{"id":1111,"date":"2013-10-29T16:05:00","date_gmt":"2013-10-29T16:05:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\/2013\/10\/why-nobody-wants-to-go-to-church-anymore-part-two.html"},"modified":"2013-10-29T16:05:00","modified_gmt":"2013-10-29T16:05:00","slug":"why-nobody-wants-to-go-to-church-anymore-part-two","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\/2013\/10\/why-nobody-wants-to-go-to-church-anymore-part-two.html","title":{"rendered":"Why Nobody Wants to Go to Church Anymore (Part Two)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>
Part One of this blog<\/a>\u00a0really struck a nerve. I tried to respond to comments until they began numbering in the hundreds. Virtually everyone has an opinion about why the Church is declining.<\/span><\/div>\n
Fundamentalist Christians think it\u2019s a sign the Church is being purged just before the Rapture and beginning of the end.<\/span><\/div>\n
Some atheists, and those really angry with the Church, just hope it will eventually disappear; sooner would be better.<\/span><\/div>\n
Both are wrong.<\/span><\/div>\n
The Church is not going away, my friend, either to meet Jesus in the clouds or to fulfill atheists\u2019 hopes. It is here to stay. It is clearly changing, however. And, it is declining, too. It is my own feeling we haven\u2019t seen the worst of it yet.<\/span><\/div>\n
Just as you are justifiably wary of Congress accurately monitoring or interpreting their own actions, be wary of what Church leaders and denominational experts say about what\u2019s happening in their house.<\/span><\/div>\n
Which means you should question my observations about the Church, too.<\/span><\/div>\n
I make several observations. None are necessarily right. But they do represent my thinking about why the Church is declining and what we, as the Church, might do to reverse it.\u00a0
Here are a few of my thoughts.<\/span><\/div>\n
Read the rest here<\/a><\/span><\/div>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Part One of this blog\u00a0really struck a nerve. I tried to respond to comments until they began numbering in the hundreds. Virtually everyone has an opinion about why the Church is declining. Fundamentalist Christians think it\u2019s a sign the Church is being purged just before the Rapture and beginning of the end. Some atheists, and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1111","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nWhy Nobody Wants to Go to Church Anymore (Part Two)<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Part One of this blog really struck a nerve. I tried to respond to comments until they began numbering in the hundreds. 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