Why i left the ucc

Declining Congregations

The total number of congregations in the UCC declined by 40.2% between 1957 and 2017.

• 1
  
  957 – 8,283
• 1967 – 6,909
• 1977 – 6.512
• 1987 – 6,395
• 1997 – 6,061
• 2007 – 5,377
• 2017 – 4,956

Viewing the percent decline by decade highlights the shifts in the rate of decline

• 1
  
  957-1967 – 16.6%
• 1967-1977 – 5.7%
• 1977-1987 – 1.8%
• 1987-1997 – 5.2%
• 1997-2007 – 11.3%
• 2007-2017 – 7.8%

Declining Membership

Total membership within the UCC declined by 61.1% between 1957 and 2017.

• 
  1957 – 2,193,593
• 1967 – 2,025,857
• 1977 – 1,785,632
• 1987 – 1,662,568
• 1997 – 1,438,181
• 2007 – 1,145,281
• 2017 – 853,778

Viewing the percent decline by decade highlights the shifts in the rate of decline

• 
  1957-1967 – 7.6%
• 1967-1977 – 11.9%
• 1977-1987 – 6.9%
• 1987-1997 – 13.5%
• 1997-2007 – 20.4%
• 2007-2017 – 25.5%

So What?

I’ve opted to report on the statistics in the United Church of Christ because it is a tradition that I belonged to since 2010.  It is important to note, however, that this tradition’s decline over the last sixty years is quite similar to the decline that has occurred within Mainline Protestantism as a whole.

In addition to painting a detailed picture of the timing of decline for both congregations and membership, the data above highlights that the decline in membership has been far more dramatic than the decline in congregations (61.1% compared to 40.2% over the last sixty years).  As a result, small congregations now comprise a greater percentage of all congregations than at any time in the history of the denomination.

Today is a day many celebrate the Reformation.  It should be not only a time to recall history, but also an opportunity to continue the work of reforming in response to the leading of a Still Speaking God.

• Are you a part of the United Church of Christ or another Mainline Protestant tradition?
  • If so, how have you been impacted by the last six decades of decline? How has your congregation?
  • If not, what is the story of overall growth and decline within your tradition? How has this impacted you? your congregation?
• Given what you know, provide your estimate for the rate of growth or decline from 2017-2027 within the UCC for congregations and for membership.  What are the top three factors that contributed to your thinking? What type of potential changes within the United States would be most likely to change you prediction?

For more of my writing about the decline in the UCC:

Both average congregational size and the percentage of congregations in the denomination’s largest membership category (1,000+) continue to decline.  From 2007 to 2017 the percentage of congregations with at least 1,000 members declined from 1.5% to 0.9% (a 40% decline). I’ve been fortunate to be a part of the life of two congregations that are currently in the top 1% of all UCC congregations in the category of membership:

The numbers just came out and once again, bad news for mainline denominations. They can’t stop the leak. The numbers are compiled by the National Council of Churches and were just released in their 2011 Yearbook of American and Canadian Churches.

Here are the five “biggest losers”: United Church of Christ (UCC) down 2.83%; Presbyterian Church (USA) down 2.61%; Episcopal Church down 2.48%; Lutheran Church (ELCA) down 1.96%; and the United Methodist Church down 1%. The percentages may not sound like much but when you look at trends and raw numbers; the leak is more like a hole. The Presbyterian Church (USA) has lost nearly 800,000 people (over 20% of it membership) since 2001. The United Methodist Church has lost 600,000 during that time.

Why? Some Presbyterian Church (USA) pastors, in an open letter to their denomination, say it is because of their denomination’s “unending controversy.” What controversy? Gay ordination gets the headlines. Apparently more is being haggled behind close doors, though. The authority of Scripture, the nature of Christ, and whether salvation can be found in other faiths is now being bantered about. In studying the 2011 Yearbook numbers, sociologist Rodney Stark blames mainline denominational decline on “modernist theology and the transformation of mainline churches into centers for progressive political action.” He sounds right.

It is not coincidental that the churches in greatest decline are the very churches that made such a sharp “left” years ago. When it comes down to it, the chief issue is the authority of Scripture. When that one erodes, homosexuality is no longer a sin and Muslims go to heaven. And the pew empties when the guy (or gal now) behind the pulpit no longer believes the Book.

When these numbers were released, I stumbled on a blog discussing the “why” behind the decline. Two UCC pastors were part of the discussion. It was clear that Pastor Jeff and Pastor Brian (as they identified themselves) still didn’t get it. Pastor Jeff talked about his denomination needing to realize its not the “50’s and 60’s” anymore and that their church’s “social and organizational mentality” needed to change. Pastor Brian said that the UCC was good at “theological change and diversity” but needed to change their approach toward “a conversational sermon, worship in the round, [and] dump the Robert’s Rules of Order.” There was no smiley face after their posts so I gather they really believe that’s their problem. If that’s why they think people are leaving, what will they come up with next year when the floodgates are still open? Newsflash for Pastor Jeff and Pastor Brian; it’s not what you are doing or not doing—it’s what you are now believing and not believing!

And at the end of the day, is it a bad thing if mainline church members are leaving because their church no longer will “stand firm and hold to the teachings…passed on to [them]”? (2 Thessalonians 2:15). Their decline may be God’s way of preserving His church.

Young Evangelicals are leaving the church in droves—and their exodus has bracing implications for us in the United Church of Christ.

Not that anyone could have predicted their departure in 1972; that’s when sociologist of religion Dean M. Kelly published an influential study entitled, Why Conservative Churches Are Growing. Essentially, Kelly argued that, in the words of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary President R. Albert Mohler, Jr., “Evangelical churches grow precisely because they do what liberal congregations and denominations [do not]—they make serious demands of believers in terms of doctrine and behavior” (“Why Conservative Churches Are Growing,” Christian Post, April 26, 2011.

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As it turned out, a lot of those serious demands were exclusive and harsh—and living up to them proved unsustainable. Today—forty-five years later—Barna Group President and pollster David Kinnaman, a self-professed Evangelical, tells us that many Evangelical congregants and former churchgoers, as well as the vast majority of “Unchristians” (who don’t ascribe, or no longer ascribe, to any organized religion) “are skeptical” if not “hostile and resentful toward present-day Christianity.” They “have little trust in the Christian faith, [or] esteem for the lifestyle” of churchgoers. They view Christianity as “weary and threadbare,” and are offended by conservative Christians’ “swagger”—how Evangelicals “go about things and the[ir] sense of self-importance” (David Kinnaman and Gabe Lyons, Unchristian: What a New Generation Really Thinks about Christianity… and Why It Matters (Grand Rapids, Mich.: Baker, 2007), pp. 9, 13, 16, 22, 24).

Indeed, a 2005-2006 Barna Group study concluded that “the most common perceptions” of those outside the church toward Christians and Christianity are antihomosexual, judgmental, and hypocritical. These were followed by: old-fashioned, sheltered and out of touch with reality, insensitive to others, boring, not accepting of other faiths, too focused on converting people, and confusing. “This is what a new generation thinks about Christianity” (Unchristian, p. 25).

Tellingly, many Evangelical Millennials and “Gen-Z’ers”—young adult churchgoers —“share the same negative perceptions as outsiders” (Unchristian, pp. 31-32); in a related poll of 18-29-year-olds with Evangelical backgrounds, young churchgoers “describe[d] their individual faith journeys” in words that were startlingly similar to those of Millennial outsiders. “Most of their stories include significant disengagement from church—[and/or] from Christianity altogether” (David Kinnaman with Aly Hawkins, You Lost Me: Why Young Christians Are Leaving Church…and Rethinking Faith (Grand Rapids, Mich.: Baker, 2011), p. 9).

Young church dropouts find the church to be shallow; anti-science; repressive, judgmental, and rigid about sexuality; and hostile toward doubters and skeptics. They view the church as exclusive—Millennials “estee[m] open-mindedness, tolerance, and acceptance,” yet the church exhibits none of those qualities. “Young Christians believ[e] that churches are not safe and hospitable places to express doubts” (You Lost Me, pp. 11, 71, 92-93).

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Thirty-eight percent of young Christians believe that “churches are not accepting of gays and lesbians;” indeed, “out of twenty attributes that [the Barna Group] assessed, both positive and negative,” as they relate to Evangelical Christianity, the perception of homophobia topped the list (You Lost Me, pp. 175-176, and Unchristian, p. 90).

According to 2014 Barna Group survey data, 43 percent of Americans are churchless today. In addition, 33 percent of Americans are “de-churched”—they “were once active in church but are no longer” (George Barna and David Kinnaman, Churchless: Understanding Today’s Unchurched and How to Connect with Them (Tyndale Momentum, 2014), p. viii). Kinnaman believes that “the dropout phenomenon” of today’s Millennial generation is qualitatively different from, and more ominous than, past “young adult disengagement” from the church: given the widespread social acceptance of not attending church, as well as Millennials’ “access to all kinds of information and worldviews, many young adults no longer believe that the local church and Christianity provide the only or even [the] best avenues to spiritual growth” (You Lost Me, pp. 23, 70-71).

“Young Christians embrace less of a rules-oriented spirituality than older Christians,” Kinneman added. “Eighteen-to-twenty-nine-year-olds are more likely than [older Christians] to believe that there are many different paths to God,” and “that most or all religions teach essentially the same spiritual truths” (You Lost Me, pp. 164, 176).

“There is not a single demographic for which church attendance is on the increase,” the Barna Group President concluded. “And because young adults have the highest levels of church avoidance, their children are less likely to attend churches,” and more likely to “avoid churches in adulthood” (Churchless, p. 9).

So what does this have to do with any of us, or with the United Church of Christ? If you suspect that I have something more in mind than schadenfreude—a misbegotten desire to gloat over the misfortunes of Evangelical churches—you’re right.

I believe that the Barna Group is onto something. Their polling captures the essential ambivalence of many Evangelicals, and particularly of Evangelical Millennials, toward “churchianity.” It helps explain the ubiquity of congregational decline.

To be sure, progressive churches, and denominations such as the United Church of Christ, have their own church dropout problem, but it is important to be aware of a broader reality—that this is not just a Mainline Protestant experience. The church dropout phenomenon cuts across all denominational strata—including Mainline, Roman Catholic, and Evangelical congregations. Even so—and this is the important point—I believe that the United Church of Christ is utterly unique; it has a special progressive niche that people are looking for. UCC churches don’t have to pretend to be Conservative, or imitate Evangelical congregations, or adopt exclusive worship styles and theologies in order to thrive!

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Rather, I believe that to the extent that UCC congregations are willing to embrace a progressive theology, extend a sincere and uncompromised Open and Affirming welcome to Unchristians and Millennial dropouts, and come to terms with the change that is taking place in society as well as in their midst—through innovative outreach to their communities in ministry and service—they will be in a unique position to engage young people who are turned off and/or fed up with church, and/or have dropped out. But such outreach will have to occur on Unchristians’ and Millennial dropouts’ own terms and turf; it will not do to simply invite young people to attend a worship service or a traditional “young adults” program at the church. We ministers, as well as church leaders and congregants, must be willing to meet people where they are—in coffee shops and bars, while volunteering at the local food pantry or homeless shelter, and in the community.