Nothing says "New England" like the image of a lovely church steeple situated on a beautiful old town commons. Sadly, however, there's a good chance that the church under that steeple is empty.
I've just returned from a long weekend in Boston; I took the opportunity to make some connections with some Methodist folk there. And they confirmed what I've already suspected: New England is one of Methodism's toughest mission fields. Twenty years ago, there were over two dozen UMCs in the greater Boston area; now there are seven, and only two in the city of Boston proper.
Church membership may be declining in other parts of the country, but in New England, for mainline churches, the word is "disappearing."
So what's going on in New England? I'm working on a story looking at that question, as well as some innovative ways that Methodists are reaching out to this not-so-interested population. But I'd love to hear your two cents on this question: Why has that particular part of the country become, as one Methodist pastor put it, a "post-Christian" culture?
Discuss.
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