Want To Fill Churches? Act Courageously!

By Matthew Clark

On Sunday November 9, 2025 my rural church (of the Presbyterian denomination) combined with a neighbouring rural church to hold a Remeberance Day Sunday Service. It was very well done with a bagpiper playing a number of religious/memorial tunes. A retired Canadian Armed Forces read "IN Flanders Field." There was a respectable crowd (for a rural church) of about 30 people. For most Sunday Services both participating churches get less than 15 Christian worshippers. Each of these spiritual establishments are well over a hundred and twenty years old, with both being packed by worshippers in the not to distant past. Now these Kirks are living on borrowed time, with estimates of their closure being 18 months to 3 years in the future. Nevertheless on this particular Sunday all was well.

Normally I can walk to church but since the other church hosted the event I had to drive there, and back, to attend. On the way home I passed a Pentacostal place of worship which had been much more successful in attracting worshippers than our denomination. Before Covid this Pentacostal church had three services a week (Wednesday, Friday, Sunday) which were all standing room only. As I passed the Pentacostal church it was still in worship, yet it's parking lot was three quarters to 80% empty! In truth this is indicative of the vast amounts of Christian churches in our areas.

Why?

It makes no sense. Since the Covid debacle millions of people, realizing that our species faces an existential crisis (both spirituality and physically) have started a personnel and collective search for our Christian Lord. We know that because clergy and socialogists have admitted the fact. So it appears nonsensical that churches are not seeing a rise in congregation. Yet that appears to be the case. So again the question is WHY?

Personally I do not know. I do have a theory! It has to do with the failure of clergy and senior church individuals to live up to the example Jesus Christ gave us approxiametely two thousand years ago. In that life Jesus Christ gave us the definition of courage. Every moment of his life was about courage, both moral and physical. His role model was so inspiring that it roused the apostles, and other followers, to exhibit extrodinary courage themselves. As a result of this courage Christians, lead by God, subjugated the mighty Roman Empire.

People, individually and collectively, are looking for that courage from Christian leaders! Yes, knowledge of scripture is essential for sincere religious belief, yet sincerity in belief manifests itself in courage. If knowledge of scripture does not engender courage, then that belief lacks integrity. Christians, even those in an infant state of belief, know this.

Therefore my theory expands further into the statement that Christian churches are not packed with worshippers seeking God due to the fact Christians want to be part of a sincere Christian community. Sadly these worshippers viewpoint is that as of this moment there are few out there.

WHY?

During the Covid debacle Christian leaders were presented with the greatest opportunity to increase religious participation in Western nations during current times. Governments throughout the Western world either ordered Churches closed, or restricted entry into the churches, as well as mandated behaviour during Christian service.

Forgetting that the buildings they preached from was not their house, it was/is in fact God's, clergy submitted to Caesar's dictate. Convenience was chosen over courage. Clerics became of this world, opting for the temporal over the spiritual. Their congregation was left adrift. The bravery the rank and file Christian were searching for was left unfulfilled.

Even so many rallied to the light! I remember at the height of the Covid debacle watching on the internet the meetings the Truckers at the Coutts, Alberta border-point (with the United States). After discussing how they were going to continue to defy the government dictates, these very testosorone men finished by offering the Our Father (King James Version) to the Lord. It was exhilarating.

Living 45 minutes from Ottawa I journeyed into the capital to support the Truckers during the protest in the city. Again it was thrilling to defy the autocracy of Canada's federal government with so many other Canadians. Many, if not most, of these Canadians came from across the nation. They cheered, and prayed, in the bitter cold, often -25 celsius degrees, or worse. There was also plenty of snow.

Amongst the protestors were many clergyman and women who held no loyalty to temporal leaders, who would not be cowed. They preached in the snow with many a believer kneeling in the snow with them, giving thanks to God for providing the opportunity to display the courage he has instilled in all of us.

The potential bounty offered to Christianity from this situation has not been realized. Unfortunately since the end of the mandates few clergy have taken, in my opinion, the steps necessary to reap a bountiful harvest of worshippers. What are those steps? To admit wrongdoing in allowing government (Caesar) to both limit accessibility and behaviour within the Lord's house! Promise to defy government (Caesar) if they ever attempt such methods again. Keep that promise if government (Caesar) does attempt to reinstate such measures (almost certainly they will).

God has blessed our species with many gifts. One of the most wonderous is individual rights. In nations which recognize individual rights there is no excuse for anything but a sincere relationship with God, or anyone else for that matter. Free from the distortions created by coercion, honesty is, or should be, automatic. What do we need to achieve this sincerity is ..... valour!

During Jesus lifetime he was questioned on what a believer should bestow on government.

Matthew 22:21 "Render therefore unto Caesar the things which are Caesar's and unto God the things that are God's."

Mark 12:17 "Then Jesus told them Give to Caesar what is Caesar's, and to God what is God's."

Luke 20:25 "So Jesus told them, "Give to Caesar what is Caesar's, and to God what is God's."

Jesus, in his answer, challenged us to figure the correct moral conclusion on what each of us gives God, and what each one of us gives Caesar. My belief is that morally you give God as much as you can, and morally you give Caesar (Governement) as little as possible. Pay as little, or no tax, as possible. Put no stock in national rituals, symbols, or decrees. Loyalty should be to God, family, relatives, friends, our fellow inhabitants, then finally the nation with it's ruling government. Every time the government (Caesar) threatens our worship, and or liberty, we should remind them the Christ Jesus was not a pacifist (the money changers in the temple are an example of this) and neither are Christians. This will require courage. It will not be convenient, yet it just might result in standing room only Sunday Service!