by Overseer John Reid

Having been in various levels of ministry for over forty-five years I have seen and witnessed the constant decline in church attendance and the level of commitment and submission to the black church. With the advent of the global pandemic and our changing cultural climate this rate of decline has only increased.

This blog is not meant to condemn the church; however, this is meant to be a wakeup call to the black church as we know it in America. I can safely say this is not the church I was raised up in. The following are some reasons for the decline and failure of the church to effectively reach today’s twenty first century culture:

We are getting older – If you take the time to look over today’s congregations, they are much older. During the pandemic and over the past two years one in eight churches in my area alone have failed or closed. Many older attendees are not computer literate and knowledgeable regarding attending online services. Moreover, we have to make an earnest effort at reaching our youth. The average age of many consistent church members and leaders is over forty. The heart of the healthy church should be young families with children and those who are able bodied to support, serve and care for others.

We are losing the culture war – The congregation has not only changed but our culture has changed. The majority of our families today are headed by single parents with most of them being women. Not only are more homes headed by women but there are more blended households where there are children from multiple fathers and fathers with children by multiple women. There is an urgent need to minister to people facing this pressing lifestyle. We have allowed the media to have more influence than the message of the Gospel. Thus, the importance of church attendance has waned.

Failure to preach the gospel message – The message of the Gospel of Jesus Christ changed to a spiritual motivation sermon. There is little conviction and repentance in many messages from today’s pulpits. We rarely hear a message about salvation, repentance, and forgiveness. Many Christ followers are chasing the prophetic or prosperity message and looking to hear a special word to fit their personal need.

Christian training for our youth – We have lost the battle for our youth. Amazingly, many churches no longer have Sunday school or any means of educating the youth. In the Jewish culture, Hebrew School is available for many Jewish children. When we pastored a church, we were amazed at the children and teenagers who attended for the first time had no knowledge of the Word of God or who Jesus really was. It is imperative churches implement programs that target teaching and instruction of our youth.

Many Pastors are leaving the pulpit – As pastors retire many of them are moving on from ministry. In the African American culture over 90% of pastors are bi-vocational and must work a full-time job in other to support their families. Moreover, most of them are under financial constraints given the burden of supporting a church and their own household. A number of these churches are small and are in a constant flux of losing members moving the churches that can meet their spiritual needs.

Many churches have been impacted by the culture and have different beliefs on these subjects

• Abortion
• Homosexuality
• Politics
• Social justice

These topics have divided the black church for the past decade.

The formality of the church – Too many churches today still embrace dogma of long formal services. There are a number of aspects of these services that should be eliminated, with services can be streamlined to focus on effective use of time. Some churches still take time to read announcements while still printing programs and uploading information on their website.

So, what are we to do? – First, we must realize that we have a problem. It’s not church as usual especially given the pandemic and our changing culture.

Second, we have to embrace change. We can no longer continue to be the dinosaurs of the past. Churches today must move on from the ideology and dogmas of some traditionalism and embrace their communities. Services need to focus on effective utilization of time and content.

While some traditions have their place, several of them should be abandoned given the changes in society. We need to return to the altar and preach a Word that speaks to our current generation.

We must immediately begin to teach and instruct the church of today which is our youth. We have literally lost a generation that never attended church. If we don’t initiate Sunday school, we need to have special programs designed to address and train our youth during services or through the week.

It’s not too late to reach the next generation for Christ, now is the time to initiate a plan.

(Editor’s Note: The views expressed in this article are those of the author only. For more information on our editorial process, please visit our About Us page.)