{"id":1840827,"date":"2023-02-09T10:04:52","date_gmt":"2023-02-09T15:04:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1840827"},"modified":"2023-02-09T10:05:38","modified_gmt":"2023-02-09T15:05:38","slug":"wheat-and-chaff-a-three-year-post-mortem-on-evangelical-church-attendance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wheat-and-chaff-a-three-year-post-mortem-on-evangelical-church-attendance\/","title":{"rendered":"Wheat And Chaff: A Three-Year Post-Mortem On Evangelical Church Attendance"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">20<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fwheat-and-chaff-a-three-year-post-mortem-on-evangelical-church-attendance%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1840827&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47-->\n<p>The first pages of the New Testament open with John the Baptist likening the ministry of Jesus Christ to the work of a winnowing fork: a tool used by farmers to toss stalks of grain into the air, separating the wheat that would fall to the ground and collected into the farmer\u2019s barn from the unwanted chaff that would be blown away with the wind and later burned.<\/p>\n<p>American evangelical ministers concur that the advent of government lockdown mandates and the social justice movement that began nearly three years ago and continue to reverberate across the nation\u2019s cultural landscape ultimately served to sift their congregations. According to a survey, attendance had dropped to 85% in Protestant churches before lockdown. However, almost every other church in the country resumed regular worship services. <a href=\"https:\/\/research.lifeway.com\/2022\/11\/08\/churches-are-open-but-still-recovering-from-pandemic-attendance-losses\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Study<\/a> Lifeway Research. A third of Christians who professed faith said that they went to church four times a month or more prior to the lockdowns. However, this number fell to 26% in spring 2022.<\/p>\n<p>According to statistics, the proportion of the population who don&#8217;t attend worship services has also increased from 25% to 33% between 2020 and 2022. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.americansurveycenter.org\/research\/faith-after-the-pandemic-how-covid-19-changed-american-religion\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Research<\/a> From the American Enterprise Institute and University of Chicago<\/p>\n<p>Even as George Floyd died and leftist activism swept the country, Christians began to reject biblical teachings on social issues. The most recent biennial State of Theology <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/news\/from-the-inspiration-of-scripture-to-gender-identity-evangelicalism-sees-a-massive-leftward-shift\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Survey<\/a> According to Ligonier Ministries, the percentage of evangelicals who believe was a staggering 65%. \u201cgender identity is a matter of choice\u201d Between 2020 and 2022 the percentage of people who believe increased from 22% to 37%, while the share who do not believe decreased by 20% to 11%. \u201cthe Bible\u2019s condemnation of homosexual behavior doesn\u2019t apply today\u201d From 11% to 28%, more than doubled\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Theological convictions that were held by the church&#8217;s founders, the evangelical movement, began to be rejected by those who profess them. A survey by Ligonier Ministries found that 15% of respondents believed this. \u201cthe Bible, like all sacred writings, contains helpful accounts of ancient myths but is not literally true\u201d The figure rose to 26% in 2020 and to 26% in 2022, which shows a rapid decline of commitment to the inspiration, authority, and authenticity of Scripture.<\/p>\n<p>While millions of churchgoers were lost, some redirected their priorities to seek membership in churches that would maintain a strong commitment to doctrine and fidelity in a volatile cultural moment. One such congregation was Grace Community Church in Sun Valley, California, where Pastor John MacArthur peacefully resisted the state\u2019s lockdown orders and reopened services. Later, the church was reopened. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/news\/l-a-county-to-pay-400000-to-john-macarthurs-grace-community-church\">You won<\/a> A lawsuit against the state government has been filed \u201cadded hundreds of new members every month\u201d for nearly three years, according to Pastor Phil Johnson, who works as executive director of Grace to You, the church\u2019s teaching ministry.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNumerous Southern California churches stayed closed for months even after retail stores and other businesses had reopened, and people who were frustrated with the closures, starved for fellowship,\u201d Johnson told The Daily Wire that Johnson had also mentioned this to him, adding that \u201clots of people from other churches came\u201d When they heard about Grace Community Church in the news. \u201cWe received a large influx of new attendees, starting shortly after we resumed regular services in 2020. It seems most of those people have stayed, and many of them have become members.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Pastor Josh Buice of Pray\u2019s Mill Baptist Church in Douglasville, Georgia, noted in an <a href=\"https:\/\/g3min.org\/12-years-later\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Article<\/a> According to The Daily Wire, his first few years as the leader of the congregation saw a decline in numbers as he implemented reforms. The paradoxical result was that the trend reversed itself after lockdowns inflicted on the nation. \u201cWhile many churches struggled to survive, we started to see a steady numerical growth,\u201d He wrote. \u201cDuring the last two years, we have added more new members than any recorded two year time period of our church\u2019s history.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The article ends with a recommendation for ministers to be patient and obey the Lord&#8217;s call as He builds the church regardless of whether the congregation has more or less members. \u201cTo the pastor who is faithfully serving God and seeking to obey the Scriptures as a faithful pastor, just remember that God sees your faithful labor and knows the needs you have personally and corporately,\u201d He went on. \u201cContinue to be steadfast in the faith and the Lord will remain faithful.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The first pages of the New Testament open with John the Baptist likening the ministry of Jesus Christ to the work of a winnowing fork: a tool used by farmers to toss stalks of grain into the air, separating the wheat that would fall to the ground and collected into the farmer\u2019s barn from the &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":99,"featured_media":1840830,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[541],"tags":[13904,18131,5643,6837,17848,18132,18130],"class_list":["post-1840827","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-daily-wire","tag-attendance","tag-chaff","tag-church","tag-evangelical","tag-post-mortem","tag-three-year","tag-wheat"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1840827","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/99"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1840827"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1840827\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1840830"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1840827"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1840827"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1840827"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}