I recently attended a workshop with the Rev. Paul Nickerson of the Massachusetts  Conference of the United Church of Christ.  Nickerson says that our mission is to people in our immediate area who have an affinity for something with our church.  Paul says that the bad news is that the church and the world are no longer the same.  In 1955, to do    business in a town, the business person would need to join your church and probably would be a Deacon.  The church and the culture were once the same, but today that culture has changed.

How has the culture changed?
*In the 1960s Baby-Boomers left the church.  Today, most Baby-Boomer children and grandchildren have never been active in a church.  Boomers and those who are older make-up two-thirds of those in the church but only one-third of the population.  We have a whole new mission field of two-thirds of the population around us.

*What are the images these Baby-Boomer children and grandchildren have of the church?  Those images are of television evangelists, the latest priest sex abuse scandals, division of denominations over acceptance and ordination of gay, lesbian and transgender persons.  These negative or divisive images are not the most important images in St. John United Church of Christ but how would these Baby-Boomer children and grandchildren know?  It's important we let others know our pastor is not a tele-evangelist, we provide a safe-place for children and acceptance of all people.

*A decline in church attendance is, in part, because of fewer births.  In 1960 the birth rate was 24 per 1,000 Anglos.  In 2002 the birth rate was 11 per 1,000 Anglos.  Our mission is not just to Anglos.  Our mission is to new populations that are around us.  When it comes to racial-ethnic populations, most of us in our life time will see no majority populations.

*Currently only 17% of the population worship regularly.  That means most of your friends, coworkers, sports team parents are not regular worshipers.  However, just look at best-selling books and movies to see the spiritual hunger in our culture.

*Very disturbing to me is that 65% of the population can't remember a time when clergy were respected.  I mention this to Arevena every time there is a negative example of a clergy on television or movies.

*In 1906 there were thirty Mainline denominations.  Today there are only ten Mainline denominations.  The reduction of numbers was with mergers, but before long some will simply disappear or fold from lack of members.

*Between 1990 and 2000 over 100,000 churches closed their doors.  Think about the churches that have closed their doors in Northwest Ohio or recent Roman Catholic congregations who had their doors closed for them by the diocese because of lack of funds or priests to serve the congregations.  Currently, two-thirds of all congregations in the United States are in decline.  This includes the Southern Baptists and other conservative and fundamentalist congregations that give the image of growing but are also in decline.  Interestingly, the largest group leaving these conservative and fundamentalist congregations are seeking congregations with more structure, ritual and depth.

What this means is we live in a culture that has poor images of the church that can be changed by simply   inviting people to "taste and see" what our congregation has to offer.  This image can be changed as our   members and pastor are involved in various groups and events in community participation and leadership.  This image can change as we create events in our church or through our church where people have a new image of the body of Christ, the community we know locally as the St. John United Church of Christ.