Church in Decline

It is so well documented that the mainline denominations in the UK are in decline that it would make no sense to suggest otherwise. However, I do think there are questions about what that decline really is and implies. On one hand, I think that a lot less people are willing to be nominally part of things and so there is a demonstrable decline that is not real. People who were not really part of the church are no longer shown to be so - nothing has really changed, despite the evidence that it has! On the other hand, it is also true that there is a strong interest in spirituality that does not necessarily manifest itself in commitment to the conventional church. People want to link to God, but not necessarily to the identifiable church. A third factor can also be brought into play, namely that people have a broader spectrum of interests, and so are more likely to miss church more often. The church needs to take its decline seriously, but I am not sure how worried to be about the rumours of the relatively imminent closure of certain denominations!