Church Services

Unlike my childhood years, the people I know are not attending church services on a weekly basis anymore. Many no longer live in their old neighborhoods and haven’t bothered to renew religious affiliations in their new Parrishes. Still others simply have stopped going to church whatever their location. I believe that these people would like to join or rejoin the church. But they can’t justify doing so. They need the church to be more relevant that a common prayer facility. To that effect they’d like to institute some changes - but know full well that their voices wouldn’t be heard. In fact, wouldn’t be appreciated, nor even tolerated.	That said, according to the Statistical Abstract of the United States for Year 2000, “Church and Synagogue Attendance” has remained fairly constant over the past twenty years - at roughly 40 percent. I was surprised because I had thought that church attendance was on the decline - and drastic decline at that. I find myself questioning this factoid from the Statistical Abstract. After all, it is based on what people “say” their religious practices are - in this case that they attend church services every week. Even if true though and the attendance percentage has remained steady, there are 60 percent out there who might join as well - if they had good reason.	The churches should consider a change in direction from their weekly “worship only” sessions because what I have found is that I can pray and meditate more powerfully at home and alone. I don’t need a middleman to convey my prayers or to talk with God. What I do need is for someone to explain and show me how religious beliefs apply to everyday life. Someone to help me become more caring and less judgemental. In short - a better man!
My ideal church service would consist of no more than fifteen minutes of ceremony at the beginning where the congregants reassert their faith, a middle thought provoking period, and a five minute closing ceremony at the end. The middle would be twenty minutes covering a current societal topic from a religious perspective. For Christians, this could be attempting to answer the “WWJD” question I see from time to time - “What Would Jesus Do?” Religion needs to be alive now - not living 2000 years in the past. It needs to be concerned less with our sex lives and reproduction and concerned more with the 99.9 percent of morality that applies to everything else.	Religion needs to have a voice on the major societal problems of today. There needs to be discussion on Overpopulation, Pollution, Poverty, Growth, Bilingualism, Morality on Television… The churches should take very public stands on these issues and bring them to the forefront each week at church. This doesn’t mean that the churches must have all the answers. It would be enough to reveal the problem, explore the causes, and ponder the future. Rather than hide from these issues the churches should meet them head on. Regarding Morality on Television, people could be challenged to watch questionable shows (I don’t mean	sexually graphic ones) and hear the minister’s point of view the following Sunday. People should understand that not every book or movie has a theme. These normally happen by accident or are added in the editing process. (The authors usually consider the theme to be no more than intellectual icing on the cake.) If there’s a satanic theme or other unsavory theme, the elements can be pointed out. With satanic involvement someone usually is taking a shortcut to gain at another’s expense. Point these injustices out. Make a lesson of them. Own the issues. Don’t just cry foul and act like a victim.
Ministers, and other people too, need to “think outside the box.” As an example take the issue of the Southern Flag flying over the capitals in some of our southern states. Black Leadership lobbies every couple of years that these flags be taken down because they’re a symbol of slavery. Supporters claim that the flag stands for the tradition of the good parts of the old South. If I were a black leader I’d take a different tactic.	I’d encourage blacks to embroider this flag on their clothes, include it on their letterheads, tattoo it on their bodies. Teens should wear it on their underwear. That way with the current “low rider baggy pants” fashion they’d be making a real statement instead of just exposing themselves. Get the picture? In a few short years, Blacks would “own” the symbol of the southern flag. The issue would dissolve into nothing.	Churches can confront issues head on too - and they should. But it requires sound argument as opposed to mandates issued from on high. If they’re confident about their positions, the churches should be willing to broadcast their views and challenge people to analyze the issues for themselves. With effective leadership, the result will be smarter and more moral people in the end - which benefits everyone.