In the mid 1980’s about 45% of the population of England and Wales identified themselves as Anglicans. Today that number is less than 20%. A new study conducted by St Mary’s University, Twickenham, which was focused mostly on the Catholic Church, revealed some rather disturbing numbers for the Anglican church. The Roman Catholic Church in England and Wales has apparently not seen significant change in recent decades, remaining at roughly 8% of the population. The category of “Other Christian” has seen a growth from 6% thirty years ago to 15% today. Non Christian religions have grown from 2% of the population to 8% in the same time period. What is most striking is the percentage of non affiliated (no religion) has risen to nearly 50% of the population. One can only guess that some of those who are no longer Anglicans have joined the ranks of either “other Christians” or no religion at all. Yet that does not account for the overall loss of Christians in the UK. The study’s report can be found online at (http://www.stmarys.ac.uk/benedict-xvi/docs/2016-may-contemporary-catholicism-report.pdf)
Knowing that the Church of Ireland (Anglican) and denominations in Scotland (Anglican and Presbyterian) are not reaching significant percentages of their populations either raises several questions. How does the evangelical Anglican (or Presbyterian for that matter) respond to the loss of the mother church? At what point does it seem appropriate to name a region a mission field? Is there a way for American churches to be a blessing to Churches overseas?
20 years ago I packed up my family of five and moved to England because of the need to reach teenagers with the gospel. I had been a youth minister in a large congregation in the Chicago suburbs for nearly ten years. What struck me was the sheer lack of ministry to youth in the UK which led me to accept a position over there. Today that is not as easily done given tightened immigration regulations. Back in the mid 1990’s there were very few youth ministry professionals. Today there are many more. However, twenty years ago I was stunned by the statistic that on a typical Sunday only 4% of the population were in attendance at church. Sadly today the statistic is down to 1.4% of the population is in church on a typical Sunday. (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/religion/12095251/Church-of-England-attendance-plunges-to-record-low.html)
All this raises questions. First, do we care that the mother church is dying? In my current realm it’s the Anglican Church (Church of England). But it’s also the Presbyterian church (Church of Scotland). My personal roots are Presbyterian. Do we care that the mother church is nearly dead and irrelevant? Is it time to send missionaries? Will these countries welcome (as in offer Visas) to people who want to do ministry? Is there a way that we might be able to serve in partnership with congregations overseas? I think the Visa issue is tough. The state of immigration in the UK seems to be that one has to make a real case for hiring foreign workers. So that leads me to think that church partnerships might be the best way forward.
What if we connected congregations that were trying to reach similar populations (urban, suburban, small town, etc) and helped them form partnerships for the gospel? What if the leaders of these churches got to know each other over Skype and then face to face in such a way that they could share ideas and insights? What if they had the opportunity to visit one another to see what each other was doing? Could that lead to mutual encouragement and collaboration? I know that the American Church is blessed with a lot more resources than the churches overseas. I truly wonder if partnerships between congregations might be the blessing that makes a difference.
What might that look like? Leaders who share ideas and insights as to what has been working in their context and why. Congregations encouraged by the fact that another church in a far away land is praying for them and seeking God’s blessing for them. Church members coming to a full realization of what they have and what they need. By that I mean two things. For the Americans who don’t understand what it’s like to be in a minority as a Christian, we see the blessings we have that we take for granted. For the others who see what American churches are really like, to recognize what a blessing it is to be needing to depend on the Lord for everything. Then to have people on each side of the pond who are encouraging and praying for one another… it’s priceless. We realize the goodness of God in whatever situation we find ourselves. Are we willing to connect in that way? Would that be a game changer for congregations as I know it has been for youth in our link with a diocese in Ireland? I’d really like someone to invest the time to find out.
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