Changing Church of Christ!

[longdistancerunner]

I never thought I would see it, however I went to my brothers CoC for Xmas and was shocked to see a band had replaced their praise singers (my mothers traditional CoC is very opposed to praise singers, I am not sure why, maybe is is because they have women on the stage). I went to their website and heard some of their explanations for doing it, basically they just wanted to. They still have a traditional service without IM for the people who want it, but not many attend that. The minister used some scripture about harps and so forth, which I thought was a bit disingenuous. I also went to the website of some CoC's in Texas and listened to their services and heard women reading the scripture for the service. I never imagined anything like this would happen and wonder if there are any discussions with traditional CoC's about disfellowshipping these people?

[zeek]

What we knew as the "traditional" coC is vanishing at a pretty good clip. I'd give it maybe another 25 years and there will be few if any groups calling themselves coC that we would recognize from our experience with that name. The reality is that it is either evolve or go extinct. Those who refuse to change will simply cease to be. The same is happening to ultra conservative denominational churches such as the SBC. They are so out of step with the culture that they either have to change or disappear.

[Shane R]

What we knew as the "traditional" coC is vanishing at a pretty good clip. I'd give it maybe another 25 years and there will be few if any groups calling themselves coC that we would recognize from our experience with that name. The reality is that it is either evolve or go extinct.

Truth. I was speaking to my mother last night and she told me they no longer have Sunday school. No one wants it. They have 1 service in the morning; no Sunday school and no evening. There is Wednesday night Bible study but the attendance is single digits. Her church is on the go extinct path. And good riddance to it. No one has known it was a church in nearly 30 years.

[longdistancerunner]

What we knew as the "traditional" coC is vanishing at a pretty good clip. I'd give it maybe another 25 years and there will be few if any groups calling themselves coC that we would recognize from our experience with that name. The reality is that it is either evolve or go extinct. Those who refuse to change will simply cease to be. The same is happening to ultra conservative denominational churches such as the SBC. They are so out of step with the culture that they either have to change or disappear.

I don't think they will disappear in rural areas. Just look at Primitive Baptists which is even a more arcane group than the CoC. There are still plenty of them in the rural areas of the South but you see none in cities generally.

[zeek]

What we knew as the "traditional" coC is vanishing at a pretty good clip. I'd give it maybe another 25 years and there will be few if any groups calling themselves coC that we would recognize from our experience with that name. The reality is that it is either evolve or go extinct. Those who refuse to change will simply cease to be. The same is happening to ultra conservative denominational churches such as the SBC. They are so out of step with the culture that they either have to change or disappear.

I don't think they will disappear in rural areas. Just look at Primitive Baptists which is even a more arcane group than the CoC. There are still plenty of them in the rural areas of the South but you see none in cities generally.

I live in a rural area, I know of at least a half dozen congregations that were in the range of 100 people attending on Sunday mornings 25 years ago that are now in the teens on a good Sunday and this area has been, historically, considered the Mecca of main stream coC churches.

[B.H.]

Lol Zeek. They are going down fast.

[agricola]

My old (and formerly quite large) coc is down to ten elders and 44 deacons.

A decade ago it was around 40 elders and over 100 deacons. They don't report congregational numbers any more, HOWEVER, I note they are down to ONE Sunday morning service - and there used to be TWO.
But there are still Sunday night and Wednesday night services, and also special ones in French and another in Spanish (same time as regular morning service, just in different rooms).

Where do they get enough French speakers in Nashville? Can't be from France. What am I missing? I thought immigrants were mostly Hispanics and a lot of Koreans or something.

[zeek]

Where do they get enough French speakers in Nashville? Can't be from France. What am I missing? I thought immigrants were mostly Hispanics and a lot of Koreans or something.

There is a fairly large Laotian community in Nashville. Most of them speak French. I knew a Laotian refugee a lifetime ago who was a coC minister and he had a pretty huge following of other refugees around Nashville and moved them from large congregation to large congregation as they would grow tired of supporting him and his flock. Sadly, most congregations are more concerned with dollars in the plate than they are butts in the pews. Poor refugees don't bring much to the table materially... Last I heard of him though he had become affiliated with some "denomination".

Agricola, the old timers from your old congregation would just be mortified to know what it has come down to. They were a pretty arrogant lot back in the day and were second in size in Nashville, only behind Ira North and the Madison congregation and would tell you so in a hot second. Proud folks back then.

[agricola]

Where do they get enough French speakers in Nashville? Can't be from France. What am I missing? I thought immigrants were mostly Hispanics and a lot of Koreans or something.

There is a fairly large Laotian community in Nashville. Most of them speak French. I knew a Laotian refugee a lifetime ago who was a coC minister and he had a pretty huge following of other refugees around Nashville and moved them from large congregation to large congregation as they would grow tired of supporting him and his flock. Sadly, most congregations are more concerned with dollars in the plate than they are butts in the pews. Poor refugees don't bring much to the table materially... Last I heard of him though he had become affiliated with some "denomination".

Agricola, the old timers from your old congregation would just be mortified to know what it has come down to. They were a pretty arrogant lot back in the day and were second in size in Nashville, only behind Ira North and the Madison congregation and would tell you so in a hot second. Proud folks back then.

Indeed they would - heck, I'd say so myself! Is the Madison church still largest? My sister had her wedding there - our church auditorium was too SMALL for her 500 guests, six bridesmaids, six groomsmen and three ministers....I attended the wedding, but not the bride. She didn't come to my wedding (which had MAYBE fifty guests, but probably more like 30. I didn't count. BUT I DID have actual FOOD).

For my sister's reception, everybody got the classic CoC wedding treats: mixed nuts, pastel mints, and fruit punch, of course. The good kind, with sherbet.

[Ivy]

Yes!! Those scriptural cofc wedding "foods". They didn't vary. Did your sister have a cake?
Oh, and that punch...I knew it as "Snow on the Mountain" punch. Seven-up, ginger ale, pineapple juice (I think???) and rings of ice frozen with pineapple pieces. With globs of sherbet, whatever color to match the bride's colors. And the pineapple sherbet was the most popular. Actually, the punch wasn't too bad.

I would rather have gone to your wedding!! I bet it was way more fun.