Encouraging faith followers among the 97 per cent
- Although new churches are growing, attendance at traditional ones in the UK is at an all-time low. However there is faith out there to be encouraged.
I live in the UK, a kingdom with an actual king (King Charles III) and four nations, England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, all with their own customs and languages — and a LOT of church buildings.
I haven’t done the sums, but I can’t think of anywhere that has the same density of church and chapel architecture. There is literally a church building central in every village and often also a chapel — Methodist or Baptist or Congregational.
But the funny thing is, churchgoing is PRACTISED by a tiny minority. I have done the sums on this, and demonstrably 97% do not attend church with any regularity. And attendance in the traditional and more formal traditions is still declining rapidly.
That’s not to say that faith has died. This is the country of the Alpha course! Lots of people are asking faith questions and open to faith discussions, so long as it doesn’t become ’churchy’.
Why is attendance so low? It’s a question no one seems to be asking.
In a way the answers are obvious. If church doesn’t look like the Way of Jesus, it isn’t a place people want to be. I have heard all the horror stories and experienced a few myself. And I have attended unspiritual, wordy formal services that are — simply boring. And unbiblical. I have friends and family who work shifts on Sunday mornings, or are divorced, or gay, or take God at His word in the Bible, or just don’t fit into the expectation of the ‘church club’.
The world where people who might be seeking faith encouragement is elsewhere, and probably online. Since I have retired, and spurred on by lockdowns, I have been experimenting and learning what works OUTSIDE the walls of church. It is much more short-form and conversational than the (good) preaching I grew up with.
I think we are on the cusp of another reformation and revival — but it’s happening in a different world from the formality of sitting in rows to listen.
This line of thought is really unpopular with those in declining congregations desperate to get ‘bums on seats’ and money in the plate to keep things going a bit longer… for another year?
But the pattern is shifting. God is saying again “I am doing a new thing”. (Isaiah 43:19)
We need to be open to hearing from Him what that “new thing” looks like!
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