You’re probably wondering why I’m asking this question. According to a Gallup poll, 2020 was the first year that church/synagogue/mosque membership fell below 50% of the adult population, meaning, more adults are not going to a church than are going to church. This shows a slow change in American culture, in which attending church is going from mainstream culture to subculture- that is, a culture that is not in the center. This is largely due to the rise of “nones,” a group of Americans who do not affiliate with any particular religion.
As someone who plans to pastor for the next forty years of his life, you can imagine that the future of church membership is a concern for me. However, I’m not panicked. Instead, I’m curious what the church of tomorrow will be like. How will the church exist as a subculture? How will the church maintain relevance? How will the church speak to a world that doesn’t belong to her?
If the church wishes to have relevance in a world of nones, the church has to entertain a question, if God doesn’t exist, is religion in vain? Similarly, in a world of mystery, how can organized religion be an answer? Can I be a Christian but not believe in x,y, and z? Can I fully participate in your congregation but be agnostic?
Just as Jesus sent the disciples into the realities of the world, the church must scatter and touch an unchurched world. Not necessarily so that the world may change, though can be, but so that the world may experience Christ materialized in our world. The church must place itself within the mindset of the emerging nones and all who wrestle with the relevance of God. It must sit in doubt and in unorganized spirituality. In order to speak to those who do not confess certainty in particular religious thought the church must answer questions, such as “If God is not real, is religion in vain?” Or in other words, the church is to create room for curiosity and questioning. For skeptics, the church must give itself purpose.
My answer to this question is no, because even if God is not real, God is in our hearts. Even if our brains are swarming with doubts, there are comforting words in scripture that can bring peace to our souls. If we look around, we can see the image of God in people who do not necessarily go to church - as people march for justice, seek out community, and look for spiritual discipline in some form. Amid disbelief, there is a feast to be had through the church.
I do not necessarily know the future of the church, but if it is going to provide Jesus to the world, it is going to have to further outstretch its arms. The body of Christ will have to validate uncertainty and doubt, just as it validates unwavering faith. It must be a place for questioning and wandering so that it may also be a home.
Your sibling in Christ,
Pastor Alec Brock, Seminary Intern (he/him/his)