Our decline is about more
than what pastors believe

The dramatic membership loss of The United Methodist Church is a function of many forces and factors. Begging to differ with one opinion recently stated on this page (“How would bishops answer these questions about UMC?” March 24), I believe that liberal theology is among the least of our problems.
Any theology–liberal or conservative–that moves toward the extreme contributes to membership loss. At its best, liberal theology gives us compassion, tolerance, inclusiveness and a social conscience. At its weakest, out on the edge, it gives us fuzzy definitions of faith, indifference to what people believe, intellectual elitism and complacency toward the task of reaching people for Christ.
Likewise, conservative theology at its best gives us a clear core of faith and doctrine, deep compassion for the lost, and a strong sense of personal faith and piety. Conservative theology out on the edge becomes absolutist, judgmental, blindly nationalistic and intolerant of honest differences of opinion. It paints everything as black or white, ignoring or denying the many shades of gray.
Our church needs liberal and conservative theologies in dynamic tension. I don’t want a church that doesn’t care what I believe, and neither do I want a church that dictates what I must believe and assent to. So each theology can learn from the other, hold each other accountable and prevent the other from drifting too far toward the unhealthy extreme.
But our denominational decline is about much more than what our pastors teach and believe. Our decline is a function of social, demographic and cultural changes to which we failed to adapt.
Our decline is about a cumbersome bureaucracy that rewards the status quo, resists creativity and measures growth in terms of dollars collected rather than people gained.
Much of our decline is not about pastors at all but more about church members and leaders who devote their energy to keeping things the way they are, substituting the traditions of men for the will of God even in the face of a declining, aging membership.
Our membership loss is a tragic and complicated issue that goes far beyond the theology of our pastors. Our Wesleyan/Methodist heritage is too rich and our spirit too contagious to refuse to look deeply and honestly into all the factors that have contributed to our steep decline.
We need to face some painful facts, repent, be willing to change and seek fresh remedies that will restore our great church to health and strength.