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Page: Profile: Wren's Nest News Local
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Article: 14516
[Society]
Date Posted:
12/17/2005
9:11:52 am EST
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Views: 5,507
RSS: 21,376
Comments: 12
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Pastors and priests are facing ever more empty pews in 2006
Author: Eric Shackleton Source: Toronto Star
Title: Pastors and priests are facing ever more empty pews in 2006
Many churches failing to meet spiritual needs
Members prefer experience of God to dogmas, creeds
Hundreds of thousands of people from around the world crowded into St. Peter's Square in Rome last April to greet the election of a new pope.
The death of John Paul and election of his replacement, Benedict XVI, drew worldwide attention to the Catholic Church.
But behind the headlines, some experts say, mainline Christian churches — Catholics included — are mostly failing to meet the spiritual needs of members. Heading into a new year, pastors and priests face ever more empty pews.
By 2061 — in just 55 years — "the last Anglican will leave the church" if the present decline in membership continues, says Tom Harpur, a Toronto Star columnist and one of Canada's best-known writers on spirituality.
The former Anglican clergyman was commenting during an interview on a new study prepared for the church's bishops.
The Anglican Church of Canada has seen its membership fall by 53 per cent over the past 40 years, according to the report. Membership is declining by about 2 per cent a year, or 13,000 members.
The church likely won't be able to stem the decline anytime soon, says Harpur, author of The Pagan Christ. It's likely to be business as usual — "just as it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be."
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Community Thoughts: There are 12 comments posted | Reverse Sort |
| Well. | Dec 19th. at 11:32:09 am EST
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Llunmere (Germantown Hills, Illinois) - Email Me
There isn't going to be a last Anglican leaving the church-- there will be another religious war before anybody lets that happen.
And I'll bet it will happen a lot sooner than we expect, if the cogs aren't in motion already.
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| In Regard To One Of The Comments | Dec 18th. at 9:16:29 am EST
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Gypsy (Zanesville, Ohio) - Email Me
I married a baptist...part of what we went through to get married was Christian based pre marriage counseling (the pastor still has no clue that I am Pagan) .
One of the things told me that in reading and biblical study, the idea that the man is the head of the household does not mean he is the boss...his main thing is to make sure that the wife and household have all the things that they need...and see too it that the organizational things and discipline of the kids gets accomplished...
How many of us were raised Christian and how many of us heard wait till your father gets home when our mothers were foaming at the mouth angry at some crazy stunt we had pulled....
Yes there is a whole lot of dogma and it varies from denomination to denomination and sometimes congregation to congregation and even person to person, alot like pagan based religions do at times...
Tolerance and learning and understanding is for the most part a two way street.
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| MY 2 CENTS WORTH.... | Dec 18th. at 4:45:41 am EST
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Whitewolf (Schenectady, New York) - Email Me
No freakin' kidding....
Pedophilia, refusing to ordain women as preists, telling women that they cannot chose when to become a parent and, as icing on the cake, telling women that her husband is her MASTER, like she's some kind of dog and that he is better then her just because hes a man.... they wonder WHY they have a problem???? (not to mention that churches are nothing but big moneymaking machines and want in on political process )
Did I miss anything?
I quite truthfully feel no sympathy for the RC and all the other churches. They have no more than brought this crisis upon themselves. The religious system has been the same for - what, over 500 years now? The world has moved on in that amount of time. Gone are some of the ridiculous things that people used to believe. If todays churches face falling membership and falling donations, they deserve what they are getting. I think ALL of todays organized religions are in sad need of a MAJOR overhaul and updating. You can't "diss" half the worlds and your flocks population forever and expect them to just sit there and tolerate it. I feel that if they don't, they will slowly fade away into the sands of time. Maybe then, we as human beings can finally flower and use our MINDS.....
Blessed Yule to all!
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| Sometimes The Sheep Don't Follow. | Dec 17th. at 10:37:01 pm EST
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bigcat (peoria, Illinois) - Email Me
Part of the problem may be that "pat answers" don't work anymore in a world that is increasingly becoming aware of how small it is in the face of the world or the Universe at large. And when the dogma fails- its time to move on. For some, the leaving will be forever, for others it will be full circle. But for those that do return, it will be to a deeper understanding of their faith that no preacher could give them and past dogma will eventually be discarded, by the common consensus of the people-- not the churches, despite arguments to the contrary by the clergy who seem to be having trouble grasping the obvious.
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| Pagan Christ Is A Good Book | Dec 17th. at 12:46:09 pm EST
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alkhemy (Sunland, California) - Email Me
I've read the Pagan Christ, and it is an excellent, thought-provoking book that paints the Late Great JC as a slain and risen Solar deity in the mold of the Pagan Sacred King traditions.
"... the new age movement, astrology and necromancy (witchcraft) "
As for that phrase, it was a quote from a University "expert", not the words of the author of the book, or the journalist who wrote the article.
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| So Here's My Question: | Dec 17th. at 12:35:58 pm EST
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Lora (Leominster, Massachusetts) - Email Me
Are the Foaming Fundies trying to seize political power in these modern times because they're megalomaniacs and always have been
-or-
Are they trying to seize political power because they've lost their other social powers which were derived from having such a broad membership
-or-
Are they becoming more extreme than they used to be because of their growing societal isolation/alienation?
I only have 30 years of perspective, could someone older than me clue me in?
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| Nice, But... | Dec 17th. at 12:05:49 pm EST
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Shadow (Baton Rouge, Louisiana) - Email Me
Interesting article as a whole (Now I'm interested in reading that "Pagan Christ" book) . However, one line kinda threw me off:
"Eastern religions are blossoming very much in all areas of societies ... the new age movement, astrology and necromancy (witchcraft) ," he says.
Uh-huh, right....so, necromancy = witchcraft. Check **rolls eyes**
Otherwise, very informative/interesting read.
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| I Wonder.... | Dec 17th. at 11:35:17 am EST
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William (Pictou Landing, Nova Scotia) - Email Me
Is this 'phasing out' of the Church evolution.... or intelligent design?
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| Congregationally Challenged | Dec 17th. at 10:11:11 am EST
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Ahr-Ohn (Bridgeport, Connecticut) - Email Me
I've good news for the Clergy of Toronto. Ganesha lives there, and he's great for overcoming barriers.
As we transit from the Great Month of Reason, into the new Great Month of Love, some of our reasoning is bound to be seen in a new light.
If the Clergy is having trouble laying hands on Congregations, let them first lay hands on individuals.
"The Catholic Church also continued to grapple with a huge worldwide priest shortage. The shortage is so great that the church "is in danger of losing its identity as a church centred around the eucharist," says Susan Roll, a professor of theology at St. Paul University, which is affiliated with the University of Ottawa."
Is the required sacrifice really worthwhile? If not, then something may have fallen from the spiritual program. When Practicing Pedophiles are seen as more fit for the Clergy than Restrained Homosexuals, something is clearly out of kilter.
If you want to be scheduled for the Age of Aquarius, what good are you?
Arawn
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