Methodists Decline in England

David of VirtueOnline points us to a good article in the British TimesOnline on the continuing aging and decline of the English Methodist denomination.

The heart of the article states:

"Since several Methodist denominations united to form the British Methodist Church in 1932, membership has been in decline. In 1790, shortly before Wesley died, there were 57,000 Methodist members in Britain. By 1890 there were 726,000 members. A century later membership was down to 425,000, and by 2004 it had fallen sharply to below 300,000. Needless to say, the decline is worrying for Methodist leaders."

We've prevously noted here at CAS the decline of American mainline Protestant denominations, including the American branch of Methodism.

Stephen Plant, the author and a Methodist minister himself, writes one of the best "soundbites" on the decline. He writes:

"If the Methodist Church were to decline at the same rate in the coming decades as it has in the last, by 2040 Methodists in Britain would go the same way as Mohicans in North America."

While we commiserate with our Methodists brothers and sisters in England and around the world, CAS takes the longer strategic view and sees the decline of many Christian denominations as Christ healing the many schisms that have divided His One Church. We must decrease so that Christ may increase. Its an exciting age to be a Christian.

He must increase, but I must decrease.
John 3:30

Related Posts:
Catholics Exceed Methodists at SMU
Methodists Drop To 1820 Level
Pew and the U.S. Religious Landscape


Source: All the world can still be John Wesley’s parish

Catholics Exceed Methodists at SMU

The El Paso Times reported on an interesting outcome at Southern Methodist Seminary in Texas. It seems that Catholic students now outnumber Methodist students by about 200 students. The bumper crop of Catholic students comprise about 25% of the student population, which coincidentally is just slightly more than Catholic-sponsored University of Dallas, which has a 19% non-Catholic population. Catholics make up 81% of the student body at UD. Methodists make up about 25% of the 11,000 student body at SMU.

Personally, I would have thought this story would have been picked up and reported on across the Christian blogoshere, perhaps on a Methodist blog. Since it hasn't and we follow religious demographics, its here.


Related Posts:
Methodists Drop To 1820 Level
Pew and the U.S. Religious Landscape


Source: Survey says more Catholics than Methodists at SMU

Baptist Ministers Historically Unpaid

Recently, I began reading Religious Revolutionaries by Robert C. Fuller. Its a simplified history of religion in America. Fuller does an excellent job of simplifying and presenting the development of religion in America in an easy to read, yet logically organized manner. Best of all, the book includes little bits of American religious trivia, like the Pilgrims stealing food and crafts from local natives. One bit of trivia that surfaces in chapter 3, Sectarian Heyday, is:

"Baptists often paid their ministers nothing at all."

Well, you could have knocked me over with a feather. Living deep in the Baptist Bible Belt as I do and reading all the Baptist blog discussions on the proper selection and hiring of ministers, this long forgotten fact seemed almost like heresy. Baptist ministers were unpaid! Shocking!

Fuller informs us:

"Baptists and Methodists, on the other hand, relied upon clergy who were 'of the people.' They characteristically had little education, received little or no pay, and spoke in plain but forceful language."

Fuller follows a bit later with:

"Baptist ministers typically earned their living just like other members of the congregation six days a week and then voluntarily preached on the Sabbath."

Fuller then explains that this low overhead is what made the expansion of Baptists and Methodists through the frontier possible. I believe this has implications on the recent discussions among Baptists regarding their problem of declining baptisms and and shrinking membership. Just as a paid clergy was a drag on the early American Anglican and Congregationalist churches and led to their decline as majority denominations, so too the modern Baptist tradition of a paid clergy seems to be hampering Baptist evangelism and contributing to that denominations decline.

Personally, I have long seen a professional, paid clergy as somewhat unbiblical. Never in the New Testament do I ever find search committees, minister interviews, or mention of salaries. Nor do I ever find discussion of the same among the early Ante-Nicean Christians in the centuries that follow.

If any CAS readers are aware of any Baptist, or other Christian, apologetics for a paid clergy, please comment below. I particularly would be interested in the proof texts that support the modern Tradition of a paid clergy.

Source: Religious Revolutionaries

Methodists Drop To 1820 Level

The United Methodust Church has released their State of the Church report.

"The United Methodist presence in the United States today is the same as it was in 1820. And, if trends in aging and membership losses continue at their current rates, the church will shrink to its size at the time of the first Christmas Conference in 1784."

"United Methodist leaders have been struggling for decades to understand the gradual decline of the denomination's reach in the United States, where membership is almost 8 million, a decline of 19 percent since 1974. Forty-one percent of United Methodist churches in the United States did not report a single profession of faith in 2005."

Only 1 percent of the 34,892 United Methodist churches have a worship attendance of more than 500 people, and those larger congregations represent 20 percent of membership, 20 percent of attendance, 24 percent of professions of faith, 25 percent of youth, 26 percent of children and 29 percent of people of color.

Source: State of the Church

Apologetics - Perpetual Virginity of Mary

One of the reasons, there aren't daily updates to the CAS blog is that I devote considerable time responding to apologetic errors on other blogs. This morning, I discovered a well meaning Christian, who obviously spends much time dwelling in and on the Word, posting against the Christian doctrine of the Perpetual Virginity of Mary. Yes, I said Christian. The doctrine of the Perpetual Virginity of Mary is a universal Christian doctrine dating back to the earliest days of the Church. It is not uniquely Roman Catholic.

Our earnest brother (or sister) in Christ says "...we gather that Jesus had at least four brothers and some sisters from Mary, his mother! Mary was not a perpetual virgin." Our brother bases his arguement on Matthew 13:55 and Mark 6:3.

”Is not this the carpenter’s son? Is not his mother called Mary? and his brethren, James, and Joses, and Simon, and Judas?”
Matthew 13:55

“Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary, the brother of James, and Joses, and of Juda, and Simon? and are not his sisters here with us?”
Mark 6:3

Of these passages, our brother says; "The context alone provides plain evidence that Christ had actual blood brothers and sisters. The Catholic Church, however, denies the context." Does the Catholic Church deny that context? Absolutely! Not just the Catholic Church at Rome, but all the Eastern Catholic Churches as well.

Does any other Christian Church deny the context? Why yes, thank you for asking. All of the Orthodox Churches also deny the context and hold the Christian doctrine of the perpetual virginity of Mary.

Did any of the Reformers deny the context and hold the doctrine of the perpetual virginity of Mary? Yes, all of them did.

Luther wrote on the Virginity of Mary: "It is an article of faith that Mary is Mother of the Lord and still a virgin.(Weimer's The Works of Luther, English translation by Pelikan, Concordia, St. Louis, v. 11, pp. 319-320; v. 6. p. 510.)

John Calvin wrote of Mary's perpetual virginity: "Helvidius displayed excessive ignorance in concluding that Mary must have had many sons, because Christ's 'brothers' are sometimes mentioned." {Harmony of Matthew, Mark & Luke, sec. 39 (Geneva, 1562), vol. 2 / From Calvin's Commentaries, tr. William Pringle, Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1949, p.215; on Matthew 13:55}

Ulrich Zwingli wrote of Mary's perpetual virginity: "I firmly believe that Mary, according to the words of the gospel as a pure Virgin brought forth for us the Son of God and in childbirth and after childbirth forever remained a pure, intact Virgin." (Zwingli Opera, Corpus Reformatorum, Berlin, 1905, v. 1, p. 424.)

John Wesley wrote of Mary's perpetual virginity: "The Blessed Virgin Mary, who, as well after as when she brought him forth, continued a pure and unspotted virgin." (Wesley, Letter to a Roman Catholic, 1749)

Why do most of the world's Christians still continue to hold and teach the doctrine of the perpetual virginity of Mary? Because denial of the doctrine pulls the rug out from beneath the doctrine of the divinity of Christ. Islamic apologists, atheists, and cultists see the denial of Mary's perpetual virginity as the gateway to disproving the divinity of Christ. They argue, if Mary had seven children and these six are human, then the seventh is human as well. Therefore, Christianity is a sham as it is built on a lie. God is one and there is no Trinity. Allah Ahkbar!

The denial of the perpetual virginity of Mary was a heresy made popular by Helvidius during the early Christian Church. My favorite reply to Helvidius was made by the one man who surely knew the true context of Matthew 13:55 and Mark 6:3. Jerome. Yes, the very same Jerome who translated the Bible from Greek and knew the meaning of adelphos. Jerome's Against Helvidius is the classic apologetic for the doctrine of the perpetual virginity of Mary. Its a shame that more Christians have not read it. Our brother doesn't even mention Jerome in his apologetic for the heresy.

However, Jerome was not alone and apologies were written by: Athanasius (Alexandria, 293-373); Epiphanius (Palestine, 315?-403);Augustine (Numidia, now Algeria, 354-430); and Cyril (Alexandria, 376-444).

So how do we as modern day Christians follow Jerome, the early Church fathers, and the Reformers in responding to those mis-informed brothers and sisters (adelphos) that have rediscovered the error of Helvidius and now embrace a dangerous heresy? Bible believing Christians, knowing the inerrency of scripture, should respond with charity and kindness by focusing on these main points:

First it is important to note that the Bible does not say that these "brothers and sisters" of Jesus were children of Mary. Only Jesus is said to be the son of Mary.

Second, the word for brother (or sister), adelphos (adelpha) in Greek, denotes a brother or sister, or near kinsman. Our brother in Christ stated "In the Greek text, the word “brother” is adelphos, which literally means “from the womb,” indicating these are Christ’s brothers from His mother." But how is adelphos actually used in scripture?

In the Bible, the word adelphos is used for:
(1) male children of the same parents (Mt 1:2);
(2) male descendants of the same parents (Acts 7:23);
(3) male children of the same mother (Gal 1:19);
(4) people of the same nationality (Acts 3:17);
(5) any man, a neighbor (Lk 10:29);
(6) persons united by a common interest (Mt 5:47);
(7) persons united by a common calling (Rev 22:9);
(8) mankind (Mt 25:40);
(9) the disciples (Mt 23:8); and
(10) believers (Mt 23:8).
(From Vine's Expository Dictionary of Biblical Words, Thomas Nelson, Publisher.)

Third, a strong proof text against the Helvidian Heresy is John 19:26-27.

When Jesus therefore saw his mother, and the disciple standing by, whom he loved, he saith unto his mother, Woman, behold thy son! Then saith he to the disciple, Behold thy mother! And from that hour that disciple took her unto his own home.
John 19:26-27

Jesus, the perfect Jewish son and fulfiller of the Law of Moses, would not have violated Jewish law by giving his mother over to the care of John if Mary had any other children. Our brother may have overlooked John 19:26-27 or not connected the passage with Matthew 13:55 and Mark 6:3 since they are all in different books.

Many modern Christians in their zeal to disprove Catholicism are embracing dangerous heresies that our early Church fathers fought hard to extinguish. Christians must be careful to learn the history of Christianity and what doctrines have always been held by Christians. There are numerous collections of non-canonical writings by the earliest Christians available to us. I often use the Christian Classics Ethereal library collection. If you have not discovered this treasure of ante-Nicene Bible commentaries and "Sunday school" lessons, I encourage you to visit and read.

Source: Was Mary A Perpetual Virgin?

Protestants Following Trent On Easter

Did Spring start on Friday, March 21st? Are you or your Church celebrating Easter this year on Sunday, March 23rd? If so, then you and your church are following the Council of Trent. Although reknown for speaking against the Reformation, the Council of Trent also set the date for the start of Spring and determined the method for setting the date for Easter Sunday.

The original method for determining the date of Easter Sunday was established at the Council of Nicea in A.D. 325. The council decreed that Easter shall be observed on a Sunday, and on the Sunday following the first full moon after the Vernal (Spring) Equinox. This method was followed by all Christians, both Western and Eastern.

Regarding Trent, Andrew Tevington, assistant pastor at the United Methodist Church of the Servant in Oklahoma City, writes "For purposes of determining Easter's date, the Council of Trent decreed spring would always begin March 21."

So, if you rejoiced on the 21st of March that Spring had at long last finally arrived or if the morning of March 23rd found you worshipping on Ressurection Sunday, you did so because you follow the Council of Trent. You may not agree with all the the Council of Trent had to say, but on some of Trent, you do consent.

Oh, one other thing. That calendar on your desk or hanging on your wall. It's Gregorian. Named after Pope Gregory XIII who, after the Reformation, in 1582 ordered the advancement of the calendar by 10 days and introduced a new corrective device to curb further errors. America adopted the Gregorian calendar in 1752.

Source: Solar, lunar calendars alter holy days' timing

Pew and the U.S. Religious Landscape

Like most religious bloggers, I read numerous articles on the recent U.S. Religious Landscape Survey by The Pew Forum. I also dug into some of the underlying data and examined all the pertinent charts, graphs, and maps. While the press release is accurate and makes some "astonishing" claims, particularly in regards to the Catholic faith, I've noted some peculiarities as well.

1) "Evangelicals are the largest single group of American Christians (26.3 percent)." Not surprising as Appendix 2 states that Evangelicals consist of people from not less than 112 different Protestant sects. Also, this one big family of Evangelicals contains Seventh Day Adventists (Saturday sabbath), Southern baptists (Sunday sabbath), Oneness Pentacostals (non-Trinitarian, no sacraments) and Orthodox Anglican Church (Trinity, sacraments). Clearly a very distinct, homogenous group of Christians, don't you think?

2) "Catholics are the second largest group of Christians, representing roughly 24 percent of the population." As noted earlier, it takes 112 Protestant sects to equal Catholics. While the Pew survey broke down the various Protestant sects into specific sects of Baptists, Episcopalians, Methodists, etc., the Pew folks did not provide a similar breakdown for Catholics. Yes, Roman Catholics comprise the majority of U.S. Catholics, but it would have been nice to get some numbers on Byzantine Catholics, like Melkite Catholics and Chaldean Catholics. For example, the Iraq war has unsettled large numbers of Chaldean Catholics. It would be interesting to see if there has been any measureable influx of Chaldean Catholic refugees into the U.S. The Melkite Catholic Church has been growing in recent years; it would have been nice to know by how much.

3) "The Catholic Church has lost more members than any other religious group" Well, yeah. If more Americans are Catholic than any other Christian group, one would expect the Catholic Church to lose more members. What most news accounts seem to omit is the Catholic Church in the U.S. has a higher retention rate (68%) than Baptists (60%), Methodists and Pentacostals (47%) or any other major Protestant sect. Only Mormons and Jews retain a higher proportion of members than Catholics. Catholics are losing members? So what! Protestants are losing them faster and proportions matter.

4) "...this means roughly 10% of all Americans are former Catholics." So, if the Catholic Church can reclaim that 10%, then the U.S. population jumps to 35% Catholic? Interesting. More interesting was the bottom of page 4 in chapter 2 which stated "8.3% of the U.S. adult population was raised Baptist but is no longer Baptist, and 4.4% of the adult population was raised Methodist but has since moved away." 24 million is a lot of ex-Baptists. If the SBC could reclaim most of those ex-Baptists, the SBC could double in size. Ditto for the Methodists.

5) "These losses would have been even more pronounced were it not for the offsetting impact of immigration." Good to know that my family is offsetting Catholic losses. Both of my children are foreign-born immigrants, as are a brother and a sister. Everyone is a U.S. citizen by birth, but they are Catholic immigrants nonetheless. Just like great-grandfather who immigrated from Germany about 1870 and helped take the U.S. from 5% Catholic to 12% Catholic a few decades later.

6) "Although Latinos represent just one-in-eight U.S. Catholics age 70 and older (12%), they account for nearly half of all Catholics ages 18-29 (45%)." While I'm perfectly willing to accept that at least 57% of Latinos are Catholic, a Pew survey of Latinos in 2006 had 68% of Latinos as Catholic. While 10% of Latinos could have left the Catholic Church in the last year or two, its not very probable. To be fair, Pew conducted a follow-up survey for comparison in January 2008. This new poll confirmed that the “U.S. Religious Landscape Survey” had indeed underestimated Latino Catholic affiliation. So while the “U.S. Religious Landscape Survey” is one of the best sources of information on religion in the U.S., the Pew Forum does acknowledge that the survey undercounts Catholics.

Part of what makes blogs interesting to read is the opinions and insights of the blogger. What's my take? The Pew survey seems to confirm my hypothesis that Jesus is reunifying His Church. Mainline Protestant sects are rapidly declining. The Reformation seems to have lost it steam. The gravitas of the Catholic Church is attracting more and more people. The Pew survey states 2.6% of Americans are converts to the Catholic faith. Something big is occuring in the Catholic Church and the 21st century is poised to become the Catholic Century in American history.

Source: U.S. Religious Landscape Survey

Christianity in Eastern Kentucky

My apologies for the delay in posting lately. I've been on the road most of the past two weeks. Both for business and for pleasure. In the pursuit of pleasure, I spent a week driving to, through, and from eastern Kentucky with my father of 77 years. After many years of research by myself and others into the origins of my paternal ancestors, we discovered a rich history of pioneer life in the hills of Appalachia. Dad wanted to see the terrain and topography before departing this world for the next.

In my reading on area history, I had learned that Christianity entered Kentucky through settlers, mostly Episcopal, and the circuit riders, mostly Methodist. Thus, Kentucky began and eastern Kentucky remained a staunchly Protestant Christian territory. Driving along creeks and up over mountains seemed only to confirm the areas history. Numerous small white churches, usually Baptist or Church of God, dotted the landscapes. Larger towns might harbor a brick or stone Methodist church.

While exploring the bigger towns like Middlesboro, Pineville, Harlan, Prestonburg, and Salyersville, I was amazed to find Catholic churches. Not new catholic churches, but old Catholic churches. That had not been in my reading. Turns out that had I bothered to check with the Diocese of Lexington beforehand, I need not have been surprised. Nearly every community of size in eastern Kentucky has a Catholic Church.

Nonetheless, dad was very happy to have seen Stinking Creek, stood atop the Cumberland Gap, traversed the length of Martin's Fork, toured Prater's Fort, and visited Hazel Green, the alleged birthplace of his father. Dad also discovered that if one wants homestyle cooking one need only visit the closest Cracker Barrel restaurant. The national chains and Chinese buffets have taken over Appalachia. God bless and preserve Jerry's Restaurant in Prestonsburg. They at least offered a vegetable plate.

Source: The Roman Catholic Diocese of Lexington