What Can the Church Do Today About the Rise of Nones?
A “none” is a person reporting no religious affiliation. Nones are not atheists or agnostics. They may be spiritual but not religious. They may consider themselves secular people who choose not to participate in a religious community. They see religiosity primarily in terms of choice, and faith as a matter of preference.
Many churches tell me their attendance is not what it used to be. It is important for the church to not lose hope. We must continue to step out in faith and sow the seeds of love, grace and hope. Reinhold Niebuhr gave us sound advice for our church today and our response to “nones”: “God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.”
While about 30% of Americans no longer affiliate with religion, just 16% of Americans do not believe God exists. The issue is not that interest in spiritual matters has declined – it’s that people do not want to label themselves as Christian, Mormon, Muslim, Buddhist, etc.
People today like to have something “to hang their hat on.” When I pastored in Manassas, we started a food pantry. We started with a small crew and opened the food pantry for distribution on Saturday mornings. The longer we were open, the more people came to volunteer. People could come to our church and get groceries for the next week. They didn’t have to attend a worship service – they just had to have a need. We even offered Thanksgiving and Christmas meals, and people came by the hundreds. Many times we would need larger refrigerators or more money to operate, and the funding always came in. Today this ministry is still flourishing. People still show up to get their weekly food needs met.
At another location in the state we had a church running a clothes closet out of their attic. The ladies who ran it carried the clothing up the steps and endured the heat and cold. They needed more space, preferably where they didn’t have to carry everything to the attic and a place where they didn’t have to brave the heat and cold. We searched and searched for the right location, and one day decided we’d have to build it. One of our members donated six modular units. We put together a giant building on one floor that was heated and cooled. Churches began drives to stock this new building, and once more, people came in droves. Last month they gave away 12,000 diapers and served several hundred families.
The “nones” may not fill a pew in your church every Sunday, but they often need support, and the church needs to be there to help. I am amazed at how many volunteers working in these two projects who were once in need and then came back to help others. This is the story of what the church is all about. The “nones” in our community need to have a place to take up residence.
One of my favorite parables comes from Matthew where the farmer is trying to plant seed. Jesus wisely notes that some of the seed falls on ground where it cannot grow or even take root, while other seed finds fertile ground, takes root, and creates a beautiful harvest. This parable tells me that we of the church need to stop trying to control where the seed lands. The winds of secularization and polarization are swirling like never before. Many times a good portion of the seed will fall on rocky ground where it will never yield a harvest. It’s easy to look at the church and say we are losing members. It’s easy to wonder what will happen to the church as attendance and membership continue to decline. It’s easy to give up hope. Paul said to the church in Galatia: “So let us not grow weary in doing what is right, for we will reap at harvest time, if we do not give up.” (Galatians 6:9)
Seed that expresses the love and the grace and hope of Jesus is never truly lost. Don’t give up!
By the Rev. Tommy Herndon, Vice President of Legacy Giving and Stewardship Development
Images: Timon Studler, Aaron Doucett & Almani Qhizq, courtesy of Unsplash
