Letters to the editor

Bringing troops home won’t solve problems
I share Ellen Berky’s frustration (“When will Witness share bishops’ antiwar statement?” July 28). When we watch the daily carnage in Iraq, where each day scores of innocent people die—mostly Muslim by Muslim—what kind of religion do they have?
We all want to end the war and bring our soldiers home, but the question is: What then? Does Ms. Berky think getting out will solve the problem?
More is at stake here than just getting out. Up to 1918 the so-called great European powers called the shots in the world—until they carved each other up in World War I. The U.S.A. got in and finished it.
I checked my history books but can’t find any mention of Methodist bishops saying in 1917, “Stop that war; it is un-Christian!”
In World War II the United States went in and finished the job against the Fascists and Imperial Japan.
In 1945 it was the Communists. Thank God we had no war, but the United States prevented the rest of the world from being gobbled up.
Now it’s the Muslims trying to control the world. The indiscriminate killing of innocent civilians is beyond our Christian understanding.
Do we want to go back to the days when Muslims blew up our embassies in Africa or nearly sank our destroyer, U.S.S. Cole? The struggle with the Muslims can take just as long as the Cold War. Because we stood firm, we won that one.
Anyone who thinks that by just bringing our troops home all will be well is naive and doesn’t live in the real world. We Christians wait for the new, perfect world described in Revelation 21.
H.K. Rahlfs
Fredericksburg

Texas membership figures reveal many great stories
Thanks for printing the Texas membership and attendance statistics (“Statewide UM membership falls in 2005,” July 14).  There are great stories behind each number since each number represents a soul created for eternity.
Take the New Mexico Conference’s worship attendance at 43.6 per-cent. It’s the best in the Texas/New Mexico area, just ahead of Southwest Texas. However, it may not be as good as it appears to be.
I did a 20-year analysis of the New Mexico Conference a few years ago. During that period it lost about 45 percent of its members while worship attendance remained fairly constant. I predicted that with the loss of another 10 to 15 percent of members, the average membership-to-worship ratio could settle in at 45 to 50 percent.
In Southwest Texas, it took 12 years of concentrated work by Claus H. Rohlfs and me to open our infrastructure for sustainable growth and move average members at worship from 33 percent to 43 percent.
Central Texas leads the way in new member growth but averages only 30 percent of members at worship, lowest in the state. Population growth leads the way. Churches take in members, but infrastructure there apparently doesn’t allow sustainable growth in worship attendance.
In time, the Central Texas membership number will peak and begin a long, slow decline.
The United Methodist Church has a strong appeal for 7 to 12 percent of the general Texas population. It is imperative that congregations assess their capacity for sustainable growth in worship attendance once every three years, or they will peak and decline without knowing the reason.
With J. Michael Lowry guiding the new church strategy and congregational development, Southwest Texas should be in good position to move forward with sustainable growth in worship attendance as well as in membership.
Jack D. Heacock
Bristol, Va.