Statisticians like to say that Christianity is in decline in America, but it's probably not true. What is true is that church attendance is down. Here's why that's a good thing.
I was really happy to see a church in Texas, Austin I believe, that refuses to ever own property. It's called Bread Fellowship. That's the first I've ever heard of a church holding that position but I'm sure others are doing it, also.
Yes, I don't know if you are familiar with Nadia Bolz-Webber but she started a Lutheran Church here called House for all Saints & Sinners and they have never owned a building. They've moved a few times but always use space in someone else's building. They are a very active community, but only have one weekly service on Sunday evening. Always in someone else's building.
This is really interesting. I have heard other people talk about moving away from the sermon-centric weekly gathering, and also people talk about why churches should have bi-vocational volunteer pastors instead of paid staff. But I’ve never heard it phrased in terms of getting rid of the building itself. Super interesting and lots of food for thought.
Something I’ve thought a lot about is how the Sunday gathering can be inaccessible for a certain group of people - those who work on Sundays. My husband hasn’t had a weekend off yet this year. So he is unable to attend Sunday church. But he has found a men’s Bible study (at a different church than the one we usually attend) that he goes to on Tuesday nights, since he’s usually off on Tuesdays, and that’s become his “church”.
I haven’t gone to our church since COVID started (for reasons). Even before COVID, since I was usually alone with my 4 kids on Sundays, I’d usually just take them to Sunday school and not the main service. They enjoyed it far more than sitting in a sermon, and I found the adult Sunday school much more of a community than going to the service (where often no one would even talk to me).
I’ve thought about going back to Bible Study Fellowship, which I’ve enjoyed in the past, but despite its name it is 100% Bible study and not any “fellowship” (just the way the format is set up). What would be so nourishing to my soul is a regular get-together with a couple other friends where we can just chat and grow closer in friendship.
Yes, there are so many problems with the institutional church as we know it. Needless to say, those in the church always want to point to the "good" that they do - but when you really get right down to it, there's really not a lot they can point to. They may hold emotional baptism services, where dozens of people get baptized, but what does that really mean? They may organize small group Bible studies of some kind, but realistically, we don't need a giant church building and full staff to do that.
I believe that small groups or home churches are the answer - which is exactly what they did in the first century. I also think it would massively decrease both spiritual and sexual abuse because predators can't hide as easily in small groups as in large ones.
I was really happy to see a church in Texas, Austin I believe, that refuses to ever own property. It's called Bread Fellowship. That's the first I've ever heard of a church holding that position but I'm sure others are doing it, also.
Yes, I don't know if you are familiar with Nadia Bolz-Webber but she started a Lutheran Church here called House for all Saints & Sinners and they have never owned a building. They've moved a few times but always use space in someone else's building. They are a very active community, but only have one weekly service on Sunday evening. Always in someone else's building.
I love Nadia Bolz-Weber but didn't know that about her church. Not surprised, though!
This is really interesting. I have heard other people talk about moving away from the sermon-centric weekly gathering, and also people talk about why churches should have bi-vocational volunteer pastors instead of paid staff. But I’ve never heard it phrased in terms of getting rid of the building itself. Super interesting and lots of food for thought.
Something I’ve thought a lot about is how the Sunday gathering can be inaccessible for a certain group of people - those who work on Sundays. My husband hasn’t had a weekend off yet this year. So he is unable to attend Sunday church. But he has found a men’s Bible study (at a different church than the one we usually attend) that he goes to on Tuesday nights, since he’s usually off on Tuesdays, and that’s become his “church”.
I haven’t gone to our church since COVID started (for reasons). Even before COVID, since I was usually alone with my 4 kids on Sundays, I’d usually just take them to Sunday school and not the main service. They enjoyed it far more than sitting in a sermon, and I found the adult Sunday school much more of a community than going to the service (where often no one would even talk to me).
I’ve thought about going back to Bible Study Fellowship, which I’ve enjoyed in the past, but despite its name it is 100% Bible study and not any “fellowship” (just the way the format is set up). What would be so nourishing to my soul is a regular get-together with a couple other friends where we can just chat and grow closer in friendship.
Hi Sarah!
Yes, there are so many problems with the institutional church as we know it. Needless to say, those in the church always want to point to the "good" that they do - but when you really get right down to it, there's really not a lot they can point to. They may hold emotional baptism services, where dozens of people get baptized, but what does that really mean? They may organize small group Bible studies of some kind, but realistically, we don't need a giant church building and full staff to do that.
I believe that small groups or home churches are the answer - which is exactly what they did in the first century. I also think it would massively decrease both spiritual and sexual abuse because predators can't hide as easily in small groups as in large ones.