why is christianity in decline ? are you compensating by building big churches ? like small penis syndrome....

Question

you mediocre christians can burn in hell..thats what christ said

Answer 1

I don't know about Protestant Christianity but according to the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate at Georgetown University, the worldwide population of Catholic Christians is as large as it ever has been and is still growing:

1970 = 653,600,000
1975 = 709,600,000
1980 = 783,700,000
1985 = 852,000,000
1990 = 928,500,000
1995 = 989,400,000
2000 = 1,045,000,000
2004 = 1,114,000,000

And in the U.S.:

1965 = 45,600,000
1975 = 48,700,000
1985 = 52,300,000
1995 = 57,400,000
2000 = 59,900,000
2005 = 64,800,000

With love in Christ.

Answer 2

Dear Gerald

Our distinguished friend has given an answer for those in the Cahtolic tradition. However, I think that there is a difference between the number of members in a church and the attendence. The local church that I am attending is growing. (Attendence up about 10% over last year.) Membership however has stayed constant.

Never before in North America have the church and Christians been under such attack. From your profile I see that you have just started to be part of "Yahoo Answers". You will see the type of attack that I am talking about; Both hostile questions and snyde responses. You will see that "Christians are stupid", or "Christians are slaves to the clergy", or "Christians are rigid"...

Now add to this the fact that both spouses work, and kids need to be taken to soccer practice, and the football game starts before church is over. All these become excuses for non attendence.



In addition, the pastor, (Who, many will tell you, is just a money hungry thief.) realizes that he needs to do something. Normally two things happen: a) He (or she)starts to water down the message of the Gospel, (To get the fence sitters back) and b) he makes massive changes in the service (To get the young people back.) These changes do not sit well with the older members. They either stop coming or they drop their financial support. The church cannot meet its budget. So starts the downward spiral. As you suggest, sometimes the thought is that a new building will solve the problems. This is not so. finally the church goes bankrupt. These are the churches that we hear about.

I think that you will find that those churches that have a good pastor, who preaches the Gospel with no compromise, and who blends the service so that both young and old feel wanted, are growing. They may be building because they need to. The current church is too small.

We are looking at building. This step is not taken lightly. In fact although we need something soon, the recomendation is that the building will not start until 3/4 of the cost is in the bank.

The church in North America is at a crisis point. The churches that will grow are those that give what people can find nowhere else: True Love, and a Hope in the future. That hope is Jesus the Christ

I hope this has been helpful

God bless

Bryan