tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15839039.post1808425336715851031..comments2023-07-08T02:43:16.150-05:00Comments on Philanswers: A Conviction CrisisPhil Sandershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17730256837717993061noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15839039.post-65034926857507008462008-07-09T07:26:00.000-05:002008-07-09T07:26:00.000-05:00Ben,I too was shocked by the 1.5% estimation of th...Ben,<BR/>I too was shocked by the 1.5% estimation of the 35,000 surveyed. The actual number of people who claimed to be members of the church was around 600 people.<BR/><BR/>Gallup and US Census figures have put us in the 2,500,000 range for some time. The 2004 ARIS survey also had a high number for us.<BR/><BR/>My opinion is that we have a lot of floaters and no-shows out there who attend sporadically or not at all. I estimate that we have somewhere around 800,000 non-attending members who do not affiliate with anyone else.<BR/><BR/>This is frankly a bit of the agenda I have for the television program, God's Answers, to get non-attending people back involved.<BR/><BR/>PhilPhil Sandershttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17730256837717993061noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15839039.post-50346209863939508242008-07-08T15:43:00.000-05:002008-07-08T15:43:00.000-05:00Phil,What wasmost amazing to me about the Pew Rese...Phil,<BR/><BR/>What wasmost amazing to me about the Pew Research numbers was the sheer volume of poeple claiming to be members of churches of Christ. 1.5% of the people responding to the survey claimed to be church members. Extrapolate that over the total American population, and you get 4.5 million people.<BR/><BR/>Compare that with the latest Mac Lynn numbers, which put total membership around 1.3 million, and "adherants" between 1.7 and 1.8 million.<BR/><BR/>So either a) something is seriously wrong with Pew's data collection methods, or b) 60-65% of Americans who claim to be part of a "Church of Christ" have no connection whatsoever with any congregation.<BR/><BR/>I know which I hope is true, but I have my suspicions.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15839039.post-50481449163628077362008-07-05T16:30:00.000-05:002008-07-05T16:30:00.000-05:00Thanks, Phil!Thanks, Phil!Terry Laudetthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17725093818552655944noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15839039.post-80098354872161100372008-07-05T15:38:00.000-05:002008-07-05T15:38:00.000-05:00Terry,the information I gave is found in the secon...Terry,<BR/>the information I gave is found in the second half of the 276-page report found at the PewForum.org website. The latter pages provide statistical detail on the various religious groups surveyed. The churches of Christ (Restoration evangelical)are listed separately in those later pages. You must indeed hunt a little, but they are there.<BR/><BR/>PhilPhil Sandershttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17730256837717993061noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15839039.post-14747780544111420192008-07-05T08:11:00.000-05:002008-07-05T08:11:00.000-05:00Phil,I was looking at the Pew Forum's web site thi...Phil,<BR/>I was looking at the Pew Forum's web site this morning, but I was having a difficult time finding the specific statistics for the Churches of Christ. Could you provide a link? I would like to know more about what our fellow members believe about other issues and topics, if those answers are available online.Terry Laudetthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17725093818552655944noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15839039.post-81764407144012137862008-07-02T14:55:00.000-05:002008-07-02T14:55:00.000-05:00Phil, what I am noticing is a complete compartment...Phil, what I am noticing is a complete compartmentalization on the part of church members. I see comments made on blogs and hear them in conversation that go something like this, "As a Christian, I believe X, but as an American, I am in favor of Y." Usually this has something to do with a moral issue that is prevalent in political conversation.<BR/><BR/>I am amazed that people do not seem to have any trouble compartmentalizing their faith off from the rest of their world. Of course, we are all guilty of not practicing what we preach, but I am sensing something more than that. I am seeing a total comfort with having a church ethic, a political ethic, a job ethic, an entertainment ethic, etc. and seemingly no trouble in separating them.<BR/><BR/>Maybe I'm just too simple minded, but I believe your ideas of right and wrong that are motivated by your faith in Jesus Christ and his revelation should inform the decisions you make on the job, in the theater, in front of the television, in the voting booth, and everywhere.<BR/><BR/>I suppose what has me going on about this is so much of the talk I am seeing these days coming from church members who are enthused politically about Senator Barak Obama, but seem to have adjusted their views of sexual morality based on the candidate's stand on homosexual marriage.<BR/><BR/>This will be an upcoming "conviction crisis" for us in churches of Christ. Indeed, as unbelievable as it may seem, we are already there in some churches.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15839039.post-6084139707004555022008-07-02T13:37:00.000-05:002008-07-02T13:37:00.000-05:00Very well said.Very well said.Terry Laudetthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17725093818552655944noreply@blogger.com