I have had the privilege this year of visiting a lot of churches, and I’ve found many of them are dominated by people my age and older. Sometimes, people from the church want to share with me about their church. Often, I’ve heard them say, “Our church needs young people. I just don’t know why we don’t have very many any more.”
Many of them have noticed that the attendance of their churches is not growing. Some are even willing to admit, at least to themselves, that the congregation is dwindling. Long-term members remember past glory days and wish for a return to those exciting times.
I think there is good news and bad news for congregations in this situation.
The bad news is that the old days will not return. You can’t turn the clock back in the church any more than you can turn it back in your family. We may long for the days when our grown children were small, but wishing will not make it so.
In the same way, we may want the church we had in the 1960s or 70s, but that church is gone. It’s the same place your son’s little league team is: in the past.
The good news is that God’s church is not in the past; His message and His love are the same, and your church can once again be vital and alive.
Just like new children are playing on the old ball diamond your kids played on, there is a new generation of adults that the church can reach for the Lord. When you drive by the kids’ ball field on a summer evening, you’ll see and hear the excitement of the children and their parents and realize that they’re experiencing the same fun and joy you did.
I believe it can be the same way at church. When young families find the Lord, they fill the church with the enthusiasm that many churches filled with senior citizens are missing.
It can happen! The church can again be an exciting place, but seniors have to want it to happen.
