Protestant Woes
Regardless of how the population was evaluated, though, there was no segment of the adult population that came close to the level of commitment that Protestant pastors claimed for churchgoers.
This raises all kinds of questions for me:
How is this measured?Interesting. Posted by tripp at January 9, 2006 07:56 AM
Is there a way that a smaller congregation might be better? Worse?
Is this a lack of teaching from a pulpit?
Is this a reflection of the "demise" of Sunday School?
Is this an overreliance on the idea of "Christian Culture?"
Certainly we don't want to have a litmus test for commitment to God. What is so scary is that pastors don't seem to know their sheep as well as they think. The results under the section "Activity That Does Not Concern Churches" are also very disheartening.
Posted by: Bryan Peters at January 9, 2006 05:49 PMBryan,
You and I are on the same page. It is not so much that people don't feel particularly connected to God. That is not news...sad, but not news. That pastors over-estimate their own ministry is a problem. I wonder if we are all addicted to programs in this country. Call it a "small group" if you like. That's great. But a program is not the same as a relationship with God.
I imagine that this has always been the case for the Church.
Posted by: Tripp at January 10, 2006 07:48 AM