As part of the recent “intentional” thrust in mainline churches (see above article), there is growing interest in planting new congregations.
The Christian Century (Aug. 23) reports that “Instead of trying to teach old churches new evangelistic tricks, more and more denominations are starting fresh by creating new churches to meet the special needs of ethnic or racial groups or to reach out to growing populations of young families in suburban and rural areas.”
While the number of people in the new congregations are small and are not likely to replace the millions who have dropped out of these churches since the 1970s, there does seem to be the growing sentiment that shoring up old and dying churches has not proved to be an effective strategy. Writer David Briggs reports that the new startups from the United Methodist Church and United Church of Christ in Ohio cover the spectrum — from the Liberation United Church of Christ serving a primarily gay membership to Imani and Buenas Nuevas churches serving black and Hispanic churchgoers.
