Falling Faster: Generosity and the Future of the Church

A real estate agent who specializes in selling church buildings popped up on my LinkedIn feed. Many churches are struggling. It’s easy to feel like the church is in free fall, as the photo of the skydivers illustrates.

The demographics of skydivers and church people differ dramatically though. Skydivers are younger, church people generally are not. Perhaps the church is better represented as the airplane people are jumping from, although in fairness, it’s probably the parents and grandparents of the skydivers who left the church. The fastest growing religious group in Canada is the “nones” as in “none of the above,” and that trend is accelerating.

Charitable giving numbers tell the same story: a small cohort of aging donors donates the most.

Webinar with Stuart Macdonald and Lori Guenther Reesor

Stuart Macdonald, Knox College Professor of Church and Society, literally wrote the book on this topic. I’ve quoted Leaving Christianity: Changing Allegiances in Canada since 1945 on this blog before. I’m excited to be doing a webinar with Stuart in a couple of weeks time. While we could spend an hour exploring how Stuart saw this all coming, we are going to instead focus on the question: how can the church be faithful in this context?

This webinar focuses on hopeful responses. “Do not be afraid,” the angels proclaim, and that is good stewardship advice. Generosity is a spiritual discipline like prayer. We don’t stop praying when times get tough. Instead, we often pray more. How can the church live out a grateful response to our generous and unchanging God?

This free webinar on February 23 at 11 a.m. EST is offered by Knox College: register here Knox College Alumni Seminars.

For some background reading, here are links to two earlier posts:

How many Canadians donate to charity

Will my church still be here? Nostalgia, hope and data

I’m looking forward to presenting with Stuart whose work I so admire. I hope many of you are able to join us on February 23. Here’s the link again: Knox College Alumni Seminars