Archive Entry #11: May 11, 1988

Our church and most of organized, institutional Christianity have been in decline for at least a couple of decades. In the last six months, for example, two congregations in the United Township Body of Christ, in which our church has been active for decades, have announced plans either to close completely or to abandon facilities they have inhabited for a long time. Church growth gurus have proposed both short- and long term fixes to the church’s problems, most of which, however have suggested reupholstering rather than replacing the church’s dated and worn out furniture.

I have a long track record of not knowing how to fix what ails the modern church; our continuing decline at FCCEM is the haunting torment of my pastoral life. But to the good, over the years I have showcased a knack for understanding the issues we confront. Today’s archive entry is pretty much the first “And from Bill...” column in which I raised the prospect of mainline church decline. In May 1988 I did not realize the downturn would be so lasting, but from an experience at a local ecumenical worship gathering I did discern troubling potential.

In full disclosure, in the first half of the 1990's a book called “The Once and Future Church” alerted us to troubled times that awaited were churches not to change dramatically, a work I embarrassingly dismissed as alarmist; hence I deserve little praise for the foresight on display in today’s entry. Still, coming from an 80's pastor in the third year of his first full time church, this column deserves its place in the archive.

NOTE: By the way, if you’re reading this early Tuesday, be sure to check back later in the day or later in the week as I might have added to the column. As I post this introduction, I am not certain that what you see below is the entire original column. By the end of the day on Tuesday, I will know and post the answer.

COMING NEXT: From February 1987, one of the first columns to showcase my quirkiness and more significantly, my willingness to be a quirky pastor. Find it HERE.