European Churches in Crisis

This week in the news there are two contrasting stories related to Christianity in Europe.

The first, from the TimesOnLine, was about the Anglican Church’s implosion as they become more irrelevant to the life of British citizens and how this has resulted in the church planning to lay-off one third of their clergy, eliminate real property and meet more in private homes.

This is contrasted with an article mentioned today by Hugh Hewitt about Denver’s Roman Catholic Archbishop Charles Chaput speaking at a gathering in Spain of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). In his speech, the Archbishop tried to remind delegates for the past contributions that Christians have made in Europe and then exhort them to stem the growing tide of discrimination against Christians and other religious groups.

The difference between the aggressive stand taken in Europe as the Roman Church attempts to revive the faithful and the Anglican Church continues to abandon every tenant of their historic beliefs is striking. European culture continues to decline towards secularism at a time when a flood of Mohammedans is overwhelming the Continent. The secularists have undercut the only thing that could stem the tide of Islam.

Will the combination of the African Churches (the center of both the Roman and Anglican faiths) and the remnant in Europe turn the tide? Only time will tell.