Britain’s churches are well on the way to extinction, according to a new report, The Future of the Church, published at the beginning of September.
If current trends continue, churchgoing will drop by two thirds in the next 30 years, while Islam will mushroom. The average age of Christian congregations will have risen to 64 as young people react against the church under the catalyst of secularisation. 18,000 more church buildings will have closed. So, if you needed reminding, we are up against it.
Of course, the statisticians’ ‘head count at services’ measure of the church has very little to do with a biblical view of Christ’s church. But having said that, confronted with such figures, we need to do some serious thinking.
The re-emergence of heavy shepherds
What would you think if you received a letter from your church leaders that read like this? ‘Are church members …