Here are a few facts:
- Most small towns in Texas are shrinking. Many of the young people leave. They aren’t replaced. If the town isn’t close to a larger metropolitan area, it’s probably in decline. (The revitalization of the oil and gas business is changing some of that, but only in certain areas)
- Churches in small towns across Texas are also dying out. They are getting older. They are getting smaller.
- Latino populations across Texas are on the rise, even in small towns.
And, for churches of Christ, many of these facts hold true for congregations in larger cities as well.
It seems to me that many churches face three choices:
- Stay as they are and face extinction.
- Help “those people” start a church across town, knowing that they will carry on when the current church is gone.
- Make the church welcoming to Latinos, even those that don’t speak English.
Maybe we can take lessons from the church in Antioch in Acts 11. Somehow the Lord led the Diaspora Jewish Christians into ministry and fellowship with “a new-to-them outreach group”. However, the ideal is great. What would that look like today?