The Evangelical Alliance reports that the numbers of 20-somethings attending church is in steep decline, falling 62% from over half a million in 1985 to less than a quarter of a million two decades later.
Thankfully that does not appear to be the case in congregations I know where there is lively expository Bible ministry.
Statistics say that the largest section of the population is those who don’t go to church but ‘vaguely believe.’ I glimpsed one cartoon recently which had a vicar saying ‘We’re hoping to tap into the largest single Christian group in the country’ as he stood next to a notice board for the ‘Non-Obligational Church’. It advertised services ‘as-and-when’ and ‘pray as you go.’ Although this is tongue-in-cheek, many are beginning to think that the less clear we are about what we believe, the more people will be able to relate to us — that fuzziness is the way forward. Is being too definite about our Bible beliefs the problem?
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 …