A friend of mine, who recently moved to Livingston, pointed out an interesting statistic to me. In Livingston 28.4% of people claim to be affiliated with a religious group of some kind. That is an interesting statistic in and of itself; but when paired with the statistic right next to it, the statistic is profound. In the United States 50.2% of people when asked the same question claim to be affiliated with some kind of religious group. That means in Livingston there are almost only half as many people claiming to be part of a religious group as in the rest of the country.
http://www.city-data.com/city/Livingston-Montana.html
You might read that statistic and become incredibly depressed. Or you might read that statistic and become incredibly excited. What a great opportunity for us to share good news and be the kind of community of faith other people might want to be a part of. I believe a couple of things about this number. Statistics are not always a perfect picture. But they do give us a snapshot of our community. When people all over the country are asked the same question, Livingston answers it 22% differently. At the very least we can confidently say that less people in Livingston are affiliated with religious groups than in the rest of the country. Since we are a religious group, we should pay attention to this fact. Why are less people here associated with religious groups? Is it the people here? Is it our history? Is it the religious groups that are now or have been in the past part of our community? What is it that makes a Livingstonian less likely to identify themselves as a part of a religious group?
The answer is that probably all of these things and more influence people’s decisions. We are a rugged lot, hardened by the wind in the winter and smoke in the summer. That may be part of why we aren’t part of religious groups, because we might perceive we can make it on our own. Maybe it is part of our history; many towns
in the Midwest were settled by religious groups for religious purposes. They traveled together and after their homes they built churches. Across the south and Midwest churches are located on Main and First street. That was not as true in the west, we moved here for gold and land; survival was tough. Churches came later; they are more often located on Second or Third Street, but not usually on Main. Religion came to the west as an afterthought. Maybe it is the religious groups that were here before us; we all know Livingston’s more recent history with a cult that was highly influential. I’ve met several people in recent years who were once a part of that and, “will never try church again.” Maybe it is us. Maybe religious groups like us haven’t done enough to tell people about the good things they can experience when they become part of a religious group. We wish they would come into our church doors, but we fail to invite them or tell them what’s inside. Maybe we’ve spent too much time pointing out our differences, and not enough time describing our similarities.
I’d like us to change all that. I would like it to start with our own church. I don’t know that we as a church can change the number by 22%. But I bet we could change it by 4%, maybe even 5%. And I bet if we did it with grace and kindness, other churches might see some growth too. Church growth isn’t a competition. We are all on the same team. We have already taken some major steps toward making the number change. In fact we have already moved it 1%. That’s right. The survey counts about 7,000 people in Livingston and our average Sunday morning attendance has been about 70 for the last quarter. Therefore, since we started a contemporary worship service, we have changed that number 1%. Members of Livingston Congregational who have been around for a while deserve all the credit for that. We are well on our way. We have the right people; they are kind, with good hearts and willingness to do whatever it takes to see people know Jesus. They pray a lot, for each other and for the world around them. They are honest about their shortcomings, and gracious about the shortcomings of others. They are willing to work through conflict and have learned that loving Jesus is the only way to an abundant life. We can’t change the number overnight. It will take time and a lot of hard work. We will have to change some things we are doing now. We will need more seats and more workers. We might have to start another service. We might all have to give up something that we hold dear to our hearts. Changing our name will help. When we become Living Hope Church people will no longer stumble over the name Congregational. I believe they will be encouraged and feel welcomed to join us because of the name and then because of the people inside. We will have to streamline our processes and give people more freedom to minister as they are called to by God. These and many more changes will be necessary and maybe difficult. But the blessings of following Jesus’ command to make disciples will far outweigh any discomfort we might feel because of change.
Maybe in a few years when the survey comes around again the number will be changed. Maybe next time we will be caught up with or ahead of the national average. It is important, not because we want people to be affiliated with a religious group, and not because we want to win some competition. It is important because we want people to know Jesus. It is important because the eternal destiny of our friends and neighbors is at stake. Knowing Jesus is the path to a better life for you and your family. And knowing Jesus is the only way to secure eternal life. Knowing Jesus is the only way to have our sins forgiven and to live a life in His eternal kingdom. Consequently, it is worth it for us to make changes in our hearts and in our church. We are ready to do it and with God on our side we can.
