I work at a church in an admin position (LCMS Lutheran). Most in the church community are aware of this decline which has been going on since the 90s. The church I work at peaked (as far as attendance) in the early 2000s, plateaued for a while, and then started to decline about 10 years ago. We have lost about 50% of our people in the past 8 years. (Various factors involved including people just moving out of state because our state sucks, etc).
Fortunately the LCMS has remained unwoke and Bible-based. And, horrors, we don't allow female pastors.
Unfortunately, in my opinion, the downside of remaining unwoke is that the church is stuck in the past in other areas. I'm talking about the homemade newsletters with clipart from the 80s, outdated buildings with mismatched decor (because somebody donated it so we have to keep it there forever!), and a general attitude of cliques and "we've always done it this way so it can't be changed" even when there is no Biblical reason. This can be a turnoff to younger people if they weren't raised in an LCMS church, and a new modern church with a coffee shop inside is much more welcoming, even if their teaching is somewhat off....
Many churches don't realize (or want to admit) they have a problem until they look around and only the gray-hairs are left, and by then it's probably too late...
I work at a church in an admin position (LCMS Lutheran). Most in the church community are aware of this decline which has been going on since the 90s. The church I work at peaked (as far as attendance) in the early 2000s, plateaued for a while, and then started to decline about 10 years ago. We have lost about 50% of our people in the past 8 years. (Various factors involved including people just moving out of state because our state sucks, etc).
Fortunately the LCMS has remained unwoke and Bible-based. And, horrors, we don't allow female pastors.
Unfortunately, in my opinion, the downside of remaining unwoke is that the church is stuck in the past in other areas. I'm talking about the homemade newsletters with clipart from the 80s, outdated buildings with mismatched decor (because somebody donated it so we have to keep it there forever!), and a general attitude of cliques and "we've always done it this way so it can't be changed" even when there is no Biblical reason. This can be a turnoff to younger people if they weren't raised in an LCMS church, and a new modern church with a coffee shop inside is much more welcoming, even if their teaching is somewhat off....
Many churches don't realize (or want to admit) they have a problem until they look around and only the gray-hairs are left, and by then it's probably too late...