Dr Paul Allen

(Tim Challies) You may love him, you may hate him, but you’ve definitely heard of him and you’ve undoubtedly got an opinion about him. Mark Driscoll is pastor of Mars Hill Church in Seattle , co-founder of the Acts 29 Network , and the author of several bestselling books. The newest of these books may well prove the most controversial.  A Call to Resurgence  poses this question: Will Christianity have a funeral or a future? This is a book about the past, the present and the future of the Christian faith , particularly in the United States of America . The fact is, Christendom is dead. The Christian faith that once existed in the background of American life and culture has diminished to such an extent that America is now a post- Christian nation . “ Christians are ostracized. Gay marriage is celebrated. Abortion is literally destroying an entire generation. The bandwagon has stopped carrying us and has started running over us.” This is happening all around us, yet many Christians

In 2010, 3.6 million attended church on an average Sunday (6% of the population ). In the previous 10 years this represented a decline of 800,000 fewer attendees (-18%). 39% of churches have no-one attending under 11 years of age 49% of churches have no-one attending between the ages of 11 and 14 59% of churches have no-one attending between the ages of 15 and 19. THE BRIEFING MAGAZINE The general scene: overall decline In 2010, for all of those claiming the name Christian in the UK, there were: 48,000 churches 36,000 ministers Out of a total population of 62 million people: 5.5 million are church members (i.e. people who say they are definitely attached to a Christian church , equivalent to 9% of the population) 3.6 million attend church on an average Sunday (6% of the population). But when we compare this with general population trends, we discover that in the last ten years, along with a population increase of 2 million people (+3%), there are now: 400 fewer churches (-1%