.PAYING SOME PRICE TO GAIN THE CAUCASIAN PEOPLE
A. Gaining Caucasians in the U. S.
We must find a way to get into the Caucasian community. We are healthy in our teaching, but we are not healthy in our practice. We must reconsider our situation. I would like to pay some price to gain the Caucasian people. All the Caucasian brothers and sisters need to be burdened and consider so that they may be enabled by the Lord to find a way...more (Fellowship Concerning the Urgent Need of the Vital Groups, chapter 1, Section 2)
B. Church in America marked by decline
The church in America is shrinking.
The number of men, women and children in the pews has dipped to the lowest level since a comprehensive effort to count members began in 1980, according to the 2009 edition of Churches of Christ in the United States.
In the newly released directory, 21st Century Christian identifies 12,629 a cappella Churches of Christ with 1,578,281 adherents nationwide.
Those figures represent 526 fewer churches and 78,436 fewer people in the pews than just six years ago...(more)
U.S. Confidence in Organized Religion at Low Point
Forty-four percent of Americans have a great deal or quite a lot of confidence in "the church or organized religion" today, just below the low points 45% in 2002 and 46% in 2007. This follows a long-term decline in Americans' confidence in religion since the 1970s...(more)
C. Americans Feel Connected to Jesus
The Barna study, conducted among a random sample of 1,002 U.S. adults, discovered that two out of every three adults (67%) claimed to have a “personal relationship” with Jesus that is currently active and that influences their life...(more)
Faith in flux-Changes in Religious Affiliation in the U.S.
In total, about half of American adults have changed religious affiliation at least once during their lives. Most people who change their religion leave their childhood faith before age 24, and many of those who change religion do so more than once... (more)
Very religious rate higher on “well being” scale
Very religious people rate higher – compared to the moderately religious and nonreligious – on a Gallup “well being” survey. Seventy-three percent of Mormons identified as very religious, compared to 50 percent of Protestants, 46 percent of Muslims and 43 percent of Roman Catholics...(more)
D. What People Experience in Churches
Connecting with God
Experiencing Transformation
Gaining New Insights
Feeling Cared ForHelping the PoorDoes Church Size Matter?Generational ExperiencesDenominational Experiences...(more)
Church Shoppers: What Are They Looking For?
In our small county in North Carolina, with about 50,000 people, there are more than 160 churches. All of them are struggling to stay alive and pay their bills. That struggle means that there is great competition for new members. That struggle in turn makes most new people in the community "church shoppers." ...(more)
E. People tweet more about church than beer
Americans tweet more about church than beer, and there is a distinct regional divide between the tweets. Church tweets were most common in the Southeast United States, while tweets about beer were most prevalent in the Northeast...(more)
The church in America is shrinking.
Forty-four percent of Americans have a great deal or quite a lot of confidence in "the church or organized religion" today, just below the low points 45% in 2002 and 46% in 2007. This follows a long-term decline in Americans' confidence in religion since the 1970s...(more)
The Barna study, conducted among a random sample of 1,002 U.S. adults, discovered that two out of every three adults (67%) claimed to have a “personal relationship” with Jesus that is currently active and that influences their life...(more)
In total, about half of American adults have changed religious affiliation at least once during their lives. Most people who change their religion leave their childhood faith before age 24, and many of those who change religion do so more than once... (more)
Very religious people rate higher – compared to the moderately religious and nonreligious – on a Gallup “well being” survey. Seventy-three percent of Mormons identified as very religious, compared to 50 percent of Protestants, 46 percent of Muslims and 43 percent of Roman Catholics...(more)
Connecting with God
In our small county in North Carolina, with about 50,000 people, there are more than 160 churches. All of them are struggling to stay alive and pay their bills. That struggle means that there is great competition for new members. That struggle in turn makes most new people in the community "church shoppers." ...(more)
Americans tweet more about church than beer, and there is a distinct regional divide between the tweets. Church tweets were most common in the Southeast United States, while tweets about beer were most prevalent in the Northeast...(more)
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