Laurie Brock, at the blog Dirty Sexy Ministry, believes some things “have lived w-a-y beyond their expiration dates in the Church.” These include half-baked liturgy, pathologically unhealthy clergy, and “padding your Average Sunday Attendance by adding in wedding and funeral attendance and just making things up.” She writes:
Seems like you can’t swing a dead cat…or a thurible, since we’re talking church…and not read an article, essay, blog post, or reflection on how the mainstream church is dying. Statistics show us that regular Sunday attendance is dropping, fewer Americans give less money to churches, congregations are closing, and we won’t be asked to the prom, either. Then we get the response articles, essays, blog posts, and reflections about how, no, the church isn’t dying because we are re-inventing ourselves, we have committees to vision change, and Jesus loves us.
Jesus does love us, and the church, this oddball, quirky, community of faithful and not so faithful exists because of that very love and the Holy Spirit. And yes, the church is living and dying – at the same time. We preach it. We ought to do a better job of living it.
One thing stands out when I read these articles – that very few admit, quite honestly, a few things in the Church need to die.
Read her list here and let us know what think.