The Decline Membership

Because of my job, I get to travel to different parts of our country, which also means that I get to visit different Lutheran churches - that is if I have to stay over the weekend. In my very brief time spent in these different Lutheran churches in the ELCA, I hear a common grunt of displeasure and uneasiness. The displeasure arises from the recent vote of the ELCA to openly accept homosexuals and lesbians in the office of Word and Sacraments; the uneasiness arises from the fact that a good number of churches are leaving the ELCA. Nothing alarming but at the same time the numbers aren't to be taken lightly either. Now those grunts of displeasure and uneasiness could be understandable if our current decline in membership could be directly attributed to our current stance on human sexuality. Those grunts of dissatisfaction could also be understandable if our current decline in membership could be directly attributed to the so-called "liberal" agenda.

Now it is true that the ELCA lost members because of our more "open" and "welcoming" stance on human sexuality, but to say that our current stance is the sole reason for our decline in membership is an inaccurate portrait of the ELCA - and to attribute our decline solely on the so-called "left" agenda is really to vilify those on the left. Those in the left are no more righteous than those in the right; and those in the right are no more biblical than those in the left. As the ELCA reported since 1987, the ELCA has only two years of growth, and even those two years are debatable if we look at the data much more closely. The ELCA has been loosing members long before the take over from the so-called "liberal" agenda. The real reason in our decline is much more to do with our birth rate, particularly white birth rate in this country. There is no longer a high numbers of Germans and Northern Europeans immigrants coming to this country - and even those who are coming aren't Lutherans. Also, in light of our demographic make up, the ELCA is close to 97 percent white - in the early 70s, the Lutheran tradition was close to 99 percent white - which means that our current white birth rate in the ELCA can't support any numerical growth if we are solely to depend on birth rate and immigration as we have been depending on for a very long time.

God has nothing to do with our decline, it is solely mathematics. If the number of birth given by white people decrease, the number of membership in a 97 percent white denomination also decrease. This is elementary math. There aren't enough white people to go around for the ELCA to grow. Thus, we can either demand our members to birth more white children, as some white-racist fearmongering do, or we can truly be a church that has been baptized into one body, one faith, one Spirit, one Lord, and one God. To do this, the ELCA must shed our "gringo" preference in theology and in leadership. Too many of our leaders look like me, white, we need more diverse leaders in our churches and Synods. Too few people of colors are serving in the office of Word and Sacrament. And, honestly, how can one of the largest congregation in the ELCA not have one person of color as a pastor? Okay, I am not sure if Mount Olive Lutheran Church is in the ELCA, but if they are still part of the ELCA, then we must seriously wonder how can this church not have any minority in their pastoral staff? Are you seriously telling me that there is no minority where this church is located? This is a common issue throughout many of our largest churches in the ELCA, yes, there are few expectations but those expectations aren't enough to make any difference in our current trend.

We are making some progress in our Hispanic outreach missions. But, we are also ignoring many people of colors already in our system awaiting first call in the office of Word and Sacraments. I know of three who have been waiting for a very long time for their first call. I also know two minorities, who aren't Hispanic, that left the ELCA because there were no churches for them to minister after three years. Both of them have gone to the UMC and they are currently serving churches (they waited less than a year). If the ELCA is serious about making the ELCA much more diverse, the ELCA must seriously address the current lack of diversity in its leadership office. We must stop complaining and mourning the loss of members in the ELCA for the days of growth through birth and immigration is no longer viable, and thank goodness for that, the ELCA must reach out beyond its "gringo" preference and go to the borderlines, where Jesus himself spent most of his time ministering. The face of our leaders must also reflect the diversity we find in our country. Too many of our leaders in our churches and the bishops in our Synods look like me, a white-male. The leaders of our churches, the bishops of our Synods, and our current Bishop need to do more to challenge the silent racism plaguing our community. The decline in membership will most likely continue, even if we are more diverse, but keep in mind that the Gospel is much more offensive than many churchgoers assume to be and also we must keep in mind that the-power-that-be crucified Jesus for his political message of God's Kingdom breaking in? The offensive nature of the Gospel has been replace to the simple conviction of personal sin in need of salvation to escape eternal damnation. There is nothing offensive, nothing challenging the-power-that-be, because it is all about personal-private reality that has no demands to change public-reality as Jesus did with his ministry of words and deeds. It doesn't shake the-power-that-be because it doesn't confront the systematic evil in our political-economical system. The Gospel does confront and that message is very treating to the-power-that-be because the Gospel has a truly and completely radical political-economical system that would upset both the Right, the Left, and the Centrist.

Addressing the lack of diversity in our denomination does not mean that the ELCA will grow numerically. But numerical growth is not the reason to address the issue of race and sex. We are to tackle these issues because they are human issues and we are human beings. The ELCA can't keep on tiptoeing around critical human issues. Thus, we must do something about our lack of diversity in our churches.