Jul 29, 2022 |
Rector's Blog, Will The Church Survive?
| The Rev. Philip DeVaul
Rector's Blog, Will The Church Survive?
I’m not trying to sidestep the issue of declining church attendance. Christians have a lot to reflect on as fewer and fewer people see our presence in the world as particularly positive or meaningful. We should not shy away from this conversation. Nor do I want to minimize the feelings of grief and anxiety many of us have as our experience of church shifts. We don’t need to act like we’re too cool to feel feelings, too smart to worry. We’re humans. And we’re humans who are living through a time of protracted radical culture change. Amidst the uncertainty and trauma, it would be odd if we were not expressing some fear and worry.
We should not hide from all this. But we also should not pretend it’s the whole story of the church. And we should not pretend that the impending death of church as we know it is equivalent to the death of Christ’s work in the world. Jesus himself called the church into being, gathering those who believed in him into a community for the purpose of practicing unconditional love in God’s name. The world’s need to be united in Love is not dying.
