We are not alone. . .

For sometime now I have lamented the lack of a vibrant Lutheran presence in the Lutherland of Germany and specifically within the towns and cities associated with the Reformer.  This is typical of the times, to be sure, and in that we are not alone.  Consider this:

The [Roman] Catholic Church in Germany is facing an unprecedented crisis, with more than half a million baptized [Roman] Catholics leaving the Church in 2022, according to figures released by the German Bishops’ Conference on June 28.

This marks the highest number of departures ever recorded, with 522,821 people choosing to leave the Church, according to CNA Deutsch, CNA’s German-language partner news agency.

The total number of departures, including deaths, exceeded 708,000, a stark contrast to the 155,173 baptisms and 1,447 new members recorded during the same period. The figures reveal a historic negative trend, with the number of departures doubling from over 270,000 in 2020 to the current record.

It is literally like killing off a couple of Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synods a year.  Already attendance at Mass was abysmal.  Not to mention the dismal numbers of seminarians.  About the only thing the Roman Catholic Church in Germany has going for it is money -- billions of euros dutifully collected on its behalf by the German government.  The same is true for the Evangelical Church in Germany (EKD).  Rich in everything except faith and committed to everything except orthodox and Christian doctrine seems to be the state of things in Germany.  A telling figure is that the number of deaths is roughly ten times the number of new converts (excluding baptismal numbers).  Ouch.  There are congregations in the US that take in that many in a year!  

Mass attendance and church attendance overall in Germany is way down.  Of course, they are working on synodality to deal with just this urgency -- oh, wait, that is not on the agenda.  Instead, a great of talk on how the Roman Catholic Church should mirror the culture around them better.  Yup, that is what they need.  Just to be fair, we are not doing much better.  That said, it is a little harder to ditch church membership in Germany than it is to get off the rolls of an American congregation.  So the masses are working very hard to get out of the Roman Catholic Church (and the Evangelical one) -- how is looking and acting like culture working out for you?  It sounds like they are all walking together -- walking together off a cliff.