Nobody home!
America’s second-largest Protestant denomination, the United Methodist Church, has lost thousands of churches whose members object to the UMC’s playing footsie with Organized Sodomy, the Christian Post reports (https://freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/4198375/posts). The total has topped 7,000.
That includes 5,200 congregations this year alone. Several thousand of these have joined the Global Methodist Church, a conservative group that was only formed last year.
That’s a lot of congregations waving bye-bye. But somehow the UMC leadership isn’t getting the message. Blessing “same-sex unions” just doesn’t fly with Christians who take God’s law seriously.
But the UMC leadership is riddled with liberal churchmen and out-and-out pagans who want theirs to be a church of what’s happening now. They’ll keep doing it no matter how many congregations secede.
The true Church lives. If it needs new buildings, if it needs to fall back on house churches–well, they follow God’s word and their faith.
I watch this with great interest. Christianity started out with small, relatively informal meetings, and did not require a church building. Sounds good to me.
“if it needs to fall back on house churches.” I just finished writing a book on Christian giving (I think you would find it eye opening and really interesting), and that issue goes deeply into other aspects, such as how the Church should be organized. The Church grew and prospered in the beginning for hundreds of years as house churches without a church building. The whole Christian world needs to rethink house churches. Maybe it should not have left what worked so well in the first place.
It’s hard to understand why they ever gave up house churches. Seduced by Constantine? Or did it happen before his time?
Meeting in private homes is very liberating. There’s no overhead, as in building and maintaining a church building, or utility costs, etc.
Here are a few portions from my book:
“The concept modern Christians developed, the need to erect a church building to hold worship services, meant that no official church or congregation exists without a building, has been around for over a thousand years. Considering that, most Christians would have a hard time relating to, or even how, without a building, or permanent place to hold service, would the congregation survive, let alone thrive. And yet, with none of those things considered necessary today, the early Church flourished, succeeded, and grew throughout the world.
… in all cases where a “church” building is bought or built, the bigger and more elaborate, a lion’s share will go for expenses, upkeep, maintenance, water, electricity, and so forth. Leaving only a small proportion of the income spent on outreach and other Kingdom activities outside the local church…
Every Christian knows God does not need plush carpets, stained glass windows, cathedral ceilings, and a host of other things tithes… God prefers humble hearts, rather than ornate buildings. The early church was not concerned about pulpits, pews, organs, new carpets, offering plates, choir robes, pastor retirement or building funds, loans, or rent, etc. They had none of those things, nor did they need or want any of that stuff…
In the 3rd Century, there lived in Aragon of the Roman Empire, a generous man, Saint Laurence. He was a deacon in a Christian congregation. During one of Rome’s persecutions, they ordered him to bring to a Roman official some of the “treasures of the Church.” He brought the lame, downtrodden, and poor, and said of them, “These are the treasures of the Church.” For this response, they roasted him to death on a gridiron. The only genuine treasure Christ’s Church has is its Saints. Can that be said of today’s mega Churches, filled with millions of dollars’ worth of furnishings, equipment, bank accounts, book and art stores, vehicles, land titles, and other items?”
And there is so much more.
I wish I could upgrade that Like to a 💜. One of the most wonderful little churches I’d attended met in a movie theater—and had to be out with all the gear put away before the first showing. We also tried something really informal for a few weeks—sitting at round tables, having little discussion sessions around the Word instead of sermons. I thought to myself that “this is as close to early Church as I’m going to get.” AND that pastor at the beginning of the new year said that he was not going to take a salary, that he would rely 100% on donations from church members that were only specifically earmarked for him. He and his family didn’t starve 😄. It broke my heart when I had to move away from them, and I’ve not really found a bunch of people like them since.
Have you kept in touch with them?
A few members here and there, I had, yes, but (I hate that phrase, “yes, but”) after a while they stopped responding. They probably got new phones/new numbers and in one case they must have moved because my Christmas card came back as undeliverable. I still pray for them and would hope they’d get in touch somehow, but I don’t do Fakebook or X or social media so I don’t really know how they might.
That is a refreshing attitude for a pastor to have.
Remember, for the first three centuries of Christianity, Christians didn’t have church buildings because Christianity was illegal. The only places where they could have services – and they developed a fixed liturgy very early – were people’s houses and the catacombs. As soon as Christianity was legalized, they immediately began building separate holy places in which to worship.
How are you feeling today? Any better?
Thanks, Lee, I’m still hacking and coughing and blowing my nose (by this time, my face looks as though it was run over by a lawnmower), but I’m doing my best to do my best at my chores. I still have to lie down a lot, though, so I won’t be commenting much.
Just don’t you dare get sicker!
We’ve been searching Petco today for food that Robbie will eat. She seems to be on strike. Well, you know how cats are.
The United Methodist Church in our town pulled out – yea!
Good!