A few thoughts about evangelization. . .

In the Church we are tempted to navel gaze in the same way -- to be preoccupied with what it takes to bring one convert through the door and then what it takes to keep that convert and on and on and on.   While most of it is worthless, it sometimes tells us something we did not know and we ought to know.  Like, for example, that the LCMS has one convert for every 44 members and that the majority of LCMS folk came as adult converts.  Surprised?  I get it.  We beat ourselves over the head at how bad we are at reaching out to new folks and then we find out we are not quite as bad as we thought.  The reality of this hits home when you find out LCMS folk have fewer children than most and tend to the gray side of the age spectrum.  The Mormons take only 40 members per convert but the Southern Baptists take 47.

It might surprise you further to note that Roman Catholicism has lost more members due to conversion to another religious tradition than any other church body. So some 13% of all U.S. adults are former Roman Catholics – people raised as Roman catholic but now claim either no religion or another church besides Roman (Protestant, mostly).  Only 2% of U.S. adults are converts to Catholicism – people raised in another faith.  So, get this, that means there are 6-7 folks who left Rome for every one who heads to Rome (at least in the US).

So what do we need to do to make sure our children and converts stay?  Well, we need to remember that most formation in the faith happens in the home, not in the congregation.  Simply practicing your own faith in the home is one of the most important things you can do.  Strong examples are key.  Find a church home and stay there (do not shop around) and frequent worship and Bible study.  In other words, it is not rocket science.  Practice the faith at home and at work.  Practice being in worship every week.  Practice opening the Scriptures and reading and studying them.  Take it seriously.  The more we do this in our families, the more our families will stay with the faith and in the Church.  The more we do this among our converts, the more those who come to the faith will remain there and in the Church.  Lets not make it harder than it needs to be.  At the same time, if we make becoming a member and staying a member too easy, then it obviously does not mean all that it is cracked up to be.

The problem?  Well, let me put it this way.  In a Bible class a long while ago I said that if the people did not believe that Lutheranism was the faith that reflected the Scriptures, why were they here?  In the course of that conversation, many folks said they were Lutheran because they were raised that way and they could not imagine what might cause someone not raised as a Lutheran to become one.  I was in shock.  In other words, religious affiliation was an accident of birth and not a matter of conviction.  Perhaps that might explain why our people do not share their faith and why their practice of the faith is without the kind of urgency and priority that impacts those watching them.

I am a Lutheran by conviction.  I expect that the folks in my parish are there for the same reason.  As a pastor, I presume this but that presumption does not keep me from talking about it over and over and over again.  The result of this is a relatively high number of converts from other faiths or none.   And we do it with a sung liturgy, full ceremonial, and a catholic expression of our Lutheranism.  Most of the folks are brought in by the folks in the pews or by the reputation of our parish.  Not many of them have ever experienced the Divine Service.  The seriousness with which we take the faith and teach the faith and preach it makes a difference.