In the years in which I was actively participating in the Christian faith community (over thirty five years), I heard some form of the following question on an almost weekly basis: what does the church need to do to increase attendance? At times the motivation behind the question was conversion, while other times the motivation was numbers. Often the motivation was a combination of both.
The full question here is three-fold: what does the church need to do to bring in new members; what does the church need to do to re-engage old members who are not as active as they once were; and what does the church need to do to bring back members who have left.
I recently read an interview by a pastor from what would be considered a progressive denomination who was discussing a new survey that had showed that people were leaving the church in record numbers in America. The pastor lamented that so many were leaving but ultimately expressed a belief that the church in America would eventually rebound. In the middle of the interview, there was a brief discussion on what must be done to bring people back to the pews. It made me pause and reflect on what it would take for me to return to church. Here's what I came up with.
Nothing.
I was unable to come up with one reason that would compel me to return to active participation in the church. (One reason other than attendance on special occasions at the invite of a family member.)
For most of my life, church participation took up a significant amount of my time in an average week. Over the last couple decades, my outward participation in church life remained steady while my inner participation and belief in the necessity of church slowly dwindled. When the COVID-19 pandemic forced churches to meet online, my outward participation began to match my inner convictions. When George Floyd was murdered, I left the church. I spent a few more months finishing up projects and commitments I had made but when the opportunity arose to sever those ties, I took it.
I have not participated in any sort of meaningful church activity in almost a year now. And a year later, as a reflect back on that decision to walk away from church, I see no reason to change it.
What can church do to bring me back? There is an inference in that question that the church has something for me that is worth going back to. But, what would that be?
My time in church was mostly spent between hiding the various parts of my identity that would bring condemnation (or worse) to me and carefully crafting the words I said in order to somewhat appease the crowd. I spent decades fighting an inner battle to accept and be at peace with who I am while outwardly I was subjected to an almost constant message that who I am is not good enough and deserves an eternity of torment.
What could bring me back to church?
Upon further reflection and a conversation with a good friend, I realized there is an answer to that question.
Hope.
The whole message of faith is one of hope. Life is hard. Karl Marx once said, "religion is the sigh of the oppressed creature, the heart of a heartless world, and the soul of soulless conditions. It is the opium of the people." While admittedly not a student of Marx, I wonder if it is not religion that is the opium but hope?
Hope allows us to survive. Hope allows us to dream of a future and lets us get through whatever moment of misery is currently occurring. Hope is the knowledge that all things end even if that end is death. There is freedom in hope then as it is a reminder that no matter how much pain the oppressor is inflicting, he will ultimately not win. Is that not the message of the Christian gospel? How unfortunate then that those who preach that message are often the greatest oppressors.
Religion of all persuasions have done an excellent job contributing and creating a heartless and soulless world. Over two millennium, the Christian church has inflicted incredible damage to the world. When has religion ever been able to have any legitimate claim as a source of hope to world? Perhaps in the words and actions of a select few individuals but certainly not in the words and actions of the church at large.
I always hoped for the church but eventually I realized that the church did not really hope for me. It did not offer me a pathway to a better life for me or comfort to the pain I felt. Rather, the church seemed content to drive the dagger deeper into my wounds or create new ones.
If I were to find a church that makes me feel hopeful, then perhaps I would return. But until then, I will happily continue my walk across the barren landscape in which my faith is currently found.
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