Facing page: Band leading worship with contemporary music
baby boomer generation. That means the median age of church participants also increased. People age 65 and over make up at least one-third of the total membership of about 53 percent of old-line Protestant congregations and 23 percent of evangelical congregations. The percentage of young adults ages 18–34 declined. Seventy-
fi ve percent of old-line Protestant congregations said less than 10 percent of their regular participants fell into this category. For evangelical congregations, 45 percent reported less than 10 percent of participants were young adults. The survey found, “Congregations with older memberships
lag (behind) younger congregations in spiritual vitality, growth in worship attendance, fi nancial health, ability to fi nd volunteers and breadth of programming.” This is due in part to older congregations losing some of their capacity for change, and “congregational vitality is closely connected with innovation and change.”
Fewer Participants The median church attendance in the United States is 105.
For conservative Protestants it is slightly higher – 120. Broken down even more, 27 percent of all churches average 50 or fewer in worship attendance. Twenty-two percent of churches average between 51-100 worshippers. Only 10 percent of all churches average 500 or more in attendance. The number of participants impacts leadership. Most churches have one clergy leader and a few part-time support staff members.
Of necessity, the clergy leader must be a general practitioner with little opportunity to develop specialized ministries.
Majority of Minorities The upsurge in immigration has resulted in an explosion of
languages used for Christian worship in the United States. The 2010 report showed the number of languages used in worship more than doubled in the decade. About 10 percent of all congregations reported worshipping in a language other than English, with Spanish being the most common. Of major importance is the fi nding that the new minor- ity populations are creating their own congregations rather than participating in historically white congregations. These congrega- tions also attract a higher percentage of young adults than do white congregations. The racial/ethnic congregations are also disproportionately evangelical Protestant and disproportionately urban and Southern, the report found. The majority of racial/ethnic churches started in the past decade were in big cities and older suburbs while the vast majority of churches started in new suburbs were white evangelical.
Bob Terry is editor of The Alabama Baptist and is a member and former chair of the BWA Communications Committee. This article originally appeared in the August 23 edition of The Alabama Baptist and is reprinted by permission.
William Tuck, Modern Shapers of Baptist Thought in America, Virginia Center for Baptist Heritage and Studies, 2012
Who are the persons who have had “the greatest
impact on Baptist thinking [in North America] over the last decades?” Hardly can unanimity be found in answers to this question. Yet, in his book, Modern Shapers of Baptist Thought in America, William Tuck dares to identify 24 persons chosen from church, academy, civil society and state to illustrate how these thinkers have infl uenced the course of Baptist life and to paint a portrait of their contribution to public life in his country. The list includes persons chosen for their work as
preachers, prophets, pastors, politicians and theologians. Tuck writes about John Broadus, Harry Fosdick, Gardner Taylor and Peter Gomes. His “prophets” include Walter Rauschenbusch, Henlee Barnette and Martin Luther King. He reports on the contribution of theologians such as Wayne Oates, Harvey Cox, Frank Stagg and Molly Marshall. He surveys the work of such pastors as Addie Davis, Rick Warren, Julie Pennington-Russell, political leader Jimmy Carter, evangelist
Billy Graham and
others. In 543 pages, Tuck draws upon extensive research to paint a portrait of each of the “shapers,” to identify major trends in their thought, and to characterize their legacy. Where else would one fi nd a single volume that seeks to deal graciously with Baptists who are as diverse as Carlyle Marney and Jerry Fallwell, Harvey Cox and W. A. Criswell? The book is dedicated to Fred Anderson, outstanding executive director of the Virginia Baptist Historical Society and the Center for Baptist Heritage and Studies. Anderson is accurately described as “a foremost interpreter and lover of Baptist history.” Readers will fi nd Modern Shapers a readable and insightful work.
JANUARY/MARCH 2013 27 BOOKS RECEIVED
Delroy Reid-Salmon, Burning for Freedom: A Theology for the Black Atlantic Struggle for Liberation, Ian Randle Publishers, 2012
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