The Catholics are Right about Church Growth

   Within conservative Christian circles, few ideas are more prominent than that of natalism. Conservative theologians, church leaders, and media influencers have long advocated for strong, “traditional” nuclear families, complete with at least two and a half children. Springing from this movement are its more radical expressions such as the notorious Quiverfull movement, which shuns (without much Biblical basis) contraceptive use, even within the confines of married sex.

          Perhaps the most famous followers of this movement are the Duggar clan, famous for their reality TV series 19 Kids and Counting. While darlings of conservative evangelicalism, the Duggars are criticized by both the Christian and secular left, and rightly so. Cases of alleged inter-sibling and parental abuse are an inescapable part of the Duggar mythos. Despite all of this, the family has become somewhat idealized in many "trad" circles. They are a perfect model of what a white, American, Christian family should be, according to some on the Christian right.

        Having many children is mostly championed and practiced by these ideologues and, to my dismay, is broadly derided by the left. In all fairness, many aspects of this practice, or Natalism, as I will call it from here forward, are indeed riddled with abusive tendencies and bad theology. However, I believe that the mainline church in America would do well not to throw out the baby (no pun intended) with the bathwater. 

        If the mainline churches are to survive, we need to balance evangelism with having babies, to put it bluntly. The problem facing the United Methodist Church, as well as the Episcopal Church, is not so much congregants leaving, as many conservative critics suggest, but ageing congregations. The vast majority of people who attend mainline churches do so because they grew up attending and are committed to their churches.  While we can and must seek to preach the gospel to all people, we can't rely on conversions alone to keep our churches afloat. I myself am a convert to Methodism, but, unless every person brings at least two people to church (who stay permanently), our churches will continue to decline. 

        Conservatives tend to point out that our churches are shrinking because of "false teachings," but I would counter by reminding them that their churches are declining as well, if at a slower rate. Christianity in the US is declining, sadly, but I would argue that fundamentalist evangelicals have played a part in this decline by devoting themselves to the gospel of Trump and the GOP rather than that of Christ. 

        I believe the only way to save the Methodist and mainline churches, and perhaps even the church in the US as a whole, is to create a strong, young, healthy protestant church that promotes inclusive orthodoxy, creedal theology, and social justice, opposing blasphemous MAGA Christianity and bigotry of all kinds. Some might argue that bringing new converts into the church is somehow nobler than expanding it by building families, but I believe it's idealistic at best to think of the church this way. The body of Christ, after all, is a living, breathing organism, and if a body can't create new cells, it dies.