The image of weak and declining churches has been carried forward in the last twenty years by news services in the United States, consistent with their general sense that religion itself is a dying relic of the past, according to Ted Campbell in his book The Sky Is Falling, the Church Is Dying and Other False Alarms. While the church as a whole clearly is experiencing decline, the reality is not as stark as the headlines seem to suggest.
The book lists a number of facts in support of this argument:
- Historic Protestant churches were never the dominant center of American religion they are supposed to have been in the twentieth century.
- The preponderance of lost membership has been of inactive members.
- The numbers of active members of congregations are higher than weekly attendance figures reveal.
- Historic Protestant churches today have a strong core of committed believers.
The author also describes a number of good things which have come from historic Protestant churches, including ecumenical engagement, postmillennial optimism and social engagement, roots beyond America, doctrine and liturgy, strong expectations for the Christian formation of adult church members, institutions for multigenerational transmission of cultures, and benevolent infrastructures
Not all readers will appreciate the author’s distinctive sense of humour or writing style, but those who are looking for a realistic appraisal of the current situation and immediate future of the churches often referred to as “mainline” will find some useful information in this book.