Posted on Dec 12, 2022
As attendance dips, churches change to stay relevant for a new wave of worshippers
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https://www.npr.org/2022/12/10/ [login to see] /as-attendance-dips-churches-change-to-stay-relevant-for-a-new-wave-of-worshipper
It's Sunday morning and a small group sits around a fire pit in a community garden under the limbs of an expansive box elder tree. Church is about to start. And it's cold.
"God our Father, we are just so thankful for this time that we have to share this morning," says Pastor Chris Battle, a big man with a pipe clenched in his generous smile. "And we really thank you for fire that keeps us warm even as we sit up under this tree. We just pray that you would bless our time together."
Three years ago, Battle walked away from more than three decades leading Black Baptist churches and turned his attention to Battlefield Farm & Gardens in Knoxville. They grow vegetables and sell them at a farmer's market. They also collect unsold produce from around the city and deliver it to people in public housing once a week.
Battle says he left because traditional church was not connecting with people. He felt they were turned off by the sermons, the pitches for money, the Sunday-morning formality of it all.
It's Sunday morning and a small group sits around a fire pit in a community garden under the limbs of an expansive box elder tree. Church is about to start. And it's cold.
"God our Father, we are just so thankful for this time that we have to share this morning," says Pastor Chris Battle, a big man with a pipe clenched in his generous smile. "And we really thank you for fire that keeps us warm even as we sit up under this tree. We just pray that you would bless our time together."
Three years ago, Battle walked away from more than three decades leading Black Baptist churches and turned his attention to Battlefield Farm & Gardens in Knoxville. They grow vegetables and sell them at a farmer's market. They also collect unsold produce from around the city and deliver it to people in public housing once a week.
Battle says he left because traditional church was not connecting with people. He felt they were turned off by the sermons, the pitches for money, the Sunday-morning formality of it all.
As attendance dips, churches change to stay relevant for a new wave of worshippers
Posted from npr.orgPosted in these groups: 
Religion
Christianity
Religion Christianity
Posted >1 y ago
Responses: 3
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Dear lord, thanks for granting us another day in your kingdom! May God be the glory!
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PO1 William "Chip" Nagel
..."Hyde is in his 25th year in the ministry and sits on the Methodists' regional Holston Conference in East Tennessee.
Hyde says he did focus groups among his parishioners and heard the same thing over and over: the church needs to do a better job of connecting with the community. So now the church he pastors, Bearden United Methodist, in addition to regular services, does its version of Battlefield's okra and collards ministry. They collect unsold produce from local vendors and then, once a month, bring it back to the church parking lot."...
..."Hyde is in his 25th year in the ministry and sits on the Methodists' regional Holston Conference in East Tennessee.
Hyde says he did focus groups among his parishioners and heard the same thing over and over: the church needs to do a better job of connecting with the community. So now the church he pastors, Bearden United Methodist, in addition to regular services, does its version of Battlefield's okra and collards ministry. They collect unsold produce from local vendors and then, once a month, bring it back to the church parking lot."...
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He left the Baptist faith that he preached for "more than 3 decades" because it wasn't connecting with people any longer. Does this mean that what he taught for over 30 years, was not correct?
Here's another question, is it the church's responsibility to connect with people, or is it the peoples' responsibility to connect with God?
I did a little research before responding here, and it appears that all religions are experiencing an exodus of their members, but the majority of those leaving are older teens and 20 somethings.
I believe that says a lot about society, what's being taught in schools and the moral conflicts that have become political. Just my opinion though.
Here's another question, is it the church's responsibility to connect with people, or is it the peoples' responsibility to connect with God?
I did a little research before responding here, and it appears that all religions are experiencing an exodus of their members, but the majority of those leaving are older teens and 20 somethings.
I believe that says a lot about society, what's being taught in schools and the moral conflicts that have become political. Just my opinion though.
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CPO David R. D.
I am often reminded of this scripture in Matthew when it comes to following the Savior. He is always willing to forgive and bring us back, but we have to initiate the gathering. The image is very clear in my mind, being that we live on a farm, and have chickens and other poultry. Mother hens are crazy about keeping their babies close if an adversary is near.
Matthew 23:37
37 O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!
Matthew 23:37
37 O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!
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