We’ve never done it that way before...
A member recently asked me if I was going to “remain neutral” when we discuss the pew/chair topic. They made it clear they expected me to. They also suggested the Leadership Team should remain silent. Such an idea blows my mind...after all I am your Pastor—shepherd. It is central to my job description to lead and guide the congregation on existential matters exactly like this! Your friends on the Leadership Team spend hours each week serving the congregation, and all of them have been doing research on the matter of chairs v. pews in connection with congregational health and vitality. It's not a matter of personal preference for any of us—it's an issue of ethos and outreach. We’re charting the path forward for the next 20 - 30 years. I hope each of you are approaching this with the focus: “How will this decision serve Jesus for years to come?”
To help us grasp how important this issue is, let me share a shocking number with you: 134. That’s the average number of churches that permanently close their doors EACH WEEK in America.
That works out to nearly 7,000 churches each year.(1) Those numbers reflect another well established, and equally troubling trend. In the year 2000 the median weekly attendance of a congregation was 137.
By 2019 (Pre-COVID) that number had dropped to 65.(2) Church attendance has declined for each living generation: 74% of Silents, 58% of Boomers, 50% of Gen-X, and 36% of Millennials attend church.(3)
I don’t suppose that’s news to any of you—though maybe you’ve never seen it all in print in one place before. My hope is that seeing these realities in print will galvanize us into recognizing the importance of the decision before us. The great pew/chair debate shouldn’t be about comfort, or nostalgia...we don’t have the luxury of those considerations. It’s about SURVIVAL. If we keep DOING what we’ve been doing, we’re going to keep GETTING what we’ve been getting...which is less...a lot less.
Do you know what all 134 of the churches that closed last week had in common...? I suspect you do...they were ALL looking backward instead of looking forward. They were clinging to a past that was comfortable for them. They did that instead of making the sacrifices necessary to become vibrant places that welcome the shrinking percentage of younger people who are seeking a spiritual home.
...And yes all of them were chock full of pews.
They mostly ignored what all the studies have shown for over 40 years...something church leaders nationwide knew in the 1980’s...something the leaders at First have had in print for at least 20 years. Reaching the next generations of Americans (Gen-X and Millennials) is different from how we made Builders (Silent) and Boomers feel at home and welcome. X-ers and Millennials require a different “vibe” than their parents and grandparents to feel included in church.
This difference isn’t really about the furniture we sit on, although it kind of is. It’s really about ethos. Ethos means the “spirit” or “vibe” a place generates. Rev Richard Giles (an Anglican priest and architect) says: “architecture preaches.” He is talking about ethos. Every building has one. Pews contribute to a sanctuary’s ethos. Chairs contribute to a church’s ethos, too. And the ethos they generate is different...
The values and Weltanschauung(4) of X-ers is a lot more communal than any generation since the Lost Generation (born 1883-1900). X-ers seek out places where their thoughts and feelings are respected, and the hierarchy is “softer.” ...The kind of ethos created more by movable chairs in a semi-circle, and a pastor who preaches from the floor. We’ve known this difference for nearly 50 years, but few congregations have done much to address it...though some have, and X-ers have responded by primarily joining places that have been intentional about creating a more grass-roots & communal “feel.” Remember half of X-ers do go to church...only slightly less than Boomers.
The oldest X-ers are in their mid sixties...many are retiring now. Most of the Boomers have already retired. The approaches and ethos creation which have served First Lutheran well for the past 20 years (and more) is about to hit a HUGE bump in the road. The majority of new retirees who will be coming here to put their feet in the sand are NOT going to be echoes of those who have been coming here for decades. They will be X-ers. And they will not be looking for a church with pews...just like they haven’t chosen to join many of those churches up till now. If we want First Lutheran to be a vital congregation in 2050 we will bear this fact in mind.
Peace,
Pastor Derek
1 Religion News Service, Center for Analytics, Research & Data, 5/26/21.
2 NPR 5/17/23.
3 Gallup 3/29/21.
4 A German word which means the way a person or group perceives the world, or a world-life view.
