Determining the state of the church is not unlike a state of the union address — it is a subjective conclusion based on some hopefully reliable statistics.
Is the viability of a church measured by attendance, baptisms or budget, or can it be determined by other spiritual measures like the fruit of the Spirit, mission involvement, community impact, teaching, worship, etc.?
The South Carolina Baptist Convention commissioned an analysis of SCBC churches that was completed in 2011 called “Missional Landscape of the SCBC.” Some of the analysis includes the following: 78 percent of our churches are either plateaued or declining; 93 percent of South Carolinians do not attend a Southern Baptist church; 70 percent do not consider themselves born again.
The report made some predictions: Worship attendance, which is 6 to 7 percent of the population, would stay the same through 2030 if 344 new churches were to come into existence; and Cooperative Program funds will continue to increase to 2030 while our mission offerings will remain about the same. However, in 2013, our CP giving was down over a million dollars, and our mission offerings were up by about the same amount.
The conclusion, in part, was, “An honest appraisal of the South Carolina context indicates that SCBC pastors and lay people live on the mission field.” It seems we are living in a mission field, but we are plateaued or declining as churches. What is the state of the church?
Ed Stetzer, in a recent Christianity Today blog, wrote, “As I see it, the numbers of people who those of us in the church would say are actually committed Christians — those who are practicing a vibrant faith — are not dying off. The church is not dying. It is just being more clearly defined.” He continued, “The ‘nones’ (people who identify with no religion) will continue to grow, and the church will lose more of its traditional cultural influence. Christians will likely lose the culture wars, leading to difficult times ahead for us. But we do not need to lose hope. This is not cause for despair. It is a time to regroup and re-engage. What we need is a mobilized — rather than demoralized — mission force.”
David Parks, SCBC associate executive director, agreed with Stetzer. “There are people who say the church is dying. I think this is completely untrue,” he said. “Part of the reason for the plateaued/declining status is us. For decades we have largely failed at discipling people. The fruit of poor discipleship has left churches filled with stunted Christians. Our focus has been more on how we are going to do church than on being the Church. In many ways, Baptists are a harvest-minded people living in an unseeded generation, and we have no idea how to sow and cultivate. Sometimes I think that our polity and tradition are hindering us. There are occasions when these trump Scripture in some churches. I fear we might be dying in our religion rather than in our devotion.”
There seems to be little doubt that the post-Christian culture in America is growing, and Christian faith is continually
being marginalized by this culture. Southern Seminary president R. Albert Mohler Jr. said recently, “The culture wars are over, except for where they’re not” (making reference to the abortion issue today). He added, “There are going to be evangelicals who keep the faith. Evangelicals in the main, though tempted by any number of things, have theological resources, if they will lean into them, that will prevent some of the things that have happened elsewhere,” referring to the demise of liberal denominations like the Presbyterian Church USA.
Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee president Frank Page delivered a sermon earlier this year at Midwestern Seminary on the state of the SBC. He told The Courier, “The bottom line of my address is that we are a 46,000-church convention looking for divine intervention. We are not growing as we ought today. We are not sharing Christ as often as we should. We’ve allowed many things to obscure God’s mission imperative and priority.”
Jim Austin, executive director-treasurer of the SCBC, drew attention to the fact that churches in sub-Saharan Africa and South America are growing, while churches in the Western world are not. “Today exists the persecuted church and the pampered church, with the persecuted church growing in most areas and the pampered church declining in most areas. If present trends continue, the church outside the West will continue in its growth and influence while the church in the West will continue its decline and diminished influence.”
Dwight Easler, chairman of the SCBC Executive Board and pastor of Corinth Baptist Church in Gaffney, cited six changes he has observed in his time as a pastor: (1) The church is less reliant on programs and more reliant on interpersonal relationships; (2) the church is moving back to an expository preaching style; (3) the church, in general, is more individualistic and less cooperative; (4) the church is not as afraid of change as she once was; (5) baptism and church membership have been cheapened; and (6) church staffing is not supported and emphasized in churches like it was in the past.
Presidents of the SCBC from 2000 to the present were asked to offer an opinion on the state of the church today. Four responded.
Hal Lane, pastor of Westside Baptist Church in Greenwood, noted significant challenges to biblical faith from the culture and the government. “A liberal media has joined this opposing effort in an attempt to demonize anyone who holds to a biblical view of sexual purity and self control,” he said. He also referenced some new churches where biblical standards were lowered and offensive, even crude, language often came from the pulpit. “Those who resort to unscriptural methodology seek to keep Christianity popular in a day when truth is unpopular,” he said.
Fred Stone, pastor of Pickens First Baptist Church, added, “I think most evangelical Christian leaders are in agreement that the present state of the church in the USA is unhealthy, and that action must be taken to revive and restore the body of Christ to a state of spiritual wellness. But, in our efforts to accomplish this, we must not allow ourselves to become sidetracked by good things and fail to keep our unique mission of proclaiming the gospel and making disciples.”
Wayne Dickard, pastor of Siloam Baptist Church in Powdersville, stated, “This church generation has experienced wide swings in methods, styles and theologies. Local churches differ greatly over social issues and what behaviors to call sin. We seem to be long on programs and short on proclamation. Our Jerusalem, South Carolina, is darker than at any period in my ministry. It seems to me that the state of the church is weaker than in years past, but the opportunities are stronger.”
Current SCBC president D.J. Horton, pastor of Anderson Mill Road Baptist Church in Spartanburg County, pointed out that some churches are strong and vibrant while others are declining. He said, “The common denominator in healthy and growing churches is pastoral leadership. An overwhelming amount of the time, churches [that are] led well do well. Likewise, churches experiencing poor leadership or no leadership struggle. Show me a pastor who knows how to lead with a pure heart and a kingdom agenda, and I will show you the perfect environment for a healthy, disciple-making church.”
Michael Bryant, department chair for the College of Christian Studies at Charleston Southern University, said, “Positively, I believe that there are still Christians who long to make a difference in spite of the fact that our culture increasingly grows more anti-Christian. Negatively, the church is marked by disunity and the lack of clear strategies regarding how believers should live for Christ. A study of church history shows that the most effective strategies have included the promotion of missions and education.”
Joe Youngblood, church health group director for the SCBC, believes that “one of the key factors that is paralyzing the church is her failure to disciple and make spiritually mature leaders. The failure to make disciples has directly led to the failure to make spiritually mature leaders.” He stressed that churches need to examine what they are doing and ask why they are doing it, seek God, formulate a God-directed vision, and develop strategies to fulfill the vision and the mission.
George Barna says his research points to “a renewed urgency for spiritual substance — not the worship style, the dress code, or the programs, but the substance of what it means to participate in church.” The Barna Group reported that the top reason people choose a church is for its teaching (39 percent). It is also the top reason they would leave (63 percent) — if they disagree with the teaching.
The church is prominent in the New Testament. The state of the church today, in all her facets, is difficult to analyze. The foundation of the church is simple and clear: Jesus. Whatever the church looks like today or in the future, the key to her health and witness is her Lord.