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TechnoratiAnother notable step toward unity this year included the agreement between the World Alliance of Reformed Churches and the Reformed Ecumenical Council to unite to create a new global Reformed body representing more than 80 million Reformed Christians worldwide.
Leaders made the historic decision in October while attending the WARC’s executive committee meeting in Trinidad and Tobago after two days of in-depth discussions on the many aspects of the proposed merger.
8. More Efforts to Dispel Negative Church Stereotypes
Young Americans today are more skeptical and resistant to Christianity than were people of the same age just a decade ago, claimed a new study this year.
Negative perceptions toward the Christian faith have outweighed the positive as a growing percentage of younger Americans associate with a faith outside Christianity.
Only 16 percent of non-Christians aged 16 to 29 years old said they have a "good impression" of Christianity, according to a report released in September by The Barna Group. A decade ago, the vast majority of Americans outside the Christian faith, including young people, felt favorably toward Christianity’s role in society.
Criticism, furthermore, was not limited to young people outside the Christian faith. Half of young churchgoers said they perceive Christianity to be judgmental, hypocritical and too political. Also, one-third said it was old-fashioned and out of touch with reality.
Among other common impressions, 23 percent of young non-Christians said "Christianity is changed from what it used to be" and "Christianity in today's society no longer looks like Jesus." Young born-again Christians were just as likely to say the same (22 percent).
Young Christians largely criticized the church, saying it has made homosexuality a "bigger sin" than anything else and that the church has not helped them apply the biblical teaching on homosexuality to their friendships with gays and lesbians.
"I think for a long time, the church just hasn't known how to talk about homosexuality," commented Scott Davis director of Exodus Youth, part of the evangelical ministry Exodus International that deals with the issue of homosexuality. "They've been very uncomfortable with the topic.”
"So when they do talk about it, they tend to talk about just the moral side of whether it's right or wrong without any real understanding of where people are coming from – so it comes across as very harsh," he explained.
Exodus Youth is one of the several groups aiming to reverse a "disturbing" trend seen across churches and perceived widely by young Americans – that the Church is anti-homosexual.
Another group that is looking to change America’s negative church perceptions is the nation’s Baptists.
For the first time in more than 160 years, Baptists in North America will have a major convocation and differences of race, politics, or legalistic interpretations of the Scriptures will not threaten their unity, according to former president Jimmy Carter.
Leaders from more than 30 Baptist organizations are expected to join the historic effort, called the New Baptist Covenant, which was announced at the annual North American Baptist Fellowship meeting last January. Continue »
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