The editors of Leadership journal have posted another incisive commentary on the state of the Church today in their Out of Ur weblog. It’s about how we (in the Western church) have turned the gospel into a pimping enterprise. There’s nothing really new here, it’s the same complaint Bonhoeffer had about “cheap grace.” But the language is, well, provocative. From church planter Jonathan Yarboro:
Blogging from the heartland, Sean MacNair calls it like he sees it. In a brief post he concisely serves up highlights from 100 years of American church renewal (See: "The Pardoner's Tale: My best (stolen) idea so far this year"). He buzzes over Pentecostalism, the Charismatic renewal, healing revivals, Billy Graham, the Charismatic Catholic renewal, the Jesus Movement, the megachurch-cum-denomination trend, worship innovations, and the Emergent Conversation. His point: Renewal threatens the status quo but ultimately gets institutionalized, fades into oblivion, or is assimilated into the mainstream.
Buried in his post is a subtle criticism of the movement that spawned them all, and the institution that formed as a result: Pentecostalism and the Assemblies of God.
Travis Johnson, over at The Edge Church Think Tank, posted an article bemoaning the incredible shrinking church: “The Great Shrinking Church. What Gives?!?!” First, he cites some statistics from The American Church:
That America is becoming an increasingly secular nation is no surprise. That traditional church style seems increasingly irrelevant in the “naughties” and that church numbers are in decline—again—no surprise.
So, taking an unflinching look at the numbers (there was more cited), Travis concludes:
An excerpt from from a Lincoln Journal Star article, “ Conservative churches grow while mainline churches struggle,” b y Bob Reeves, regarding recent explosive A/G growth:
Successful evangelism is also a major reason for the phenomenal growth of the Assemblies of God, especially outside the United States, said Bob Friesen, director of research for that denomination's headquarters in Springfield, Mo. Missionaries work with indigenous leaders in countries worldwide to build local churches that will grow and multiply, he said. The biggest growth is in Africa. "Revival is happening there and people are turning toward the Lord" in record numbers, he said.
As of 2004 there were approximately 30 million adherents of Assemblies of God worldwide, nearly double the number in 1990.
In the United States, the growth has leveled off in recent years, said Dave Argue, pastor of Lincoln's Christ Place Church, an Assembly of God congregation. The worldwide growth is "part
Seems the old meme that the Mormon faith (Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints) is the fastest growing faith in the world has become officially dated. KIDK TV news, out of Idaho Falls is reporting:
"...Since 1990, Seventh Day Adventists, Assemblies of God and Pentecostal groups have grown much faster and in more places around the globe. The number of new converts to the LDS church, as well as the number of missionaries have dropped in the last 2 years."
Now, you'd be right to think this spells trouble for the Mormon church. But buried in that graf is the hint of trouble for the rest of the Western church world as well. Well … if not exactly trouble, at least the winds of change.
The leadership roles long enjoyed by the European and North American church strongholds
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