Mainline Churches Losing Members by Jeff Himmel

as originally published in LifeLines:

Every now and then I run across a news item with a title like the one above, reporting on the decreasing ranks of several "mainline" Protestant denominations. Groups like the Presbyterian, Episcopal, and Methodist churches have lost tens of thousands of members over the last couple of decades. A large number of those people have left in favor of other religious groups. While a host of things are blamed for this mass exodus, a couple in particular have caught my interest.

One reason people are leaving these denominations is radical liberalism. Mainline Protestant churches have often led the way in digressing from Biblical truth. But many members have decided that enough is enough. Their leaders, teachings, and practices have just become too liberal to stomach. Many of their "clergy" are infected with theological modernism- denying the Bible's inspiration and authority, embracing theistic evolution, and supporting abortion and homosexuality. And people in these churches are hopping mad about it. They no longer want to be part of any group whose "policies" go against their own religious convictions. For many, the only choice is to pack up and leave.

The discontent isn't only evident on an individual level. The Episcopal (Anglican) church of England has even considered severing ties with the U.S. Episcopal church because the American contingent has become so liberal. This sort of unrest is commonplace. And it's causing many in the denominations to re-examine their beliefs and practices in the light of God's word. I imagine more than a few are quite surprised by what they find.

People are also leaving denominations because of their organizational structure. Denominations tend to operate as bureaucracies with progressing levels of authority- local, regional, national- culminating in some governing body or "general assembly." The average church member feels alienated from this complex political system. Christian Century (2/28/90) observed that "if all national church bureaucracies disappeared- poof!- tomorrow, local congregations might not miss them too much. . . . A recent Presbyterian Church (USA) survey found that most rank-and-file Presbyterians are overwhelmingly uninterested' in actions at the church's national level."

In fact, a lot of folks have gone from "overwhelmingly uninterested" to downright resentful. Many in the denominations are tired of "headquarters" dictating what local churches can and can't do. They're upset that much of the money they give is soaked up by bureaucracies, then spent on everything from political campaigns to aiding leftist guerillas in South America. They feel as if their local congregation exists mainly to service the financial needs of church-sponsored schools, missionary societies, benevolent institutions, and various "ministries." And some people have even perceived a more fundamental problem: there's no basis in Scripture for any of it.

Believe me, folks, they're out there. There are people in the denominations who are fed up with what's going on. And many are looking around in hopes of finding something better. That presents us with a golden opportunity. These folks need to know that there are Christians who are content to be just Christians. They need to hear us "speak as the oracles of God" (1 Peter 4:11). They need to know that the Lord's church is not a network of bureaucracies or institutions. They need to see "the simplicity that is in Christ" (2 Corinthians 11:3) in our work, our worship, our organization, and our teaching.

Reader, if you've had enough of man-made religion, consider going back to the basics of New Testament Christianity. Can we assist you in becoming simply a Christian?

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