By FRANK REMKIEWICZ

Columnist

Do you remember being 15 and dying to “grow up?” or perhaps being 24 and trying to figure out “when is my life really going to start? Well, “be careful what you wish for.” I looked in the mirror the other day and saw a bit of a stranger. I really did not recognize this 75-year-old with short gray hair, slightly stooped, slightly larger belly. It was not long before the man I saw was 35 years old, with longer brown wavy hair that looked like a battle-hardened Marine.

My, my, my, how times have changed. We have changed, your friends and family have changed. And our churches have changed. Attendance at churches peaked in 1962 with the Cuban Missile Crisis and again right after 9/11. The question our parents raised on Sunday, “Do you want to go to church with us?”, was merely rhetorical. That meant get ready, we’re going to church. Most churches had at least two packed worship services, and several had as many as four or five.

I would guess that the number of church buildings today is the same as 20 years ago; however, the number of services in those buildings has dwindled to one or two. The number of people attending those worship services is alarmingly low. Regardless of denomination, our evangelizing programs are, at best, unsuccessful, if not abject failures. We have tried scripturally based programs and carrot-and-stick programs. Far too many families have children playing soccer, baseball, football, basketball, or some other child activity, which allows them to excuse missing worship; parents insist Sundays are “family time.” Commuters to and from the Bay Area spend their week driving hours at a time to their job. These same commuters then insist Sunday hours must be spent with the whole family going to a theme park, to the beach or mountains, or just on a picnic, mowing the lawn or cleaning the pool.

I have already written about the lack of substantial reasons for avoiding regular worship. I want to change up and talk about the cycle of change. The number of churches with an attendance of 20 or 30 at a single worship service. For most churches today, the number of people at the worship service is minimal.

In my former life, I was a public-school administrator responsible for predicting student enrollment. One of the many things I discovered was that student growth and decline were systemically natural and cyclical. With each new generation, a natural rise and fall begins at birth. Children are born, grow up, start school at age 4 or 5, and exit school sometime between 22 and 28 years old.

In several Pew Research surveys of religious attitudes and patterns across the country, attendance at worship services has declined markedly for all denominations and religions. In a new Pew Research study, the attendance decline has stabilized, that is, leveled off. That means that the people we regularly see each week at worship services will remain at or near their current attendance.

I believe we are at the point where, in the next few years, we will experience a religious revival akin to the early church’s breakout and growth from house or home worship attendance back to expanding our worship attendance by leaps and bounds. Doesn’t that sound exciting? It is, but we must first change our ways of evangelism. Here is what the Pew Research team found:

“Young adults are far less religious than older adults.

No recent birth cohort has become more religious as it has aged.

The “stickiness” of a religious upbringing seems to be declining: Compared with older people, fewer young adults who had a highly religious upbringing are still highly religious as adults.

The “stickiness” of a nonreligious upbringing seems to be rising.”

So, the answer to where to direct our evangelism is to renew our efforts in raising our children. Once again provide our children and grandchildren with a strong religious upbringing. We, as parents, need to draw out and enhance our children’s spirituality. Where do we start? Pew Research gives us a pretty straightforward place. A “majority of U.S. adults (55 percent) say that whether something is right or wrong often depends on the situation. Fewer than half say there are clear and absolute standards by which to decide whether something is right or wrong ...”

It seems that most Americans now believe that the time, place, people, and experience at that moment dictate right and wrong. Situational ethics is antithetical to Christian beliefs. Christian values are founded in, initially, the Ten Commandments. Then, scripturally, enhanced and enriched by the two great commandments given to us by Jesus Christ. You will worship the Lord, your God, with all your mind, heart, and soul. And love your neighbor as yourself. Jesus adds, “On these two commandments hang all the laws and the prophets.” To us Christians, the action we take regardless of time, place, people, and experience at that moment is dictated as right or wrong based on the immutable laws of God. As such, we must direct our evangelism as in reach. Focus on our families. We must immerse our families in Christian values. Those values are found in scripture, church history (whatever denomination you hold dear), and Christian action. Christian action is dictated by “love of God and love of our neighbor”. The way to reinforce, to provide the strength to meet the world as Christians, is to regularly attend a worship service, as a family!

Truth, good and evil, and right and wrong do not depend on any situation. Right and wrong “hangs” on worshiping God and loving your neighbor. These are not suggestions. Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the light”. If you believe in Christ, if you believe in God, there is no other way to determine right and wrong.

We are poised to create a renewed Christianity, and that renewal is found through our children and grandchildren. We simply need to teach and practice our Christian beliefs and practices exactly as they are found in the two great commandments given to us by Jesus Christ.

Francis (Frank) Remkiewicz is an area resident and contributes a monthly column focused primarily on faith and religion. He can be reached at fremkiewicz@gmail.com. Opinions expressed are those of the author.