State of the Baptist Church: The Rise of the Non-Denominational Church

Summary

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"I believe we live in an era where people are not concerned about denominations, but about the ministry that's going on in the church," [Solomon Kinloch] said. "We're living in the generation of reality television. We are focused on the people that have given up on church or not going to anybody's church. We're marketing to people who may have never been to church in their life."

"The Baptist faith gave me discipline. Most people, when you say tradition, they think something bad," Kinloch said. "There are (still) some values (that never change) no matter how much the church changes, passed down from the Baptist church. We're just changing the wrapping so that it can capture the attention of those who don't know Him."

"The word tradition to me is living what's dead, and traditionalism is the dead speaking to the living," [Edgar L. Vann] said. "If we're following God that presupposes that He's in motion. If we're stuck in traditional ruts we're not in the move of God. To follow God in the 21st century presupposes that God is mobile, and we ought to be moving and progressive if we're following God."

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Extract

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State of the Baptist Church: The Rise of the Non-Denominational Church

Part two of a three-part series

Nearly every Baptist pastor interviewed for this series admitted that membership numbers among young people have been slipping.

This is due in part to worship styles, time, message, and the rise of other alternatives. One of those alternatives is the non-denominational church, which has steadily gained influence in the last 15 year...

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