8/17/2010
Why Evangelical Churches are Growing and Mainline Churches are Dying
My friend Jay Woodham directed me to a very interesting interview with Rodney Stark regarding his theory as to why the "mainline" denominations (Presbyterian, Episcopalian, Methodist; etc.) are hemorrhaging members and dying. Dr. Stark is a professor at Baylor University specializing in religion and sociology who obtained his PhD from Cal-Berkley. Essentially, Dr. Stark argues that the clergy of the mainline denominations is to blame for the decline because they have abandoned traditional orthodox Christianity. The article is HERE and is a must read.
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2 comments:
Very interesting read indeed. Some of the interview is frivolous commentary. Such as the Hymnal-vs-Overhead bit. However, this is an interview script and not a cited documentary.
That being said, I think there are several points that Mr. Stark makes that are spot-on. First, the state involvement in Western European churches should be a foreshadowing of our own behavior.
Second, when the message from the pulpit is no different than what you can see on a 24-hour news channel, then why go to church? We should be equipping parishioners to understand God's Word and live the Great commission as Jesus taught.
Finally, the author's point on seminaries is very interesting. This could be a topic by itself. He suggests that theological seminaries have been watered down liberal since the early to mid 19th century. Personally, this does not surprise me as our enemy's tactics have not changed since the fall. If Satan can water-down the message of God with lies, what better way than to use teaching institutions of our pastors?
Acts 17:11 Now the Bereans were of more noble character than the Thessalonians, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true.
Thanks for the read James,
Jason Hickey
Rodney Stark is a genius. I recommend reading everything he has written in the last 10 years. I also highly recommend "The birth of freedom" documentary in which he appears from the Acton Institute
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