There was a time when the First United Methodist Church here was a hub of activity, with a booming school, regular church suppers, and worshipers who packed the pews of the white steepled building.
No more. The congregation has been dwindling for years and now is barely hanging on.
On a recent Sunday, just five worshipers gathered in the 300-seat church to pray at the 11 a.m. service. The Rev. Peggy Kieras sat alone by the grand wooden pulpit, cradling a remote control for the compact disc player that provides music for hymns, just underneath the towering pipes of the unused organ...
Although both Catholic and mainline Protestant denominations face falling attendance at worship, these different branches of the Christian family are taking radically different approaches to determining whether a congregation is viable, and who should decide what to do about a failing church. read the rest
frjimmy
Hi, Thanks for the interesting comments in your blog. I was born and brought up in a small simple Christian home who used our sitting room every Sunday morning together with a small community of Christians around to worship.
By the special grace of God this small worshipping house community over the years grew to the extent that an edifice was constructed on a property donated by my family.
Today that church has grown again and we are happily praising our God as the body of Christ. Out of this family a rev minister was ordained to the glory of God which is my humble self.
So God works in mysterious ways his wonders to perform, it’s just that "Christians" of our time are too busy with the things of this world and don't make time to go to church.
God bless
From the Gambia
West Africa