The Decline of Denominations: Blame it on the Boomers

 

It was during the mid-seventies and I was serving as DCE at a church in suburban Chicago.  It was a Saturday morning and I found myself in the office putting in some preparation for my Sunday morning Bible Class.  I knew there was a wedding at noon that day and I was in somewhat of a rush to get things done before the festivities started.  My teammate at the time was Pastor Bill Huener.  As I worked, I could hear Pastor Bill singing at the top of his lungs in his office.  I wondered why Bill was in such a good mood.  Bill typically was not excited about officiating a wedding.  He liked working with young couples, it was the family drama that irritated him.  Curiosity finally got the best of me so I asked, what was up.  “I have been on staff at this church for four years and this is the first time I have a Lutheran getting married to another Lutheran,” he replied.  I found that hard to believe and then reflected back on the three and half years we had worked together.  He was right. 

I bring this up because today’s young people get a lot of the blame when it comes to the decline in membership of not only the Lutheran Church but mainline denominations in general.  Across the board, mainline denominations from Baptist, to Methodist are losing members.  I am a member of the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod (LCMS).  Post World War II the LCMS was one of the fastest growing denominations in the country.  We were even featured on the Cover of Time Magazine in 1958.  Membership finally peaked at 2,8 million around 1970.  Today our church body is a little over half that size at 1,5 million.  We are also a “graying church,” with over 70% of the membership over the age of fifty.

The reality is mainline denominations are going away.  It is one of the topics in my soon to be released book Tear Down the Silos and Pitch a Tent.  In the book I survey the changes I see on the horizon for mainline denominations.  As I did my research, I discovered something interesting; we can blame the Baby Boomers, those born after WW II, for starting the decline. 

Prior to the 60’s young people tended to marry a partner who shared the same faith tradition.  In the case of the LCMS, the Walther League was an “in house” dating service.  If you couldn’t find a match in your church, there were almost endless possibilities at the zone rallies and national conventions.  The organization was basically dissolved in 1968, when the LCMS decided to go in a different direction in youth ministry.  It was at the Walther League national convention at Purdue University in 1968 that the Baby Boomers who made up the Walther League voted to disband. 

The generation born post W.W. II has always had a reputation for being rebellious.  Baby Boomers led the “peace movement” that called for an end to the War in Viet Nam.  We were also in the forefront when it came to the call for the end of racial injustice.  We were the first generation to question what our lifestyles were doing the environment.  I think we can add the challenge to the traditional denominational structure to that list.

We need to be mindful that denominations are “man-made” institutions.  The church is actuality are “the people of God.”  Our loyalty should never be toward a particular tradition.  We need to but rather toward the Savior who gave His life for us.  We are called to be His disciples.  That requires us to be people of grace, mercy and compassion in the communities and neighborhoods where we live.