We Have Done It Before and We Could Do It Again Dardenne Presbyterian Church Elders Gathering...
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Transcript of We Have Done It Before and We Could Do It Again Dardenne Presbyterian Church Elders Gathering...
We Have Done It Before and We Could Do It Again
Dardenne Presbyterian Church
Elders Gathering
November 13, 2015St. Louis, MO
June 6, 1946
90,000 School ChildrenGovernor of NY, Supreme Court
Justice, Mayor of Brooklyn
117th Sunday School Parade
The Presbyterian Picture Today
Ruling Elders
Mainline Membership Loss1965 1980 1990 2000 2010
American Baptists 1,535,971 1,607,541 1,535,971 1,436,909 1,337,127
Christian Church (Disciples)
1,918,471 1,177,984 1,039,692 820,286 661,544
Episcopal Church 3,429,153 2,786,004 2,446,050 2,311,398 2,125,012
Evangelical Lutheran Church
5,684,298 5,384,271 5,240,739 5,125,919 4,637,887
Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)
4,254,597 3,272,518 2,856,713 2,525,330 2,016,091
Reformed Church in America
385,754 345,532 326,850 289,392 250.000
United Church of Christ
2,070,413 1,736,244 1,599,212 1,377,320 1,080,199
United Methodist Church
11,067,497 9,519,407 8,904,824 8,340,954 7,837,987
United States Census DataYear Population % of Change
1960 179.3 million
1970 203.3 million 13.4%
1980 226.5 million 11.4%
1990 248.7 million 9.8%
2000 281.0 million 13%
2005 300.0 million 6.8%
2010 309.0 million 3%
Yet, Some Are Growing or Were
1965 1980 1990 2000 2014
Assemblies of God
572,123 1,064,490 2,181,502 2,577,560 3,146,741
Catholic Church
46,246,175 50,449,842 58,568,015 63,683,030 69.4
Mormon Church
1,789,175 2,811,000 3,736,000 4,679,110 6.5
So. Baptist
Convention
10,770,573 13,600,126 15,038,049 15,960,308 15.5
90% of Presbyterian Congregations Have Reached a
Plateau or are Declining.
PC(USA) Congregations and Membership
# of Congregations Reported Membership
2014 9,829 1,667,767
2010 10,560 2,016,091
2003 11,064 2,405,311
2002 11,097 2,451,969
2001 11,141 2,493,781
Congregations Have Left
2012 – 110
2013 – 148
2014 - 101
Congregations Dissolved
2012 - 862013 - 74
2014 – 110
WHY?
1. Finding and Keeping Young Adults
Decline in Children’s Baptisms PCUSA
1999 41,009
2000 39,444
2001 37,409
2002 36,930
2003 35,237
2004 33,616
2014 17,027
Child Baptism Numbers Other Years
1982 52,184
1985 49,712
1988 47,978
1991 46,744
Decline of Infant Baptisms
1983 – 50,785
2010 – 22,480
2014 - 17,027
Confirmation Class
Infant Baptisms - 1983
50,785
?????
Professions of Faith Under 17 in 1997
Infant Baptisms (1983)
50,785
Professions of Faith
(1997)People Under Age 17
31,999
Sources of Decline
• Fewer Young Adults
• Fewer Children Baptized
• Fewer Children Retained Until Confirmation
Implications for a Church?
Not Dardenne’s Story?
What Drives That for You?
What Passion Exists That Sustains That?
2. Where are our Professions of Faith?
Comparative Statistics
PCUS PCUSA Methodist S. Baptist
1885 7.3 6.6 10.1 6.4
1895 6.6 7.2 9.6 6.1
1905 4.5 5.6 7.0 5.5
1915 6.0 7.5 8.6 6.2
1925 5.2 5.7 5.3 6.1
Narrative on the State of Religion
Have there been any special manifestations of the Holy Spirit’s power in
your church either by conversion or by increased
activity in church work?
J. Wilbur Chapman
Billy Sunday
PCUS/PCUSA Baptisms
PCUS Adult Baptisms Infant Baptisms
1915 8,998 5,761
1925 15,532 7,247
1935 9,400 5,270
1945 12,035 9,559
1955 15,131 17,576
PCUSA
2003 10,174 35,237
2004 10,459 33,616
2014 4,634 17,027
Baptisms Now?
79%Children
21%Adults
Are We Doing Evangelism Anymore?
Martha Grace Reese
Baptizing 1% of Your Worship Attendance
Each Year for 5 Years.
30,000 Congregations studied
150 met the criterion
Implications at Dardenne?
3. The Back Door
Largest Category of Loss?
“Other” - Those Going Inactive
How We Are Exiting
Certificate Death Other
1985 59,981 43,007 132,345
1996 39,779 40,862 116,637
1999 36,156 41,164 106,419
2003 29,717 37,840 112,624
2014 51,352 28,389 78,107
More than 3 million
Inactive List Since 1983
Get People Connected
We Have Only Around 6 Months to Connect
People or We Lose Them
7 People Knowing Their Names
Implications for the Back Door?
4. New Church Development
PCUSA Churches
Organized Dissolved
1997 28 61
1998 24 45
1999 15 42
2000 22 47
2001 24 53
2002 27 58
2003 22 47
2004 22 63
2014 15 110
PCUS – 1908
88 New Congregations in 287,000 members
Narrative on the State of Religion
How are you establishing your church beyond its
bounds?
Review of the Picture Today
• We can’t keep young adults.• We don’t have the children of those young
adults.• We lose 40% of the children we baptize
before confirmation.• We don’t reach the unchurched in the
proportions of old.• We lose so many we do reach; the backdoor
is like an airplane hangar.• We have a tumble down effect creating fewer
churches able to afford full time pastors.• We begin few New Church Developments.
History of the Evangelistic Methods of Presbyterianism
• Revivalism
History of the Evangelistic Methods of Presbyterianism
• Revivalism
• Sunday school
History of the Evangelistic Methods of Presbyterianism
• Revivalism
• Sunday school
• Outpost Sunday schools – New Church Development
History of the Evangelistic Methods of Presbyterianism
• Revivalism
• Sunday school
• Outpost Sunday schools – New Church Development
• Personal work
History of the Evangelistic Methods of Presbyterianism
• Revivalism
• Sunday school
• Outpost Sunday schools – New Church Development
• Personal work
• Pastoral roles
History of the Evangelistic Methods of Presbyterianism
• Revivalism
• Sunday school
• Outpost Sunday schools – New Church Development
• Personal work
• Pastoral roles
• Denominational Expectations
1950s PCUS Broader Definition
“Evangelism is all the Church is and does to present Christ Jesus, through the power of the Holy Spirit, that man may put their trust in God through Him, receive Him as Savior from the guilt and power of sin, and serve Him as Lord in the fellowship of the Church.”
Present Condition
• Lack of agreement of definition.
Present Condition
• Lack of agreement of definition.
• Lack of monies devoted to evangelism.
Present Condition
• Lack of agreement of definition.
• Lack of monies devoted to evangelism.
• Lack of any definitive program of evangelism.
Present Condition
• Lack of agreement of definition.
• Lack of monies devoted to evangelism.
• Lack of any definitive program of evangelism.
• Lack of passion for the lost because we are not sure anyone is lost.
Present Condition
• Lack of agreement of definition.
• Lack of monies devoted to evangelism.
• Lack of any definitive program of evangelism.
• Lack of passion for the lost because we are not sure anyone is lost.
• Lack of confidence in our methods and message.
Present Condition
• Lack of agreement of definition.• Lack of monies devoted to evangelism.• Lack of any definitive program of
evangelism.• Lack of passion for the lost because we
are not sure anyone is lost.• Lack of confidence in our methods and
message.• Lots of dying churches – 90% declining or
static.
Little Bo Peep
Little Bo Peep has lost her sheep
And can’t tell where to find them;
Leave them alone, and they’ll come home,
And bring their tails behind them.
Howwill a passioncome or come back?
Will it come from
desperation or conviction?
The Future
So what do we do?
A missional church is more than a
missions-minded
church.
She Saw Reality
Little Bo Peep fell fast asleep,
And dreamt she heard them bleating;
But when she awoke, she found it a joke,
For they were still all fleeting.
She Changed Her Behavior
Then up she took her little crook,
Determined for to find them;
She found them indeed, but it made her heart bleed,
For they’d left their tails behind them.
You Are Not Alone – God is Here