolescence. National Study on Youth & Religion

State Of The Canadian Church 2008 Canadian Christianity

Thiessen, Joel 2010-12 Churches Are Not Necessarily The Problem. EFC Church & Faith Trends.pdf

Van Loon, Michelle 2013-08-08 Who Raised These Millennials Anyway? | Her.meneutics / Christianity Today

I am probably more quick to see other gospel-believing congregations as brothers and sisters because I “married into” the CRC instead of being born here. But because of this, I have observed an ecclesiastical myopia in the CRC - a “if you ain't Dutch, you ain't much” sort of exclusivism that replaces “Dutch” with “CRC.” Yes, members leave CRC congregations, often not for the best reasons or with proper dialogue with their consistory (maybe that’s for another post...). But, is that a loss for The Church (Universal), or a loss for our CRC Yearbook numbers? - and which do we see as worse?

It’s true - the pain is real when one member says to another, “I can’t - and won’t - worship with you anymore.” Obviously, someone messed up somewhere in the love department (maybe even the person leaving). There’s a real sense of loss when our children get older and start attending So-and-So Nondenominational Church down the road. But, perhaps that’s a move that will result in a deeper spiritual maturity for the person who leaves “us” for “them” - because in Christ we are all “us” - just in different places. Does this truth clarify the problem in the CRC, or give us more questions to ask of ourselves?

Our subject is really, "Church GROWTH" and if you look through the Yearbook you can find individual congregations which show consistent growth. These churches are blessed but they are also COMMITTED to reaching out to their communities and enveloping new people into their fellowship. These churches are both "inviting" and "promoting" the community to come and experience Jesus with them. That invitation is to those who are single, married, with children and without, and they are "accepting" to those who are like them and who are different. If you talked with either the leaders or the members of these churches you would hear a common theme..."we will do whatever it takes to effectively reach out to our community with the good news of Jesus Christ!"

Our history works against this kind of CRC congregation. Our forefathers settled in colonies in this country (US). They were a homogenous group and the church they built was for them. "Outreach" consisted of consisted of letting other like-minded new commers in but "other" people who believed or acted differently soon got the message. Fastforward to today and you will find that many of our established churches still have a stronger focus on present member's wants and wishes than on reaching out to those who are different. The problem comes when the younger generation either leaves the area or attends another church and there is relatively little outreach...the church declines. As this happens, families with children see the hand writing on the wall and attend another church where are more choices for them and their children. As this shift continues it leaves the church with fewer and fewer members to handle the internal ministry requirements and they become exhausted or burned out.

As members or leaders, when we say things like, "this is my church and I don't like_______", what we are really saying is that we want church for ME! If we who already know the Lord and know that heaven will be our eternal home are not willing to do whaterer it takes to make it possible for new people to know Jesus as we do, then we are missing our calling.

Growing. Churches are open to change...not for change sake...not for ego sake but for Jesus sake, striving to open the church doors wider and wider. Churches in decline resist change and even in the face of closure take pride in believing they are doing things right.

Thank you all for the lively discussion about the loss of membership in the c.r.c.In my origional comment  #1 spirit filled  worship, and #2 biblical preaching. I need to add, that unfortunately the c.r.c. denominationa is partly following the path of some of the old ,tired mainline churches in canada. my concern is that you are, focussing on the social issues of the day, #1 the c.r.c. participatng in a helicopter trip to check out the effect of the oilsands in alberta, #2synod committtee studying climate change, #3 world renew sending delegation to kenya  regarding effect of climate change ,#4 continually pressing to adopt the belhar, a document confessing sin to people rather than confessing to HIM who died that we may live, as in our age old adopted confessions. When we as HIS children are immersed in HIS grace, then the caring for HIS creation and our fellow men will flow out of HIS love, with out a synod micromanaging its members..

for the love of JESUS  Hans Visser

Lambert, I think you closed your post with the right question, "where have we missed...in the great commission? " Something I tried to teach my children was that when we don't do the right thing, we find ourselves doing the wrong things. I don't mean to be too simplistic, because several issues have been raised in this discussion, however, as I read the gospels, I believe that THE mission of the church is to share the good news of salvation through Jesus Christ to those who don't yet know Him as their Savior and Lord. IF our forefathers had come to this country for this purpose we wouldn't be having this discussion, but they didn't! They came to have religious freedom and to have their own separate colony and their own church. Having said that, the present CRC church typically doesn't have "saving the lost" as their purpose and mission (what they should do) but gets all hung up with other issues (not really wrong but distracting it from what it should be doing). Examine the "growing" congregations within the denomination and you will find unity, harmony, acceptance of members and attendees "as they ARE". You will find members who almost unanimously LOVE their pastor and you will find a pastor who faithfully preaches the whole council of God. Yku will find celebration and the use of member gifts AND because of the abundance of energy in these churches you will find that the members are engaged in various para-church ministry activity outside of the walls of the church. Unless the members of established congregations are willing to CHANGE and commit to refocusing on "doing whatever it takes" to reaching the lost, they will continue to use their resources on the "wrong" things (these may actually be beneficial and worthy causes) and over time lose even more members. Let me use just one example: if a congregation will not make the decision to change it's name from First Christian Reformed Church, a name that was proudly held by former generations, but now meaningless to today's generation, I guarantee they will not make other necessary decisions to become an "outreach" local church. I'll end here...blessings!