As I work with congregations on strategic planning, one of my roles is to debunk false myths that cause congregations to make bad decisions. In this short piece, I address a few.
Myth #1 – Sunday morning Sunday school is key.
Almost every congregation wants to build up its Sunday morning Sunday school. People assume that it has been a key part of the church forever. In fact, Sunday school in the United States didn’t really develop as a popular movement until the middle of the 19th century. Dwight Moody was a catalyst for making it extremely popular by the end of that century.
Did the church struggle for 1800 years without Sunday School? Obviously not. During that time, it became the world’s largest religion. Over the centuries, Christians had different methods of passing on the faith to the next generation. But Sunday school was not one of them.
I worked with a brilliant Episcopal rector who, faced with greatly diminished attendance in his Sunday school, called together the parents in the congregation with a simple message: “As a congregation, we have a responsibility to educate our young ones in the faith. As parents, you have the same responsibility. We are both failing.” A creative and passionate discussion followed which resulted in the development of a children/youth program on Wednesday afternoons. Attendance more than tripled instantly from that of Sunday school.
Working with the time demands and specific schedules of children today, congregations need to find ways, times and places to educate their youth in the faith. Dropping the myth that Sunday School is a key first step to accomplish that mission.
Myth #2 – We are declining while evangelicals and megachurches are growing. what is wrong with us?
Mainline denominations have fallen in membership dramatically since I was in seminary many decades ago. Based on what I hear from church members today, most think white evangelicals have thrived and are thriving now. Gallup has debunked that notion by revealing that white evangelicals have declined from 26% of the population in 2007 to 23% today. The overall decline since the late 1990s is greater. An even more dramatic decline is true of megachurches, declining from 1600 churches to 1200 by the pandemic with continuing decline since that time. It is a myth that the evangelicals have thrived while the mainline has declined.
Myth #3 – Younger generations aren’t interested in religion.
To this myth I would say “yes” and “no.” The Millennials and Gen Z (together about 51% of the US population) are famous for self-identifying as “spiritual but not religious.” So yes, they are very skeptical of religion. If I remember correctly, the prophets and Jesus had similar concerns about organized religious practices of their times.
But—and it is a huge “but”—if we can’t take someone who self-identifies as “spiritual” and move them toward a deeper spiritual life that includes the God we follow, then we may be in the wrong business. If these generations said they weren’t interested in spirituality, period, we’d be in big trouble. But they know they are spiritual beings and want to grow as spiritual beings. If we focus on that reality, not their concerns about organized religion, we will start having success engaging them.
The two younger generations also seek community. They love to build community online and in person. Most congregations are amazing communities. When I ask people what they love about their congregations, the answer is unanimous: we love the people in our congregation. Young people, like every generation before them, are looking for people to love and communities where they will be loved.
Myth #4 – The church has never seen a time of change like this.
Well, yes, we have never seen AI before. But Luther, Calvin, Wesley reoriented Christianity while the Medieval system was collapsing, nation states were emerging, the economy was changing from rural to industrial, the printing press created an incredible leap in communication possibilities, and on and on. The social, economic and political changes of that era definitely rival what we are seeing today. The only question is: Do we see it as a problem or opportunity or both? I hear too many clergy and congregations seeing the problems and not the opportunities.
In Summary
If our ministry is mired down in presuppositions that are, in fact, false myths, our chances of success in reaching our ministry vision will be compromised to the point of futility. If we put our energy into trying to rebuild Sunday schools instead of building a spiritual growth program for all ages, sit around moaning about how we are in decline when others are succeeding, think younger people have no spiritual needs that we can meet and the current social, political and economic changes are so great they will overwhelm us—well, we are in trouble.
In contrast, if we see the opportunity to build spiritual growth programs that resonate with young and old alike, understand that all religious groups are all in smaller boats than the past, and see change (as did the Reformers) as an opportunity to start a movement that will still be alive 500 years later, we will be energized and focused on the right things.
John Wimberly is an experienced pastor and consultant. As a consultant, he has worked with congregations and judicatories on strategic planning, staff designs for the 21st century, and congregational growth as well as financial and administrative management. He has MBA, MDiv, and PhD (theology) degrees. His books focus on effective management and leadership. John believes congregations can have a bright future!
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