The Church and Change

Rapid societal change over the past 50 years has left its mark on Canadian congregations.  At our first session of Rev. Peter Coutts' Workshop we looked at what is changing, why it is changing and the implications for congregations. 

The following were all thought to be factors-

  • Cultural Shift
  • Consumerism
  • Secularism - separation of church and state
  • Increased work pressure
  • Breakdown of the family
  • No longer the main social event
  • Television, technology and entertainment
  • Science - shift to rational thinking
  • Questioning of authority

The first part of the 20th century saw tremendous change in churches - new doctrines were introduced, the concept of "missions"was re-worked, and practices were updated; however, there has been very little comparative change in the church since.

One of the reasons for this is that the period of 1929 to 1945, with the Great Depression and World War II, was very difficult for people and when it was over, congregation members wanted things to "go back to normal". As a result, the growth of church after WWII was based on people who shared the characteristics of being: traditionalists, joiners, loyal and valuing security.

When they Baby Boomers came along, they shared very different characteristics. The ideas of choice, pluralism, tolerance and freedom were more important to them than loyalty and security.

Passing on faith to the next generation

We have received the gift of faith and want to pass it on to those who are following us; however, we didn't realize how important the culture of our society was in transferring our faith to the next generation.  For our generation, things have changed so much that we are having trouble figuring out how to pass it on.

Some ideas are -

  • Spirituality is not something that the church is selling well.
  • Do we appeal to people's wants or needs?
  • People are attracted to real signs of the love and compassion that is the cornerstone of our faith.
  • We need to talk to each other about our faith.
  • People need to see the life of Jesus in us.

What do you think are factors in church decline and how do we pass on faith to the next generation?

1 Comment

Kobus Genis about 8 years ago

I think the best way to pass on the faith to the next generation is not to first focus on churches but on families. Transfer of faith happens in the midst of family life.

4 “Hear, O Israel! The Lord our God is one Lord! 5 And you must love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. 6 Keep these words in your heart that I am telling you today. 7 Do your best to teach them to your children. Talk about them when you sit in your house and when you walk on the road and when you lie down and when you get up.
(Deuteronomy 6 NLT)

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