Is she being unreasonable?

[Av0bo55]

My friend said that she thinks churches and religions becoming extinct and that no one will go to church in a few years once the older congregation is no longer around! I’m wondering if sibu and this is not the case! I am on the fence here I go to a few church groups and they have invited me to a few services which I did feel were a bit old fashioned and the average age was 60-70 and there were only a few young people like under 40 and maybe only five children!
Just wondering if this is now the case every where! Not looking for a is there/ isn’t there debate
Just whether going to church on a Sunday has been and gone?

My sister goes to a huge church which isn’t to my taste but is predominantly younger people. It’s massive with 100s of congregants and, even though I’m not hugely into it, they do wonderful inclusive services and outreach services. They are in the process of building a new church as their old site can’t hold enough people.

My friend is involved in youth Catholic services and the retreat that they do every year for under 20s is very well attended and they have to limit numbers.

Having said all that though, I’ve noticed that the ministers/priests involved are very charismatic and perhaps not as traditional as I’m used to.

I went to our local CofE church as I was told it was necessary for getting the kids into the high school. I was shocked at how long the service was, and I didn’t realise they did the old wafer and wine.
I think that if they want young people to attend they need to think about having a service that’s shorter and more upbeat.
Perhaps different services for different needs.

YABU.
Churches in the local area are buzzing community hubs, many church school, lost going on for all age groups. Where else, in this day and age, do you get people of different ages doing things together as a community? Many churches are very hot on environmental and social justice issues and quite contemporary in their approach. Sure there must be some stuffy old places but many offer amazing activities for children, which are relatively light on the whole Jesus side of things. Lots of politics but some genuine kindness too. I think churches, especially in cities, are gradually transforming and increasingly keeping with the times. Diversity is a huge topic too. Interesting times.

Ages and sizes of congratulations vary widely between churches, even withi the same area.

It will take longer than a few years, probably a few more generations at least!!

There are parts of the world where Christianity is thriving.

In the UK it is in long term decline outside particular communities. There are some evangelical type churches with a younger congregation, but it’s a tiny minority of people.

I honestly don't know many people who attend church these days, any who do are 60+ (apart from the odd one or two, who are going to get their children in to the local Catholic schools.) I've never really attended church, apart from school services and occasionally with my grandmother when I was a child. I was only christened due to family pressure and neither of my children have set foot in a church unless it's been a wedding, funeral or christening.

Our village church is now only used for school Easter and Harvest assembly or we can hire it for parties. Even the bigger churches in the town only have one Sunday service, whereas 10 years ago they had 2 due to the amount attending.

I do think it's normal not to go to church. I work at the weekend and even if I didn't, I'd sooner spend my Sunday morning in my pyjamas, snuggling with my children watching movies than going to church.

Most churches I know do try to have a range of different types of service. If you go to Holy Communion then it will be traditional. If you want a more informal service then a family service or messy church might suit you better. It really is a question of shopping around and finding what suits you. Since COVID many churches now have online services, I'm now a member of two churches either side of the Atlantic, participating in both, doing Bible readings and joining in the chat afterwards, I go to the building for the UK one and use Zoom for the USA one. I do think church has to constantly change to suit the people of the time it is serving. I think we will see a reduction of traditional services, sitting in Victorian pews and these will be replaced by the churches which invest in technology and change the way they do things.

I'd imagine it very much depends on location. SIL is a vicar covering 4 or 5 rural churches and they are very much a hub of the community. Especially the church halls that are used for a lot of gatherings (exercise classes, curry nights, quiz nights, WI, jumble sales, etc)
Her Sunday service congregations are never full, but special events (nativity, Easter, Mother's Day) often get more people in to the point where 1 nativity service had to be held outside to allow for distancing.