Church optional
Pictured here are Tim and Kathy Johnson, sitting at their kitchen table. Just four years ago, that space held the communion table of Zion Lutheran Church in Benedict, Nebraska. The Johnsons bought and remodeled the building when the church closed. At one time, they were members of Zion. Their son was married there, and grandchildren have been baptized there. Now it’s their home. Here “a house full of memories” has whole new meaning.
The Johnsons’ experience is part of an excellent report in the local Nebraska journal, Flatwater Free Press. Of course, the story of church closures is a national, and even international, one. The regional focus of this article makes the story more personal and more poignant. I was a pastor in Nebraska for several years and can easily imagine the towns and congregations mentioned here.
Nebraska has been what you might call “church country.” I often heard of small towns with multiple congregations of the same denomination. That’s all changing. Some of this, of course, is due to shifting populations as rural and small-town people move to the cities and suburbs. But surveys show that the remaining residents are just as likely to have little or no religious involvement as their urban counterparts.
The Flatwater piece shows that the decline of Christianity is not just about individuals but also communities. A Canadian agency recently declared it a national emergency that so many historic church buildings are being abandoned across that country. Anyone who has traveled to Europe is aware how many church buildings have essentially become museums, even if a small worshiping congregation remains. Many others, as in this Nebraska story, have been converted to some other purpose: houses, condos, B&Bs, stores, galleries, restaurants, bars, gyms, etc.
But not every church building is convertible or worth saving. Some are on land that is too valuable to retain the original building. In Florida, where I just moved from, the closure of a downtown Miami Lutheran church resulted in a multi-million-dollar sale, with the proceeds going to a synod ministry development fund.
The church closures in Flatwater’s report span the denominational spectrum: Baptist, Methodist, Lutheran, Roman Catholic. Also included are the now familiar but still stunning numbers on nationwide religious decline. A ten-year increase in those saying they rarely if ever attended worship, from 43% to 56%. A twenty-year decline in median worship attendance, from 137 to 65. This latter figure goes a long way in explaining the closure of congregations, and why the trend will continue. Increasingly congregations simply can’t afford to maintain their buildings, and/or don’t have enough volunteers to maintain their organizations.
Are congregations essential to Christianity? Many probably can’t imagine it any other way. Yet there have always been Christians who lived where churches were not available. And few, if any, other religions are as congregation oriented as Christianity. Some have shrines and temples, but worshipers aren’t necessarily “members” of them. Many Jews have only a nominal relationship with a synagogue, yet annually attend high holy day services and faithfully light Shabbat candles at home.
One of my interpretations of the recent “great de-churching” is that it has been a rejection of corporate worship. When people leave Christianity, in practical terms, it means they stop “going” to church. I still think that is true but perhaps that’s too narrow a perspective. Perhaps leaving organized religion is really a rejection of belonging to a congregation.
In my experience, Christians often have a romanticized image of their churches, viewing them more favorably than is warranted. Such responses usually come from the active core who worship often, sing in the choir, participate in church organizations, volunteer for committees and governing boards, etc. For that reason, they usually know each other and often count such people among their friends. Yet they are always a minority.
My last congregation had a vibrant and celebrated coffee and fellowship time after Sunday worship. I joked that we had a coffee hour preceded by a worship service. Yet fellowship time participants were only half the story. Each week after worship, I stood at the door shaking the hands of at least as many heading to their cars to leave. Most of these were largely unknown to those getting their cake and coffee.
Every church I have known has members who declare, “We’re so friendly here.” Yet those same congregations have other members who will say, “No one ever talks to me.” When I started in ministry, denominations were in a push to make their congregations more welcoming, especially to visitors. Many churches sprouted big “Welcome Place” banners or put something similar on their signs. Yet to the end of my ministry, it was still common to hear stories of people visiting other congregations where no one said a word to them.
Church leaders have a habit of “whipping the crew until attitudes improve.” Why don’t people sing? Why won’t people read their Bible? Why don’t people volunteer to help? Why aren’t people more friendly? Each question leads to new programs and challenging sermons to bring about the desired change, usually to no avail.
I think congregations will be what they will be, and often that won’t be so great. They will tend towards being cliquish and self-absorbed. There will always be a few who want to run things. Many will never get enough attention for their needs or recognition for their accomplishments. Brick and mortar and landscaping will usually be prioritized over human needs because people want to be “proud” of their church and want something tangible to point to: “See what we did?”
In other words, congregations tend to behave just like any other organization. And for many, that’s just what they’re trying to get away from, or at least don’t need more of. They’ve had their fill of committee and planning meetings, budgets and fund raising, cleaning and maintenance, squabbles and conflict resolution. Even that holiest of gatherings, corporate worship, is more than many can bear given the prevalence of mediocre music, mediocre preaching, and mediocre spaces, plus all the inevitable challenges of being with people in an enclosed space, multiplied now in this pandemic time.
What is Christianity? What does it mean to be a Christian? For a growing number today, “belonging to a church” is no longer the obvious or necessary answer. Most clergy and active laity can’t wrap their heads around this. I think they better learn how. This trend isn’t going away.
Amid the Nazi horrors, and near the end of his life, German theologian and martyr, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, speculated about the need for “religionless Christianity.” He was responding to the mediocrity of German churches and the passivity of their memberships in the face of Nazi oppression and atrocities. Bonhoeffer had come to realize that belonging to a church had little effect on how people thought or behaved.
“But when you pray, go into your own room, shut your door and pray to your Father privately.” Matthew 6:6, J. B. Phillips
Jesus was ambivalent, if not outright hostile, to the organized religion of his day. Whenever he went to the temple or synagogue, there was always a row. The early church’s biggest problem was that Jesus had laid no plans for a new religion. Perhaps those wannabe church leaders missed his point. As the saying goes, “Jesus came preaching the kingdom, but what we got was the church.”