The so-called breakaway Anglican Churches are also growing while the Episcopal Church continues into decline and races toward extinction. In the end, I would place my bets that Anglican Church of North America will become the dominant Anglican denomination.
Also amazing how the theologicallly conservative Assemblies of God has grown to over 3 million people from being one of the smallest denominations.
I live around the corner from a mosque. Lucky me. It was 20 years ago a little evangelical Christian church building that sold it to the mosque at that time. Around 5 years ago they tore down the little building and built a moderately large mosque. On Friday afternoon they fill their parking lot and the crowd of cars of the believers in this murder cult wrap around the block. Though they seem to avoid parking in front of my house. After nine eleven I hung a very large American flag on the front of my house which stayed their for months. They still avoid parking here. I guess I’m on their list. And conversely they are on my list.
Too many so-called Christian churches have become gay hook up social clubs and abortion referral centers. The apostate churches are losing members because they are no longer Christian churches. They preach doctrines of devils and teach secular left wing political propaganda.
Mainline churches have been infiltrated, subverted, and no longer do God's work. They are now the enemy.
The article did well. But it failed to pose the proper question; "How much of a force is church in your daily life and that of your community?" It used to be a significant if not enormous force. Now it has been marginalized.
Look at what happened to evangelical churches and the like in the 70s and 80s.
Televangelist hucksters, hypocritical leadership, lavish spending of gullible old people’s money and ever more gaudy megachurches + resorts + theme parks + mansions for preachers, turning everything into “entertainment”, not to mention the sex abuses, and so on.
You think people are going to take American Christianity seriously after 20-30 years of that?
I haven’t lost faith in the faith...I’ve lost faith in the process (my church is PCUSA). Coffee bars, wide-screen TVs, “Yahni” hymnals...they can keep’em. Seriously, I’m in church Easter Sunday, and some of the women were dressed like they should’ve been pole-dancing down at the local gentleman’s club. Some of the daughters were dressed no better. Men thought it must’ve been a yard workday at the church. I would say the preacher was disappointed, but then...he voted for Hillary.
A nondenominational church cannot be coopted via a remote hierarchy, control is local and so those leaving increasingly un-Biblical churches veering left are able to not just vote with their feet but actually control the teachings of their church. Given trends of the past several decades this is predominately a good thing. To the downside, unscriptural practices and beliefs still do creep in but at least it’s contained. I’m sort of on the fence about this development, I understand what’s driving it but am suspicious of the disconnect with history. My own brother in law attends a church that seems sort of Pentecostal but they’ve taken on a lot of ceremonial trappings of Catholicism. If they need ritual I suppose that’s OK so long as it’s within Biblical bounds but I’m uncomfortable with it, especially since the pastor seems a little preoccupied with power and money. It’s a large church, he’s doing rather well for a man of the cloth. Still see him modeling and doing tv commercials for cosmetic dentistry, though. Vanity, or so it strikes me.
The formula for growth remains unchanged.
Biblically accurate + culturally relevant = growth.
Change either or both and you sharing or die.
The Celtic way of evangelism included both - before Rome destroyed it.
The pagan tribes in Ireland were evangelized and converted in short order.
Later the Celtic Christians used the same method to evangelize the Roman Empire after the invasion by pagans.
Later, this gain was destroyed again by Rome.
And so it does even today.
Name one Christian order that has not disavowed this notion. It is non stop cultural Marxism from the pulpit.
This is not the only reason for religious decline in the West, but it sure is not helping.
Catholics are Christians too.
Strange that this article and graphics skip the Catholic denomination.
I noticed they were not able, or did not, add Independent Baptists to their list.
Kind of like the home school numbers, the Independent Baptists do not share their numbers with anybody, so the actual number of home schooled children in America is probably a lot larger than assumed.
I would argue the same for church membership is the same, a lot larger than anyone gives it credit for.
Revelation 18
4 And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues.
As for the others? who knows.
Matthew 22
14 For many are called, but few are chosen.