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I worked at one of Kmart’s distribution centers for about 5 years before going into ministry. I distinctly remember a meeting at the warehouse where I worked, led by one of the top executives of Kmart, where time for Q&A was given. The question was asked, What is Kmart doing about the rise of Walmart? The answer given by that executive was, Walmart isn’t a drop in the bucket when compared to Kmart. As an employee I saw signs of trouble within the corporation. Kmart stores had become old and tired, while Walmart was building bright new stores.Kmart stores were not being adequately stocked with supplies, while Walmart seemed to always have what you needed. The Kmart store in the city where the warehouse that I worked at was located (a building of over 60 acres) would often not have in stock what you were looking for, in spite of the fact that there were plenty in the warehouse. We challenged the manager to that fact when he told us they couldn’t get the items. Kmart made a huge shift in executive roles, placing people in top positions that were not qualified. Those people began making drastic changes that simply would not work. And so, here we are today. The warehouse that I worked in employed 1000 people at that time, but is no longer a Kmart warehouse, but some other business is housed there. I see poor leadership decisions affecting Walmart today. Less cashiers and more self-checkout lines. Fewer employees on the floor to assist customers. If a shopper goes to a brick and mortar store, they want customer service. Walmart is instead minimizing customer service, and thereby making it easier to choose to go to Amazon and have it delivered to your front door. As to the church… we should heed the warnings. I remember hearing John Maxwell say, I could ride by some of your churches and tell I wouldn’t want to attend there. The bushes aren’t trimmed, the grass isn’t cut, and the paint is peeling off the door. And if you won’t take care of your building, you won’t take care of your congregation. Kmart got smug, lazy, and willing to let ill equipped people make decisions that were disastrous, while Walmart took over that niche in marketing. Now Walmart seems to be getting slack while Amazon dominates. If our churches don’t offer what people need and are hungry for they will go and eat somewhere else. If our churches don’t reach into the community to show that we care, the community won’t come inside our buildings. If our churches act more like social clubs that are unwelcoming to outsiders, they will remain outside. If church leaders ignore the times, refuse to adjust to the seasons, and insist the world adapt to our out of date and out of touch methods, we can become the next Kmart in the church industry.

In my opinion Pentecostals are aging out and the Sears-Kmart is a great example of consumer driven Christianity. The Pentecostals of old had more of a focus on the rewards of heaven and eternal rewards along with the everlasting torment of Hell. Compare that to the shift in the post WW II generation wanting to feel good now and have a focus on what the church can do for my family and I now. It seems the church went from extreme legalism to hyper grace and mercy. What benefit do we FEEL NOW by attending this church?The older generations of Pentecostals understood delayed gratification as a way of life. Once saved the same principles that helped people work very hard while spending less to save money for a better life later were implemented into a spiritual focus of praying for hours and seeing results later. Pastors were willing to lead by example by working hard in the ministry without the drive to be successful with great honor and financial gain within the first five-10 years of ministry. Now there is such a focus and desire for people to build the big church right away, be the one telling others how to do it, lots of books, internet followers etc.The older generations of Pentecostals were raised in a society where people gave their lives for the country, volunteered at fire departments and many other things. Presently many rural volunteer fire departments were phased out for lack of help from younger generations. Some areas in the country have a shortage or are not able to do military taps at funerals because the older veterans are dead or not physically able while they will tell you the younger veterans will not volunteer. Compare that with the difference in people plugging into a smaller church and helping out versus going somewhere with everything in place and paid staff committed to showing up doing things.The older generations grew up sharing a radio, television and phone. The younger generations increase in he ability to have the music and everything else my way when I want it. If a person is simply given the sinners prayer recital form of salvation to make one’s life better with a NOW focus rather than dying to self and separating form the world’s selfishness of course they will want a consumer driven Christianity that accommodates their preferences. Which church offers me a quick service with convenient times with all of the sensory intake the way I want it?I believe we will see a decrease in Pentecostals but there will always be some preaching and teaching salvation as deny yourself, take up your cross daily and follow Jesus. The masses do not want to hear about commitment, leaving the old life behind (the balance of sports, entertainment and self compared to focusing on spiritual growth) but God will always have some serving Him.

I don’t think there’s any one answer, I think it’s an amalgamation of factors. I do believe we are living in days of apostasy and a lack of sound doctrinal teaching. Society has changed greatly. The Church used to be an important hub of society. Now it is just one cog (pardon the pun) in a giant wheel of options. We are more connected than we’ve ever been and yet so very disconnected at the same time. The mega churches are the outliers but they offer the worshipper a great experience, great music, and little in the way of accountability.

Having just returned from the UK where there are SO many reminders of our spiritual heritage (for instance I stood next to the statue of the great reformer, John Knox right in the middle of the great St. Giles cathedral), I’d say that its not just our movement that is aging out. I was SHOCKED by the apathy in that land where just a few generations ago sent forth the greatest doctrine and missionaries the world has ever known. I saw giant statues of David Livingstone, I stood in the city of Oxford on the site where Latimer and Ridley were burned at the stake. I saw tributes to my Christian philosophical hero C.S. Lewis. There were reminders literally everywhere of what was once the most Christian nation on earth outside our own (and I daresay for many more centuries than ours). But where there was once admonitions to live rightly, there were now rainbows and messages of lgbtq affirmation on the doors of empty churches. Beautiful buildings with the stories of the saints of God etched on windows, now housing crafters’ markets selling talismans of witchcraft. Yesterday I got an email that said the Church of Scotland would be closing hundreds of churches this year. The following stats were provided which brought me to tears. We used to think we were about a generation behind Europe in this growing spiritual vacuum, but we are within a couple of years now.

Yes, Walmart is known for its supply chain and having to products people want to buy on the shelf everyday (not just Blue Light Specials) at a good price. Walmart is still a family business, it may be second generation, but there are Waltons to report to. Kmart was known to have a very nice Headquarters in MI with many executives who often who would fly on company jets – Walmart used Southwest airlines and their Headquarters was (it may have changed) a group of medal buildings in AK. I would say large independent churches have more in common with Walmart than Kmart (are they even still around?).

I was on the state website for 2 states in the COG. I could not believe the attendance average commpared to what it used to be. I would say 90% were less than half of what they used to be. I am talking about even big churches that used to run 300+ were now running maybe 120. I just could not believe the attendance numbers. I also know one other state that over 100 churches did not list their attendance and tithes. Usually they were the same churches each month. We were always told the reports were to be mailed in by the 5th of each month. My heart breaks for the first 2 states that I was referring to.

Our church has an evangelistic service on Sunday nights, and the attendance is typically 70% of the morning crowd. We have some that come only to Sunday night but a lot of the morning crowd does come back. We do not have a mid-week service. We are a dying church and I don’t know any other way to put it. The signs are everywhere. We are locked in the 70’s and the majority do not wish to leave. What hurts me the most is that no one wants to pray and seek the Lord for his direction. All I know is without a vision we don’t stand a chance. I agree with the dying church statement. I noticed one of our states is not listing the monthly statistics at all. I have searched the web site completely and cannot find it at all. We were going to a one time big COG and they closed Sunday night service and then started having small groups different nights of the week at people’s homes – so no Wed night service. They cancelled Sunday School. So really the pastor only preached one service a week. We wanted and needed more church than that, so we left to go to a church that had Sunday night and Wed. night (not COG). They have small groups too but it does not interfere with Wed. night service. We have been COG since 1976, love the church. I think people have just fallen out of love with the church. There are exceptions of course. Once a church closes Sunday night or Wed night, it is hard to get the people motivated to start it back up.

Taken from the Revival List:September 11th focused a lot of attention on the growth of Islam.What most pundits and scholars have missed is the incrediblegrowth of Christianity, and where it’s growing. We like to think ofourselves as the Christian West. But there is growing evidence thatthe center of Christendom has moved. Africans are running to acceptJesus Christ. It is a scene playing out all across the developing world.It may sound like an exaggeration, but it’s not: Christianity issweeping across the southern hemisphere and Asia like a tidal wave.The scale of Christian growth is almost unimaginable, said Dr.Philip Jenkins, distinguished professor of History and ReligiousStudies at Penn State University.Jenkins shocked and probably panicked some of America’s politicaland media elite with his acclaimed book, The Next Christendom:The Coming of Global Christianity. Jenkins argues the greatestmovement of the past century was not communism or capitalism.Do the math and the winner is Spirit-filled Christianity, or what heterms in his study as Pentecostalism.The modern Pentecostal movement begins at the start of the 20thcentury, Jenkins said. So say this begins with a few hundred, afew thousand people… today you’re dealing with several hundredmillion people, and the best projections are by 2040’s or 2050’s,you could be dealing with a billion Pentecostals worldwide. By thatstage there will be more Pentecostals than Hindus. There arealready more Pentecostals than Buddhists. Jenkins says in just20 years, two-thirds of all Christians will live in Africa, Latin Americaor Asia.Back in 1900, there were about 10 million Christians in Africa,representing about 10 percent of the population. Today there are360 million, representing just under half the population.That is one of the most important changes in religious history, andI think most of us didn’t notice it, he said. A lot of people stillhaven’t noticed it. When scandal or controversy hits an Americanchurch, the U.S. news media tends to treat it like a worldwide crisisfor that denomination.But it is not a crisis for those churches in the developing world.Most of them are not gripped by debates over homosexuality orabortion that is a problem for European and American liberals -they believe the Bible. The Bible is alive in Africa and Asia andLatin America,Jenkins said. Overwhelmingly, th[is] kind of Christianity is onewhich is very Bible-centered, which takes the Bible very seriously,takes authority very seriously, both the Old and the New Testament,in a way which I don’t think western Christianity has done probablysince the Enlightenment. But the growth of Christianity threatensIslam, and Christians are being slaughtered in places like Nigeriaand Indonesia.Jenkins thinks the conflict will intensify in nations where the twofaiths compete. And he debunks the notion that Islam is the fastestgrowing religion in the world. Christianity is growing faster. If youlook at the 25 most populous countries in the world in the mid-21stcentury, 20 of those are going to be divided to a greater or lesserextent between Christianity and Islam, Jenkins said.Then there is China. There are about 80 million Christians in China,according to former Time Magazine Correspondent David Aikman,who predicts China will be a Christianized nation in 20 to 30 years.He does not predict a Christian majority, but a China that is 25 to30 percent Christian. Enough, he says, to change society andgovernment…And Aikman says the Chinese church leaders have a burden to takethe gospel the rest of the way across the globe, to the Muslims.It’s part of a sense that they call ‘back to Jerusalem,’ Aikman said.African Matthew Ashimolowo is the pastor of the fastest growingchurch in England. God is sending people who used to receivemissionaries to now be missionaries around the world, Ashimolowosaid. Kenyan Bishop Gilbert Dya has one of the largest churchesin London.I am in this country, believing that God sent me here in Great Britainto make a voice on His behalf to let them know that they need torepent and come back to God, he said.The developing world is not only a growing base for world Missions,Jenkins says it is becoming the center of Christendom… again.Jesus said His church would last until the end of time. He neverused the word, ‘Europe.’ Christianity is returning, I think, to itsroots. It is a religion that originated in the Middle East and inAfrica. Perhaps it went away for a while, but now it’s back,Jenkins said________________geraldabreu.infoNearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man’s character, give him power.Abraham LincolnThere are two ways to enslave a nation. One is by the sword. The other is by debt.

Why did Walmart win out? Back in the day, there needed to be a certain number of people in an area to justify a discount store– maybe 100,000 or so. But Walmart used a computer inventory system which, at the time, waoadvanced, and allowed them to decrease the population they needed serve to be able to do so efficiently. Their inventory was well-organized, while K-Mart’s probably wasn’t as well organized.My mom used to say she knew why Walmart was doing well and K-Mart was doing so poorly. If you to K-Mart, she said, you cannot find anything. One of my marketing professors thought Sears made a mistake by selling it’s brands in Walmart. Before buying Sears, if you go to Sears, you got the Sears paint. Customers use price as a proxy for quality. When they put the Sears paint in K-Mart right next to another product, customers say paint more expensive than Sears paint, and so they’d think, Oh, this paint is higher quality than Sear’s paint. Eventually, Sears got bought out by a private equity investor who had another company. He’d lend money from Sears to his company, apparently to make money somehow. They sold off a bunch of stores.I don’t know that Amazon will gobble up all the business of Walmart. They are into grocery, and most people probably do not want to buy lettuce online. I don’t always know what food I want to buy until I am at the store looking around. There are some things you want to see and try on or at least look at or touch.