We Have a Crisis

This may be hard to hear. Salem has a crisis. I know that’s a strong word, but it’s accurate. This truly is a time of difficulty and danger. It’s also a time of great opportunity.

Salem is down to just eight children in Sunday school. We have a crisis in our children’s ministry. That’s not to say we don’t have great leaders and teachers. We do. Rather, this is a symptom of something larger, something we’ve known for a long time in our culture. We are losing our young families, and we’re not reaching new young families either or younger persons in general.

This decline is most prevalent in mainline denominational congregations like The United Methodist Church (and the Lutherans, Presbyterians, Episcopalians, etc.). Two years ago, the Washington Post reported that if we don’t stop this, mainline Protestantism only has 23 Easters left.

One significant reason for this decline was discovered in the 1970s. Many adolescents and teenagers who were confirmed in the 1960s began dropping out of church. It’s true they would often return to church after they got married and had children of their own, but that rarely happens now.

In 1971, only 5% of Americans claimed no religious affiliation (or “none”). Until 1993 the “nones” never composed more than 8% of the population. Now, 35% of 18- to 29-year-olds count themselves as “nones.” Even 13% of persons age 50 and older claim no religious affiliation.

This is a vital issue for the Church. Salem is a wonderful congregation, but we simply won’t exist much longer if we don’t take intentional, strategic steps (and risks!) to challenge this decline and crisis.

A month ago, Evelyn Prasil (Sunday School Superintendent), Tim King (Discipleship Director), Troy Bergmann (Leadership Board Chair), and I met together to begin the conversation about addressing this crisis. We have shared the conversation with the Staff and Leadership Board, too. Our next step is to gather data from our own young families and from younger persons outside of the church, too. That will help us determine how we move forward. 

There will likely be changes in how we do things at Salem. Shane Bishop, a United Methodist pastor in Illinois of one of the 100 fastest growing churches in the United States, says, “If your church is in decline, the single riskiest thing you can do in 2019 is repeating what you did in 2018.” 

Any change, however, will be based on what we learn and on what we need to do to accomplish our mission, not on personal preference. Our mission is central, reaching new people and helping them become followers of Jesus who make a difference in the world. This always starts with prayer, scripture reading, and a burning desire to reach people far from God.

 But what are we willing to do to accomplish our mission and reach new people, especially the people we’re not currently reaching? Shane Bishop loves to spend time with his grandkids. They go out for breakfast regularly. Shane says there are two things about that: his grandkids choose the place and Shane (grandpa) pays. If we want our children and grandchildren and great grandchildren to be a part of the church, then they will have great input on our worship styles and times as well as what kind of children’s ministry we offer. And we’ll pay for it gladly so we can reach them, help them follow Jesus, and join them in making a difference in the world.

Yes, we have a crisis. But this is also a great opportunity to change course and do some incredible things for the sake of our mission. The question is, What are we willing to do in order to accomplish this? That’s what we’re talking about and taking action on this year.