{"id":1960,"date":"2009-04-04T21:56:46","date_gmt":"2009-04-05T01:56:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\/blog\/?p=1960"},"modified":"2026-08-28T14:15:04","modified_gmt":"2026-08-28T21:15:04","slug":"are-christians-driving-church-numbers-down","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\/blog\/are-christians-driving-church-numbers-down\/","title":{"rendered":"ARE CHRISTIANS DRIVING CHURCH NUMBERS DOWN"},"content":{"rendered":"
by Paul Proctor (News with Views)<\/p>\n
The reports are everywhere now about the declining numbers of church members and baptisms \u2013 especially among Southern Baptists; so much so that church leaders address it at almost every opportunity as if attempting to somehow spark a zeal in remaining members like a coach might do in the locker room of a losing team at halftime.<\/span><\/p>\n
Everyone is trying to figure out what\u2019s wrong.<\/span><\/p>\n
This might come as a shock to many, but I would suggest that the answer here might just be nothing is wrong<\/em> \u2013 that those declining numbers that are troubling the pulpits of American churches right now may well be God\u2019s will<\/em> being carried out by His own being called out<\/em> of a growing apostasy flourishing within them.<\/span><\/p>\n
In no way am I condemning all established churches and religious institutions \u2013 so don\u2019t misquote me or suggest to anyone that that<\/em> is what I am doing here. It is not. I am only pointing to another exodus obviously underway and the largely overlooked reasons for it.<\/span><\/p>\n
Being the recipient of untold numbers of emails over the years from heartbroken readers who have left or been thrown out of their churches for taking a biblical stand on important issues has given me a perspective that many pulpiteers and pew warmers are not privy to. It is, unfortunately, the view of the majority that those who don\u2019t run with the majority are backsliders. Click here to continue.<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"