Faith Works 12-26-2025
Jeff Gill
Summing up, looking ahead, holding to hope
___
One of the stock themes a columnist has to consider every December is the year-in-review piece.
It's a classic. You mull over what's been, recycle a few thoughts you've already expressed (hey, it's the end of the year, take a break), and voila, there's a column.
More risky is the predictions schtick for 2026. You can offer your most profound, or trivial ideas, or both, for what the new year has to bring. You can stick with evergreens ("Ohio State will make a strong run at the national championship…") or try for some revelatory insight ("…their sixth in pistol shooting!"); there's the global angle, which may not play well in central Ohio if you talk too much about geopolitical trends, or stick with local forecasts on getting a Culver's in Heath, that kind of thing.
Or you could wax profound about Intel, which no one really knows about for sure.
But this is "Faith Works," a column which is supposed to engage the eyes and minds of those interested in religion, whether of an organized sort or not. And too many of us rise up to say about our own religious heritage "organized religion it ain't!"
Ryan Burge, the noted scholar and analyst about religious trends, has a new book coming out in January titled "The Vanishing Church." I don't have a review copy, but I subscribe to his Substack, and can tell not only that I'm sure to read it, but it's basically about a subject near to my heart as a fellow pastor: Ryan expresses some concern about the erosion if not outright disappearance in many places of small to medium sized churches with moderate views on faith, life, and politics.
If you've been reading me a while, you know I come back to this subject often. My own experience is that of a moderate, and I've pastored small and medium sized churches. Mega I ain't. (Okay, I'm tall, but like Dick Van Dyke, I'm not as tall as I once was.)
I may focus too much on that space, but I think it's still the heart of American religious experience, and Ryan Burge looks to be saying much the same. As I keep trying to point out, the logic of "big contemporary churches are growing and smaller traditional ones are dying" being a causal relationship has some holes in it. We are adding big box type non-denominational worship centers, but the net percentage almost anywhere, including our corner in the center of Ohio, attending worship any given weekend is down, drastically.
In this new year, I will be talking about this subject, and not just to review Ryan's new book. Traditional worship is definitely declining in absolute numbers, even if there are individual bright spots; contemporary services are growing, but they are not only catching fewer in sum than faith communities are losing, they are tending to shuffle the sheep. I grant that approach gets more unchurched people in the doors than hymnals and choirs, but they aren't getting many of them. The Nones are continuing to grow.
My atheist friends say "this is a healthy sign, Jeff, of rationality and free choices." I will continue to look closely at that answer, I pray with a fair and open mind, but looking around me, I wouldn't say our culture is getting healthier. So it's complicated, you know?
But I pray I have something to say in 2026 that's worth your time to read, and consider. Happy new year, one and all!
Jeff Gill is a writer, storyteller, and preacher in central Ohio; he's never been good at forecasting. Tell him what you expect in 2026 at knapsack77@gmail.com or follow @Knapsack77 on Threads or Bluesky.
Jeff Gill
Summing up, looking ahead, holding to hope
___
One of the stock themes a columnist has to consider every December is the year-in-review piece.
It's a classic. You mull over what's been, recycle a few thoughts you've already expressed (hey, it's the end of the year, take a break), and voila, there's a column.
More risky is the predictions schtick for 2026. You can offer your most profound, or trivial ideas, or both, for what the new year has to bring. You can stick with evergreens ("Ohio State will make a strong run at the national championship…") or try for some revelatory insight ("…their sixth in pistol shooting!"); there's the global angle, which may not play well in central Ohio if you talk too much about geopolitical trends, or stick with local forecasts on getting a Culver's in Heath, that kind of thing.
Or you could wax profound about Intel, which no one really knows about for sure.
But this is "Faith Works," a column which is supposed to engage the eyes and minds of those interested in religion, whether of an organized sort or not. And too many of us rise up to say about our own religious heritage "organized religion it ain't!"
Ryan Burge, the noted scholar and analyst about religious trends, has a new book coming out in January titled "The Vanishing Church." I don't have a review copy, but I subscribe to his Substack, and can tell not only that I'm sure to read it, but it's basically about a subject near to my heart as a fellow pastor: Ryan expresses some concern about the erosion if not outright disappearance in many places of small to medium sized churches with moderate views on faith, life, and politics.
If you've been reading me a while, you know I come back to this subject often. My own experience is that of a moderate, and I've pastored small and medium sized churches. Mega I ain't. (Okay, I'm tall, but like Dick Van Dyke, I'm not as tall as I once was.)
I may focus too much on that space, but I think it's still the heart of American religious experience, and Ryan Burge looks to be saying much the same. As I keep trying to point out, the logic of "big contemporary churches are growing and smaller traditional ones are dying" being a causal relationship has some holes in it. We are adding big box type non-denominational worship centers, but the net percentage almost anywhere, including our corner in the center of Ohio, attending worship any given weekend is down, drastically.
In this new year, I will be talking about this subject, and not just to review Ryan's new book. Traditional worship is definitely declining in absolute numbers, even if there are individual bright spots; contemporary services are growing, but they are not only catching fewer in sum than faith communities are losing, they are tending to shuffle the sheep. I grant that approach gets more unchurched people in the doors than hymnals and choirs, but they aren't getting many of them. The Nones are continuing to grow.
My atheist friends say "this is a healthy sign, Jeff, of rationality and free choices." I will continue to look closely at that answer, I pray with a fair and open mind, but looking around me, I wouldn't say our culture is getting healthier. So it's complicated, you know?
But I pray I have something to say in 2026 that's worth your time to read, and consider. Happy new year, one and all!
Jeff Gill is a writer, storyteller, and preacher in central Ohio; he's never been good at forecasting. Tell him what you expect in 2026 at knapsack77@gmail.com or follow @Knapsack77 on Threads or Bluesky.
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