Detroit - A Lesson for The Church

The City of Detroit is Bankrupt. No surprise. They have been bankrupt for years. The recent declaration merely seals the deal.

Organizations & Organisms, cities and churches, often conduct themselves like the proverbial ostrich. The signs, the objective metric indicators are glaring, screaming like a neon sign in Los Vegas. The response is "this may be true in other places but not here". If we ignore it, it will go away. WRONG!

Extreme you say? Consider the following data on the church in the USA.

* Every year more than 5,000 churches close their doors.

* Every year 2.7 - 3 million church members fall into inactivity (QUIT).

* From 1990-2000 the combined Protestant church membership declined by 9.5% while the population in the USA grew by 11%.

* Half of all churches in the USA did not add any new members in the past two years.

* In 1900 there were 27 churches per 10,000 population - in 2000 there were 11 churches for every 10,000 in the population.

* The USA now ranks third (3rd) following China & India in the number of people who ARE NOT professing Christians.

Detroit has lost its place as the auto manufacturing capital of the world. The church is rapidly losing her place as Salt & Light in the USA.

The signs are clear. The trend is undeniable. Will the church repent, act to see the trend-lines change? That remains to be seen but the time is NOW!