Charles Milliken: Rescuing the faith of our fathers

Last week I briefly outlined some of the reasons religious profession is rapidly declining in American society. This week I shall cover some of the efforts to arrest this decline.

Christian leaders are keenly aware of emptying pews, and several ideas have been attempted to fill the pews once again. Rick Warren, the founder of Saddleback Church in California in 1980, wrote “The Purpose Driven Church.” published in 1995. In this excellent work, Warren distilled much that he had learned in building a hugely successful mega-church. I heartily recommend you read it, if you haven’t already. In considerable detail, Warren outlined the strategies he had employed that others might follow. Mega-churches have proven to be the one bright spot in slowing the decline of belief, although the impact hasn’t been enough to reverse that decline.

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Warren, and other founders of mega-churches, take a practical look at what might attract believers to church, as well as attracting non-believers, in their attempts at evangelism. One of the chief characteristics of these churches is professionalism. They start on time, they end on time, and the speakers and musicians are chosen for excellence in presentation. Flocks of volunteers are there to steer any new persons to where they need to go, from the parking lot to the pew and everywhere in between. There is every attempt to make a visitor feel welcome, in contradistinction to many traditional churches where the visitor often feels ignored and on his own. “The frozen chosen” must not be the first impression.

Traditional church practices are consciously avoided. Liturgy as historically employed is almost totally absent. Preachers do not stand in front of the congregation dressed in religious garb. Country club casual is usual. Music is contemporary, usually mimicking a rock concert. Traditional hymns and choirs are gone. In short they make every effort to mirror the tastes of contemporary society, not attempt to change them. (To quote Warren, “The styles of music you choose to use in your services will be one of the most critical … decisions you will make in the life of your church.”) No more boring church service.

Another characteristic of church growth movements is to build buildings that look as little like a church as possible. Since people seem not to like “church” any more, the “worship center” should resemble a shopping mall or multiplex theater. Just as music, the architecture should feel familiar and comfortable. Theater seating is much to be preferred over wooden pews.

A further feature of church growth is to found “non-denominational” churches. Denominational divides and historical spats are avoided by supposedly having no denomination at all. Sometimes even the word “church” is missing. This has the further advantage for the founding pastor that he answers to no higher governing body. Unfortunately, the several well-publicized scandals which have erupted over the years shows the problem with lack of accountability. A failed church loses a lot of souls.

The Warrens of the world, for all their contemporizing, try to adhere to a traditional biblical message. Another strategy used by many churches, especially in the rapidly declining “mainline” churches, is to dilute the message, or change it altogether. Last column I enumerated several traditional Christian messages, among which was the understanding of sexual relations. Many churches have jettisoned that understanding and embraced full-on LGBTQ+ messaging, flags and all. Abortion, anathema to a traditional Christian, but supported in some fashion by a majority of the population, is now held to be perfectly acceptable — an affirmation of a woman’s right to her own body.

Traditional churches keep soldiering on in the belief that, whatever happens, God is in charge, and they must remain faithful. Numbers may be declining, but after all the Bible tells us that narrow is the way, and few find it. Despite the best marketing efforts of the Warrens of this nation, despite localized successes, the decline marches on.

In the next part, I’ll consider the consequences to society if it turns out that better marketing and professionalizing isn’t the answer.

Charles Milliken is a professor emeritus after 22 years of teaching economics and related subjects at Siena Heights University. He can be reached at milliken.charles@gmail.com.

This article originally appeared on The Daily Telegram: Charles Milliken: Rescuing the faith of our fathers