Faith Reflection

Call me a cynic if you will, but we have been here before. 

We have watched our membership numbers decline. We have watched participation in church events decline. We have seen a few new faces drift in, and just when we begin to think of them as “ours,” they drift away.   

No one wants to see St. Mark’s quietly fade into memory. 

But… we have to face a couple of realities. 

In our area, other denominations dominate. According to 2020 statistics, there are 124 Southern Baptist churches in Robeson County.  Methodist, Pentecostal, and non-denominational churches follow with an average of around 25 congregations each. We are, and remain the only ELCA Lutheran congregation in Robeson County. 

In the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), as of late 2024/early 2025 data, it’s no surprise that membership is on the decline.

In a nutshell: 

Baptized members in the US has dropped to approximately 2.68 million in 8,386 congregations. 

In the North Carolina Synod, baptized membership dropped 19%, from 54,855 in 2017 to 44,298 in 2024. 

Active participation declined 18% since 2017, falling from 37,401 to 30,813. Between 2020 and 2024, active participation decreased by 14%.  

While in-person attendance declined 36% between 2017 (19,957) and 2024 (12,808), it has seen a 25% increase since 2020 (10,285). 

In 2024, approximately 7,916 people were attending worship online in addition to in-person numbers. In 2024, approximately 7,916 people were attending worship online in addition to in-person numbers. 

 More young adults, ages 18-35, say that they feel disconnected from the church. 

Participation in youth gatherings is approximately 40% of pre-pandemic levels.

The statistics speak for themselves. 

But we don’t need statistics to show us what we see in our own pews on Sunday mornings. So maybe the answer is not the pews. 

Small congregations that survive and thrive do so by stepping outside their comfort zones and trying new things. They make connections with their communities, the margins of their communities. They redefine what it means to be a congregation, to be church in the world. 

We have been here before. We come together, we discuss, we plan, we dream. But nothing happens. Nothing changes. And we continue to watch our own decline, our own quiet fade into memory. 

Dr. Phil McGraw is know for the phrase “Put verbs in your sentences.” It’s time for St. Mark’s to put verbs in ours.  It’s time to take some chances. To explore more than ideas. 

We have to start someplace. We have to do the work for the long haul. Because change doesn’t happen overnight and it has to happen from within. 

I don’t know what the answers are. Only God knows that. 

And we trust him to lead us there, just as he always has. 

And…