One of the newest types of organizations to embrace strategic planning is the
religious organization – the church. I was reminded of this during a
conversation with a college ministry student.
Though not a Marvel movie goer, I went to Eternals because it had a
predominantly female line up and was directed by Chloe Zhoa (I loved her
film, Nomadland).
Fortuitously, I sat beside a college student devotee of the films, who enjoyed
updating me on the Marvel stories and culture. When I learned he was a
leadership student at a small Christian college, I shared that I taught
graduate leadership at the university. He responded by drawing up his 6 foot
plus frame, looking down on me, and asking imperiously:
“So did you go to school and study it and teach it,
or do you have any real experience leading?”
“GREAT question”, I responded, and filled him in with some background
(being a gubernatorial appointee over statewide divisions is a fast leadership
credibility-builder). I asked if he had any classes / assignments in corporate
culture. He had never heard the term, and we began a lively conversation
about studying management principles to be an effective church leader. I
also suggested he read Peter Drucker’s book on church leadership.
As our conversation continued, I created a possible leadership theory – that
church leaders are required to be the most multi-dimensionally competent
leaders. In addition to being judged on their moral values (as spiritual
leaders), they are judged on their charisma (like politicians), on their theater
(like actors and speakers), on their profitability (like CEO’s), etc. etc.
And that the lack of these multi-dimensionally competent church leaders is
leading to “de-churching” – or the absence of church attendees. But one
research study suggests my theory was totally wrong!
De-churching is defined as:
having attended service at least once a month in the past
and now attending less than once a year.
REFLECT:
Do you attend a church / temple / synagogue…?
If yes, what keeps you going?
If not, what keeps you from going?
The de-churching study was undertaken by Jim Davis and Michael Graham, pastors at the evangelical Orlando Grace Church. When they learned their city was ranked low on a list of Bible-minded-cities, it didn’t make sense to them. Orlando was home to booming and influential megachurches, a major campus ministry headquarters, a bible translation organization, and major Christian nonprofits. So why was their city ranked low, they wondered? And hired two political scientists who study religious trends to do a study for them.
The study found “more people have left the church in the last 25 years than
all the new people who became Christians from the First Great Awakening,
Second Great Awakening, and Billy Graham crusades combined.”
Note: Because this study was about Christian church in-person attendance,
not Christian worship (“wherever two or three are gathered in my name,
there I am with them”), it does not include independent worshippers, small
worship groups, on-line participants, etc.
The de-churched in the study were split into two categories:
(1) Casually De-churched: those who lost the habit due to
*scheduling conflicts or relocation
(2) Church Casualties: those who had experienced harm or conflict
due to
* church scandals
* bad / negative experiences in the church
* lack of feeling love in the church
* difference of politics with the clergy
* lack of friends in the church
* feeling of not fitting in
REFLECT:
If you are de-churched, does one (or more) of these reasons match your
situation?
If not, what would you add to the list?
If you are not de-churched, what keeps you attending?
From my perspective, the research was flawed because it did not address the
core reason for church / religious / spiritual services. Religion / Spirit is not
addressed. Desiring / seeking spiritual fulfillment appears to have been
replaced with fulfilling “human needs”.
To address filling spiritual needs, the study could have included questions
like:
Do you feel closer to Spirit at church?
Do you get your spiritual needs met at church?
Do you feel spiritually connected at church?
Do you feel spiritually uplifted at church?
Do you feel the church is a spiritual community?
Do you feel part of a spiritual community at church?
If you don’t get your spiritual needs at church, how and where do you
get them met?
A study that focuses on human needs could have asked how and where,
outside church, attendees feel they fit in, agree politically… My guess is social
media is playing a large role in filling the human needs.
An equally interesting study could be about spiritual groups whose
membership / attendance is increasing (such as the Self Realization
Fellowship) – to investigate if / how they satisfy these identified reasons for
de-churching. Or if their followers attend for those reasons at all. Perhaps
they attend because they feel close to Spirit!
REFLECT:
Think about an effective spiritual leader.
Why was s/he they effective?
Is a spiritual leader automatically a conscious leader?
The Great De-churching: Who’s Leaving, Why Are They Going, and What Will It
Take to Bring Them Back?, Jim Davis and Michael Graham, 2023.
