christianity decline from a christian perspective

[Mister Agenda]

Because this is the end, the organisation(s) has/have lost connection with the younger generation and thus have entered a terminal decline which will follow an exponential path in line with average age of the congregation reaching life expectancy.
Of course the organisations themselves are still in the denial stages.
This will result in no action being taken till almost the point of no return and when it is it will be opposed by the remaining members ensuring that the organisations are consigned to oblivion.

I doubt oblivion, but long term or permanent minority status, as is happening or has happened in much of Western Europe. Otherwise, I agree with your analysis completely.

[Mr Greene]

Watching the situation here in Britain the Methodists will be the first denomination to go belly up, most have already closed down the survivors are those that abandoned their 'no gambling' morals and are holding on by the proceeds of weekly bingo events.
The CofE is on the rocks firmly in denial till Rowan Williams showed up, his reforms and attempts to reconnect with the next generation were bitterly opposed and have now been largely swept under the carpet by the new archbishop and the mass sell-off of parish churches is underway. This is termed 'Consolidating the congregation to the cathedrals' which rather points to the bishop's priorities, I suspect the Catholics will follow a similar course, though Eastern European Migrants seem to be keeping them relatively buoyant.
Presbyterians seem to be evaporating whilst Baptists have gone in for an extended round of back-biting with single churches splitting up into a number of smaller churches none of which will talk to each other and rapidly collapse due to cash-flow problems, however these give a false impression of growth as the actual number churches rises temporarily, also the congregation gets counted in both the new church and the original church further inflating their figures.
I haven't noticed any examples of the churches talking down their figures, it invariably seems to be the opposite with them trying to claim congregation they don't have, but there may be different pressures the other side of the pond.

[vorlon13]

the decline is from inner rot and scripture cherry picking

Why would God bless congregations that think they know better than Him in regards to moral comportment ??


Eschewing bitter herb abortions, liberal divorce and remarriage sacraments, failing to handle serpents and drink the deadly poisons, it all adds up to a severe disappointment to their Deity.

[RobertE]

Watching the situation here in Britain the Methodists will be the first denomination to go belly up, most have already closed down the survivors are those that abandoned their 'no gambling' morals and are holding on by the proceeds of weekly bingo events.
The CofE is on the rocks firmly in denial till Rowan Williams showed up, his reforms and attempts to reconnect with the next generation were bitterly opposed and have now been largely swept under the carpet by the new archbishop and the mass sell-off of parish churches is underway. This is termed 'Consolidating the congregation to the cathedrals' which rather points to the bishop's priorities, I suspect the Catholics will follow a similar course, though Eastern European Migrants seem to be keeping them relatively buoyant.
Presbyterians seem to be evaporating whilst Baptists have gone in for an extended round of back-biting with single churches splitting up into a number of smaller churches none of which will talk to each other and rapidly collapse due to cash-flow problems, however these give a false impression of growth as the actual number churches rises temporarily, also the congregation gets counted in both the new church and the original church further inflating their figures.
I haven't noticed any examples of the churches talking down their figures, it invariably seems to be the opposite with them trying to claim congregation they don't have, but there may be different pressures the other side of the pond.

I agree that the situation has been like that in the UK for nearly a decade now, and is slowly being replaced by Islam. Some old churches in Manchester have been or are being used as mosques at the moment. Consecrated ground where there were cemeteries have been dug up by those who want to use that land to build a mosque. The situation is the same in the Netherlands too, with hundreds of churches being closed and either being turned into mosques or skateparks and any other usage imagineable.

[Mr Greene]

Islam is not replacing the church.
Mosques remain a tiny minority, most ex-churches are being converted for residential purposes.
Islam's rise is overstated and is suffering from a similar disconnect with it's next generation to that of christianity, particularly 2nd generation onwards. As such movement is similar to that of Catholics.
The real problem there is ghettoisation in the cities.
The church's decline is going into freefall now So I suspect the opportunity to turn it round has already passed.

[GUBU]

The CofE is on the rocks firmly in denial till Rowan Williams showed up, his reforms and attempts to reconnect with the next generation 

Williams wasn't as much as a reformer as is let on. He was still very much against giving positions to gays and women. It's mainly because he was too incoherent to have a message that he got to be known as a liberal.

[CapnAwesome]

why would this be considered a good or bad thing, and simply not the ebb and flow of the church in general?

The church (or rather various churches) hasn't had an ebb and flow. In the past they enforced 100% membership by various ways, Atheism was a capital crime in the 1600s and before in Europe and could have serious consequences after. It wasn't until the 1800s that you started to see a massive drain on church attendance that has accelerated exponentially. So it's be all ebb and no flow and yes, churches are obviously worried. In the US there are more people then ever (and thus should be more church attendees) and yet churches are having to sell of their property in order to stay afloat. The next 30 years will see a massive amount shut down from a lack of funds.

[John V]

"It is also deeply disturbing to most Christians, including me."

I would ask him - why?

Jesus asked, "when the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on the earth?" The implication seems to be that no, he won't find much. My guess from the Bible is that Christianity will decline, while Islam will increase, and secularism could go either way. The decline of Christianity should be seen as inevitable to a Christian.

The answer to why Christianity is declining in the U.S. could be - to a Christian - that God is largely done with the U.S.

[RobertE]

"It is also deeply disturbing to most Christians, including me."

I would ask him - why?

Jesus asked, "when the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on the earth?" The implication seems to be that no, he won't find much. My guess from the Bible is that Christianity will decline, while Islam will increase, and secularism could go either way. The decline of Christianity should be seen as inevitable to a Christian.

The answer to why Christianity is declining in the U.S. could be - to a Christian - that God is largely done with the U.S.

I think you'll find that secularism will just increase steadily and Islam will grow rapidly due to the birth rates. I mean, atheists spend most of their time on forums, whilst Mohammed has about 6 wives so, that 6 women pregnant means 6 possible children in 9 months. So, yeah, Islam will increase and could possibly take first place in the United States as far as religion is concerned. For the time being, you don't have it as bad as Germany, France and the United Kingdom. It will take the United States around 50 years to be able to catch up Europe for sure.

[Neo-Scholastic]

Why? Probably because I am tired of being smothered in Christianity in my every-day life. I see any decline in Christianity around me as a positive result.

Help! Help! I'm being repressed!