Lessons from the Decline of Mainline Churches

by Ken Hemphill                                                                                                         Vol. VII, No. 10, December 1994

     director of the Southern Baptist Center for Church Growth

[This article was written before Dr. Hemphill was elected president of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary.]

Recently, three sociologists, Benton Johnson, Dean Hoge, and Donald Luidens, received a Lilly Endowment to conduct a study designed to answer the question, "Why have many mainline churches declined?" [1] To simplify the task, the three studied the Presbyterian Church (USA). They discovered that the primary reason for decline was the desertion of the church by a large number of adolescents in the late '70s. Thus these researchers set out to discover why so many young people had dropped out and had not returned.

They completed 500 Gallup-style interviews and 45 face-to-face follow-up interviews. They were quickly able to eliminate several factors as having no impact on the decline. (1) The amount of formal education had no impact on a person's religious involvement. (2) The suggestion that boomers dropped out because the church had become "socially irrelevant" found no support. (3) Researchers found no evidence that boomers left as a protest against the political agenda of denominational elites. They knew little about denominational politics. (4) Finally, the researchers found only marginal support that people left mainline churches in search of more nourishing spiritual food elsewhere.

What then was the primary predictor of church participation? The key, they concluded, was belief - orthodox Christian belief, especially the teaching that a person can be saved only through Jesus Christ. Virtually all boomers who believe in the necessity of salvation through Christ are still active members of churches. Ninety-five percent of the dropouts do not believe in the necessity of personal salvation. The researchers detected in the dropouts a pattern of theology they called "lay liberalism." Lay liberalism rejects the view that Christianity ins the only religion with a vital claim to truth. Most lay liberals prefer Christianity to other faiths, but cannot ground their preference in strong truth claims. Thus they do not care what theological view their children embrace or whether they attend church when they grow up, as long as they become “good people.”

The researchers found that lay liberalism is not an energizing faith; that is, it does not cause one to make an active Christian commitment. Orthodox Christian belief, on the other hand, impels people to commit their time and other resources to a distinctively Christian regime of witness and obedience in the company of other believers. Presbyterian leaders failed to fashion or preach vigorous apologetics and, consequently, declining churches lost the will or ability to teach the Christian faith in such a way as to demand allegiance.

The three sociologists noted that this erosion was a long-term process, which culminated in the '70s. Long before the decline, the denomination had already begun to make cutbacks in publications; foreign mission staffs had declined dramatically; and churches had abandoned Sunday night and Wednesday night services. Presbyterians did not abandon all the old standards at once, but sloughed one or two at a time while retaining others.

The bottom line – the members of declining mainline churches held less orthodox views, attended church less frequently, and had fewer friends in their congregations. The researchers concluded, correctly I think, that the problem of decline in many mainline churches will not be solved by a new program, because the problem is the weakening of spiritual conviction.

The findings of Johnson, Hoge, and Luidens have been confirmed by a more exhaustive study by Roger Finke and Rodney Stark. Finke and Stark looked at church growth in America during the period 1776-1990. They found that the most striking trend in the history of religion in America was growth, or what they call the churching of America. Yet, not all denominations shared in this immense rise in membership rates. Throughout their book, The Churching of America 1776-1990, Finke and Stark underlined four characteristics of growing churches. They (1) embrace orthodox doctrine, (2) make serious demands on followers, (3) are aggressive, and (4) are committed to vivid other-worldliness. To the degree that a denomination rejected traditional doctrine and ceased to call for serious commitment, they ceased to prosper. [2]

What is the message for us? First, we must avoid the process of theological compromise and reduced commitment that has been the downfall of other mainline denominations. The theological renewal in Southern Baptist life may be a first and important step in the right direction. A word of caution is in order! The trends of theological liberalism that we avoided in the "front door" church growth approach may well be attempting an entrance through the "back door" of church growth pragmatism. Certain aspects of current church growth thinking encourage us to de-emphasize theology, Baptist doctrine, confrontational evangelism, and the call to commitment. These trends could result in a short-term gain because they are novel, but they could create long-term weakening.

How can we avoid these trends, which spelled disaster to so many mainline churches in the past? We may have to look at innovative methods and different times for implementing basic strategies for outreach and discipleship in our various churches, but we cannot compromise these fundamentals.

1. We cannot anticipate nor plan for reduced commitment. We must rather call for and expect deep levels of commitment. People are looking for a cause that is worthy of commitment.

2. We must place even stronger emphasis on doctrinal instruction and basic apologetics if we are going to generate the energy to sustain a vigorous community life.

3. Rather than backing away from our emphases on evangelism and missions, we must give them higher priority. We must teach people to share their faith and send them forth into the fields that God declares "ripe for harvest" (John 4:35, NIV). We must realize that we can do more together to win the world than we can do independently.

4. We must make a renewed commitment to strengthen Discipleship Training, missions education and involvement, and small-group Bible study rather than assuming they are relics of a past generation. We must provide quality opportunities for Christian growth.

5. We must rediscover the value of small groups for the building of strong community relationships.

6. We must empower and unleash laity for ministry through the discovery of spiritual gifts.

I believe that the greatest days of Southern Baptist ministry and outreach are yet to come, but we cannot compromise the Scriptures or our unique distinctives lest we find ourselves joining those many groups that are declining during a time of escalating world opportunity.

1. Benton Johnson, Dean R. Hoge, and Donald A. Luidens, "Mainline Churches: The Real Reason for Decline," First Things (New York: Institute on Religion and Public Life, March 1993): 13-18. Information from the write-up of their findings, "Mainline Churches: The Real Reason for Decline," is cited and explained throughout this article.

2. Roger Finke and Rodney Stark, The Churching of America 1776-1990 (New York: Rutgers University Press, 1992).

Scripture quotation marked NIV is taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission.

To contact the Southern Baptist Center for Church Growth, write: 1350 Spring St., NW, Atlanta, GA 30367-5601, or call (404) 8987771.