I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again. I believe that Mt. Zion is the best Christian church in the whole city. Now, I admit that I am not familiar with them all. I have had to make some fairly broad assumptions. And I will confess some bias. But, here are some (and only some) of the reasons I think Mt. Zion is so strong right now.
Let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds.
Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing,
But let us encourage one another. – Hebrews 10:24,25
The single most revealing statistic indicating a congregation’s health and vitality? By far and away, it is attendance at worship. That’s why we report our congregation’s attendance in every Sunday bulletin.
At Mt. Zion, new members and transfers into our church have outnumbered funerals and transfers out for a number of years. In other words, we are not a “declining” congregation. The Adult Instruction Class is generally well attended. But, at the same time, average attendance has held steady, if not declined slightly, over the same time period. So if there are more members, then why doesn’t the attendance reflect it? Must be that current members are attending with less frequency.
In the ongoing struggle to re-claim a biblically legitimate definition of a “successful church,” we do well to consider the example of the small churches in rural Germany in the years following the Reformation.
Prior to 1520, church life consisted of rules and regulations, of legalistic manipulations encouraging a piety of monasticism, pilgrimages, masses, Mary worship, indulgences and relic collection. Pastors were well paid and lazy. Large cathedrals were built on the backs of Christians who gave money for the purchase of indulgences (not the first, and certainly not the last, of ill-conceived church fund-raisers) There was no lack of bustling religious activity, but the average Christian under the Roman Catholic papacy had little understanding of the Gospel. Instead of trusting the Lord Jesus, they feared him. Instead of confessing their sins and receiving absolution, they paid for their sins with penance and “Hail Marys.” Instead of the comfort of the Gospel, they were flogged with the Law.
Nevertheless, conduct a demographic study of the Germans under the Roman papacy, and you would find a multiplicity of engaging and effective church programs, strong worship attendance and effective stewardship campaigns. But, all of it was driven by the Law. Despite externals, the church had never been weaker. The Gospel, after all, had fallen silent.
Continue reading about How the Lutheran Reformation was a Failure
