Quote of the Day
Many declining churches don’t adapt. Its leaders don’t demand change, and its members don’t pursue it until it’s too late. Doblmeier, an award-winning filmmaker who has been making documentaries about faith for decades, thinks he knows why.
The same reason many go to church is the same reason why many churches struggle to survive: the allure of the familiar.
“Church is the place you go to because you feel as though it’s not changing,” he says. “People look forward to the same rhythms, prayers and rituals that they’re so used to … This is the one place where they can have comfort and stability.”
John Blake
October 1, 2026
A ‘tsunami’ of church closings is poised to remake America
Emphasis added.
While I can accept the emphasized sentence may be true, I still find it very odd. Admittedly, as an atheist, I am not in a good position to pass some sort of judgement on the reasons for going to church. But I would have thought the primary reason people would go to church would be include some of the items from this list:
- Learn more about the appropriate means of worship
- Learn the teaching of the Bible
- Reinforcement of Christian standards of behavior
- Application of Biblical teachings to modern life
- Social interaction with people of similar beliefs
- Introduction of their children to the teachings of the church
I didn’t find any of those types of things mentioned in the story. Perhaps the author intentionally avoided those topics. But I find it hard to believe the people interviewed did not mention some of those things as important reasons for the continuation of church services.
<shrug>
In many ways the fading of Christian beliefs in America will be sad for me. The poorly maintained and empty churches near where I grew up induce sadness. I remember the social events held there. Seeing the empty and dying buildings I am reminded of all the adults who had an influence in my life who are almost all dead as well.
Why am I not happy with the fading of religious belief? I regard it as delusional, but mostly a useful delusion. Just one example: I know people with severe drug and alcohol problems who found church attendance and belief in a god a great help in remaining sobor. That alone has tremendous value.
Many of the rules of behavior don’t make sense to me, but as I frequently say about government rules, “It doesn’t have to make sense, it is just a rule.” And rules have a place in social life. They are a social lubricant. And it is far better to have social rules from hundreds of different types social groups than have governments take up the slack in that same domain.
I find it interesting that he starts out by stating that most *declining* churches *don’t* adapt. And then claims that the reason most people go to church is because of the familiar “vibe” they find there. In my opinion, if they weren’t adapting, they would be maintaining the status quo, and not moving away from the familiar.
My theory is that the declining churches are exactly as it states in scripture… they are “falling away”, *because* they are “adapting” – changing to suit the culture of the day, rather than teaching what the scriptures say – about right and wrong, about marriage, about justice, about love, etc… And while they don’t necessarily teach outright behaviors that are contrary to scripture, they certainly do condone it and don’t condemn it, as scripture calls for.
They teach that Christ was a “meek” man – yet they have redefined what it means to be meek – turning it into being a weak person. This is the same Christ that turned over the tables of the money changers in the temple, made a whip out of material he found at the site and began to whip those very same people. He called the religious leaders of his day, “White washed Sepulchers.” or white washes tombs. Find me a preacher today (or a congregant for that matter) that would do the same?
Just my thoughts on it.
The article is a self-licking ice cream cone.
Reverend Melissa Wagner.
The United Methodist Church (one of the most Woke denominations).
Their choice of “sympathetic subject” answered the very question they were asking.
Christians didn’t abandon church, the established churches abandoned Christianity.
Women should not be in positions of leadership over men in a spiritual setting. Homosexual activity is a sin and should be condemned. People unrepentantly engaging in sinful activities should not be permitted to hold any type of spiritual leadership role. I could go on.
You can disagree with the tenets of Christianity all you want, but if you claim to be a Christian, those are the tenets, deal with it or don’t be a Christian.
What those “woke” denominations did was, in an attempt to “adapt” in order to attract a “more modern” crowd, is stop being Christian. When they stopped being Christian, Christians stopped going. The “more modern” crowd weren’t interested in attending a dusty, musty mausoleum of a church that had an organ and a choir, they wanted a show. Entertainment. Excitement. So the younger, “more modern” crowd gravitated toward the megachurches with big stages and pyrotechnics and live bands and coffee and gift shops in the lobby. Essentially they gravitated toward the showmanship.
Christians who believed in the tenets of Christianity, but also believed that Church was about worshipping God, not enjoying a concert and motivational speech were left with nowhere to turn.
In my case, I do my worshipping on my own, often in the nature that God provided us, or with a few like minded fellows. We don’t want or need the elaborate shows or multi-millionaire charismatic motivational speakers and we won’t tolerate being called “misogynist, homophobic, haters” for simply believing in and practicing the well-established, clearly stated tenets of our religion.
So…the established churches die. They won’t be missed by Christians. They weren’t Christian churches any more anyway.