Pastor Devin Strong, Spirit of Peace Lutheran Church

We have all read the articles and seen the studies that shout to us that worship attendance among Christians is on the decline. Dwindling worship numbers have been part of the backdrop of American Christianity for decades.

Those of us who worship in the church hate it, but we persevere, doing our best to proclaim the Gospel in creative and passionate ways. That’s why I was encouraged recently when my wife forwarded me an article written by Shawn Paul Wood. The article’s title is, “Only One Type of Church is Thriving.” Just a few lines into the article, I learned that the author was talking about Protestant churches. I got excited because of course, Lutherans are Protestants— along with Methodists, Presbyterians, Baptists, and others. I thought, “Are we doing something right for a change?”

Unfortunately, as I read further, I learned that the article and its accompanying study, make a distinction between “Active” Protestant churches and “Passive” ones, and you guessed it, Lutherans and most liturgical denominations are on the “Passive” list. By “Active” churches, Mr. Wood means churches like Baptist, Pentecostal, Foursquare, and AME congregations that tend to have less structured liturgies, livelier back and forth between the congregation and the preacher, and more energetic worship music.

I have no problem with any of this. As a child of ‘70s an a church with an excellent praise band, and it was great fun. I’ve never really had much of an “Amen corner,” but I think that I would like one! I enjoy the informal banter between me and the people on Sunday mornings. What I hate is being part of a denomination described as “Passive.” It’s true that Lutherans follow an ancient Christian worship structure. The sacraments are central to us, and we do sing more traditional hymns along with newer music, but anyone who has seen the Passing of the Peace in our congregation would probably not call us passive!

The extent to which we or any church is passive, we need to change. Jesus did not spend 33 years on this Earth only to have us worship him for an hour a week and then leave it all in the church building. Faith of every flavor needs to be active.

Jesus means for us to take his teachings and his agenda into our work lives and our weekends, our finances and our friendships. The Lord of Love needs us to change the world for the sake of the Gospel. If you won’t, who will?

People today are looking for a relationship with Jesus, not an institution. I get it.

Worshippers don’t want to watch a show on Sundays, no matter how historic or sacred. They want to experience a service that touches them and changes them, personally. What the church can do, what it needs to do, is show people regular, living examples of people taking Jesus’ ways in daily life. We need to build deep Christian friendships.

There are many flavors of Christian worship that speak to different parts of our personalities and experiences, but every congregation, every Christian, needs an active faith in some way, or it is no faith at all.