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The "Forum" section of the December 5, 2020 issue of Berea Baptist Banner, published by Berea Baptist Church (IFB) in Mantachie, Mississippi, posed this question to 3 panelists: "As a pastor, what is the most discouraging thing you see in our Baptist churches today?"
Two of the 3 panelists listed numerical decline of Baptist churches - one of them observed, "As far as what I see that discourages me most in our churches in general is something I have no control over. It is the aging population of our churches. The average membership of Baptist churches is growing older and many faithful members are passing on to glory." He calls for more prayer and witnessing, and concludes, "I refuse to merely say 'it is the last days' and capitulate to pessimism"
The other panelist stated, "The most discouraging thing that I see in Baptist churches today is the conspicuous and prevalent absence of young folk in attendance. This is not just a phenomena [sic] of Baptist churches, but is a troubling trend across fundamental Christianity as a whole. The measures that more liberal churches take to 'entertain' the younger generation does [sic] nothing more than stretch their attendance a few more years, until they still yet disappear from the church doors of faithful membership." His proposed solutions are prayer, "leadership by example," and better teaching, in the home as well as the church. He laments that the younger generation favors grape juice instead of wine in the Lord's Supper, that women have discarded head-coverings, that there is not a stronger stand against "Catholic holy days" (presumably Easter and Christmas), and that "The sound foundation of God's King James Bible has been allowed to erode and with the multiplicities of Bibles has come the inevitable multiplicities of truths! How can any sane person expect any less?"
My personal opinion: the exodus of young people from the IFB movement, and the overall numerical decline of IFB churches, are real problems that should be recognized, seriously discussed and dealt with. Personally, I don't think that wine in the Lord's Supper, women's head-coverings, bans on Easter and Christmas, or forbidding young people to read modern Bible versions that they can understand, will significantly help the situation - but hey, that's just me.
Two of the 3 panelists listed numerical decline of Baptist churches - one of them observed, "As far as what I see that discourages me most in our churches in general is something I have no control over. It is the aging population of our churches. The average membership of Baptist churches is growing older and many faithful members are passing on to glory." He calls for more prayer and witnessing, and concludes, "I refuse to merely say 'it is the last days' and capitulate to pessimism"
The other panelist stated, "The most discouraging thing that I see in Baptist churches today is the conspicuous and prevalent absence of young folk in attendance. This is not just a phenomena [sic] of Baptist churches, but is a troubling trend across fundamental Christianity as a whole. The measures that more liberal churches take to 'entertain' the younger generation does [sic] nothing more than stretch their attendance a few more years, until they still yet disappear from the church doors of faithful membership." His proposed solutions are prayer, "leadership by example," and better teaching, in the home as well as the church. He laments that the younger generation favors grape juice instead of wine in the Lord's Supper, that women have discarded head-coverings, that there is not a stronger stand against "Catholic holy days" (presumably Easter and Christmas), and that "The sound foundation of God's King James Bible has been allowed to erode and with the multiplicities of Bibles has come the inevitable multiplicities of truths! How can any sane person expect any less?"
My personal opinion: the exodus of young people from the IFB movement, and the overall numerical decline of IFB churches, are real problems that should be recognized, seriously discussed and dealt with. Personally, I don't think that wine in the Lord's Supper, women's head-coverings, bans on Easter and Christmas, or forbidding young people to read modern Bible versions that they can understand, will significantly help the situation - but hey, that's just me.