Churches and Reality Blindness

My first pastorate after seminary was in St. Petersburg, Florida. In my interviews with several of the lay leaders prior to my coming to the church, I noticed a recurring theme. When I would ask them about the health of the church, one word was repeated several times: stable.

I could not reconcile their perception of the church with the information they had sent me. The most recent year’s attendance was 118; seven years earlier the average attendance had been 191. In a relatively short period, attendance had declined 38 percent, but the common theme among the church members was that the church was “stable.”

The more I heard from the church, the greater my concern grew. The number of conversions in the congregation was almost nonexistent. Ministries had been discontinued. Biblical literacy and doctrinal awareness had declined. And the reputation of the church in the community had suffered. But the condition of the church, according to key laypersons, was “stable.” Read more

Reality blindness not only affects churches but also denominations, judicatories, and other parachurch organizations.