Christ Church in Alexandria VA is of the Episcopal denomination. Originally, Episcopal churches were Anglican, which is the Church of England, the official church of the people of England. You can belong to another faith in Britain, but the Anglican church is recognized by the government as the church in that nation. After the Revolutionary War, the American Anglican churches adopted the name ‘Episcopal,’ after their form of denominational government. They are still part of what is called the Anglican Communion, but back after the War they felt that the people would be offended if they continued to be Anglican. So, to appease the people, they changed their name.

          Christ Church goes back a long way. George Washington and his family were there from the beginning. Nearly a century later, General Robert E. Lee and his family were members. The church oozes American history. As a recognition of the church’s place in American history, many years ago they put up two plaques, one for President Washington and one for General Lee.

          However, being part of an organization that started out as giving in to public pressure, Christ Church has announced that they will be removing the plaques. Both Washington and Lee were slave holders. As it happens, neither man had much use for slavery and both released the majority of their slaves during their lifetime. Both men married women whose families owned large numbers of slaves, and the President and the General eventually came by their slaves through inheritance. Both men were held in low regard by the ‘gentry’ for their poor feelings toward slavery. These men, for their time, were far more progressive on the issue than the normal Virginian. But they did own other humans. It was legal, it was accepted, it was an institution that existed in the Bible times. In fact, slavery has existed all through history. It was normal in their time frame. Now, it seems, they will lose their place in history.

          But this is not about slavery or racism or the right or wrong of all of that. This has much more to do with the reason why Christ Church has chosen this path. Their stated purpose for the removal of the two plaques is that they feel that the plaques are keeping people from coming to the church.

          What keeps people from coming to church?

          It is not because the church is politically incorrect. In fact, church should be a place where people go to find the truth. Politics rarely qualifies as truth. A recent survey identified the nine top reasons people don’t go to church. In descending order;

          9. People need less drama in their lives. Huh? What does that mean? It means that it only takes a few visits to see that there is strife in most churches. That strife is caused by people who have an agenda, a personal desire to see things done their way. It should be, in church, that a person can Biblically worship the Lord without strings attached. What we tend to do is, if we don’t like the music, if we don’t like the message, if we don’t like the speaker, we make a production of our dislike. I have pastored for a long time and I see the looks. I can tell if you are dissatisfied. So can that visitor. Who wants to be around that?

            8. People will not tolerate unresolved conflict. People can sense unresolved conflict. Dan Eads is an IU fan. I follow Ohio State. During the 2016 football season, I made it a point to apologize to the congregation for the fact that Ohio State beat Indiana pretty handily. Dan said something about Ohio State’s recruiting violations. As a loving pastor, I refused to mention the Bobby Knight era at Indiana. In the exchange, there was no malice. It was in fun. However, unresolved conflict, which generates the above mentioned ‘drama,’ can be felt. Visitors do not want that in their lives. They get conflict at home, in their jobs and every time they look at the news.

          7. People are not comfortable around controlling leaders and unskilled teachers. We had friends in Florida who attended a church where the pastor preached against the evils of television. Yet, he had one in his home that he watched. His reasoning was that they needed to know the evil that was out there, so he had to watch and then report to them. One Sunday we were going to be on vacation from our own church and our friends extended us an invitation. Marsha and I didn’t even discuss it. We just said, in unison, ‘NO!’ People don’t want to go to church where the pastor or deacons or elders control the church. Those are not positions of power or control, they are positions of Spiritual strength. We don’t go to church to be told what to do; we go to be Spiritually lifted up. And, if we go to a Bible Study or a Sunday School and the teacher reads the lesson from a book in a monotone voice and is clearly reading it for the first time, we are not going back.

           6. People are turned off by social climbing, cliques, and nepotism. We had a church back in our town in Ohio that was the church you went to if you wanted to connect with the movers and shakers in the community. The church I pastored was thought of as the ‘ordinary folks’ church. The only people who were drawn to the social climber’s church were social climbers. We were perfectly happy with all the rest.

           5. People do not want to feel like they have to fit into a certain mode of appearance or behavior in order to be fully included and appreciated. It has always amazed me that some people consider others as ‘unsavory.’ If a black family walked into your church on Sunday morning, or a Hispanic family or a family from poverty or a Muslim family, would you really be glad to see them? Or, since many churches now go the casual dress way, even in the pulpit, if a family came in in suits and dresses, would you feel a little uncomfortable? Or, even worse, if someone came in and sat in your PEW! would you be offended? Back in my funeral home days I was always uncomfortable going into a Catholic church for a service. Not because of the difference in belief, but, rather, because everyone seemed to know when to kneel and when to stand and what to say during the liturgy. Once the casket was in place, I would go to the back of the church and stand quietly till it ended. I got more than my share of withering looks from people because I clearly didn’t belong to the club. Now that I don’t have to, I will not go back into a Catholic church again. I will never feel welcome.

          4. People tend not to be drawn to a church where they are told how a “good Christian” will vote. For me, this is not an issue. As I said before, politics usually bears no resemblance to truth. But, it matters to some. One lady told me one day while I visited her, that I shouldn’t be so hard on people’s sin from the pulpit. They might get offended and never come back. The next election cycle she informed me before church that I should tell the people that they were going to go to hell if they voted democratic. People, unless they are the social climber type, have their own political opinions and don’t want to hear it at church.

           3. People come to church because they’re looking for something authentic. Oh, no. Now we are getting personal. You mean there are fakes in church? Actual hypocrites?!!? People can spot a hypocrite a mile away. They can tell if you real desire is for Christ or for something else. Every time.

          2. People leave church because they feel lonely. There are many people who visit a church because they want to connect. But, they go and no one comes up to greet them, no one points out things they might need to know, like we have a nursery or where the restrooms are, no one sits down and engages them in small talk. Maybe they visit several times and get nothing. They don’t come back. On that subject, this is to the people who go to the church I pastor. Please do not assume that it is my job to greet people. I try, but I cannot see well enough from the pulpit area to make out someone who is new. I was asked a couple of weeks ago who that couple was who has been there for three Sundays in a row. I told the person that I had no idea, I hadn’t met them. “You haven’t met them!” “No, I haven’t. I haven’t seen them to even know they were there.” Then I asked the offensive question. “You’ve seen them. Have you met them?” Don’t leave people feeling lonely.

          1. People leave church when they don’t find Jesus. And that is the big one. When people stray from Christ, they have more drama in their lives, #9. When they stray from Christ, they have conflict in their lives, #8. When they stray from Christ, they develop their own agenda rather than studying the Word, #7. When they stray from Christ, they become more interested in what religion does for them rather than what they can do for the Lord, #6. When they stray from Christ, they become judgmental towards others and how they dress or act, #5. When they stray from Christ, they replace Christ with the world’s god of choice, politics, #4. When they stray from Christ, they become hypocritical, #3. When they stray from Christ, they shun new people, preferring to stick with folks like them, #2. When they stray from Christ, they leave Christ out of the church, #1. A number of years ago, Marsha and I visited a church we had driven past many times. Beautiful building, soaring steeple, stained glass windows, well kept. Large sanctuary. Maybe thirty in attendance. That Sunday they did a skit on Mother Earth, thanking Mother Earth for all she has provided and promising Mother Earth to take better care of her. No sermon. The closing prayer was to Mother Earth, asking her forgiveness for our brutality. In this one church experience, we had drama when one lady wanted to read a part that another woman wouldn’t give up. We had conflict in the same moment. We had one woman who bossed the others around and no one was prepared. Their actions were a put-on with no intensity or feeling. No one spoke to us. There was no mention of Jesus. We had just resigned our church and I had started at the funeral home. We were looking for a church. That was not the church we were looking for, at all.

          So, back to Christ Church. Taking down the plaques will not benefit their church. That is not the reason fewer and fewer attend. Only getting back to Christ will make a difference. But, it doesn’t stop at Christ Church or churches like Christ Church. It is a problem in your church, as well. (Note to the church I pastor; this blog is read in twenty five countries. I am not singling you out. But, if you see our church here, so be it.) How often do you carry ill feeling towards others to worship? How often does conflict break out because of you? How often do you want to control a situation, or are unprepared for the thing you are to do? How often do you show favoritism when you should be building up? How often do you shy away from someone because they are not like you? Have you ever used religion to try and influence someone’s vote? How many times have you found yourself being a ‘fake?’ How many people have you failed to talk to at church because it is someone else’s job? And finally, how often do you put Jesus down the line of your priorities?

          I have served on several committees to close non-profit organizations (as well as to start non-profits). Laws overseeing these organizations are completely different than the laws for regular organizations. It is sad beyond words to see a church go down. But it doesn’t take much to do that job. Making superficial changes is a waste. A change of heart is all that matters.