Church Questions

Church Questions
“If recent trends in religious switching continue, Christians could makeup less than half of the U.S. population within a few decades.” -Pew Research Center

 Both data and experience tell us that we are living in a culture that is increasingly non-Christian. A 2020 Pew Research poll found that 64% of the American population was Christian. However, Pew estimates that by 2070, that percentage could shrink as low as 35%.

This decline in the percentage of the population that is familiar with the Christian faith has many implications. One such implication is that the church can no longer take an understanding of its language, traditions, and practices for granted. When the church speaks about holiness, sin, and redemption, unchurched visitors draw a blank. When children walk down the aisle with palm branches singing hosanna, unchurched visitors wonder what strange parade they’ve stumbled upon. When the pastor gets up to preach, unchurched visitors don’t know if they’re listening to a TED talk, a self-help seminar, or some type of strange lecture.

Questions about the church are not just limited to the unchurched. In fact, I’m often asked questions about the church that range from “do pastors only work on Sundays” to “why do we stop meeting for Wednesday night during the summer?”

My point is not that asking these questions is bad. My point is quite the opposite. The church and her leaders ought never to assume that people know what we’re doing, why we’re doing it, and why we do it the way we do. So, I’d like to answer any questions you have about church – whether it’s church at CPC or church in general. You can submit your questions via email or phone call to the church office, and I’ll answer a few (keeping the asker anonymous) each week until we’ve gotten through them all. I look forward to hearing from you!

Your Pastor and Friend,
John Knox Foster