I get a "church report" via e-mail and there are a lot of facts and figures. The one below finally says what I have been sensing a long time, and in fact, it marks the way I approach people who say they believe. In my mind I do not want to lose an opportunity to share the gospel with someone who thinks they are saved but does not understand the gospel. Like me, in my early years I thought I was a Christian because I went to church when I was a boy with my Mom. It had nothing to do with who Jesus was or if he really was alive today.
Those who are not living out the gospel - need compassion and evangelism. They are unchurched - in the Biblical sense.
By the way, I disagree with the last sentence below. If you are unchurch - there ought to be big doubt is you are a Christian at all!
Post-Denominational?
Church historian Rodney Stark reports between 1960 and 2000, the Episcopal Church declined 55% in terms of members per 1,000 U.S. population. The United Methodist Church declined 49%, and the Presbyterian Church (USA) declined 49%. Megachurches have doubled in number and size in the past five years. This leaves the churched population among Christians at about 40% attending regularly. It also says, with about 85% nominally Christian in the U.S., only about half of them regularly attend church. They are not unChristian; they are unchurched.
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