{"id":17325,"date":"2016-03-01T09:30:04","date_gmt":"2016-03-01T14:30:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.cccc.org\/news_blogs\/?p=17325"},"modified":"2023-12-22T13:26:14","modified_gmt":"2023-12-22T18:26:14","slug":"pastors-where-is-your-congregation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cccc.org\/news_blogs\/john\/2016\/03\/01\/pastors-where-is-your-congregation\/","title":{"rendered":"Pastors! Where Is Your Congregation?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

I’ve just finished reading a disturbing book,\u00a0The Vanishing Evangelical<\/em><\/a>,\"\"\u00a0by Calvin Miller. His\u00a0thesis is that the success of the evangelical church has become its downfall, and the prognosis does not look good. He has some pretty persuasive American statistics to support his argument, so it is hard to dismiss\u00a0his concerns. I don’t know how fully his research applies to Canada, but the issues are recognizable enough that we should at least take note. And his solution would be a great strategy for any church, anywhere, anytime. So we should all consider it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A Warning<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

In a nutshell, Miller (a 30-year Southern Baptist pastor and a theology professor) claims that the Western church has adapted so much to culture that it has been sapped of its vitality and influence. We’ve lost the mystery and the power of our faith. It’s hard, he writes, to distinguish between church and culture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some of the specific underlying causes of the problem are:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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  • Our desire to be big<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Our tendency to have a program for everything<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Our willingness to trade intimacy for anonymity<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n

    Miller doesn’t hold out much hope for denominations and local churches as they currently are. In this, I think he is overly pessimistic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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