Quote:
Originally Posted by UntoHim
...I must tell you I have made a rather concerted effort to find out the raw numbers and I think they are down…considerably down…from the heyday back in the 70s and early 80s. Yes, there may be a city here or there that now has a church of 50-100 members where only a few existed before, but I am talking about the USA and Canada in general...
Now as far as the college presence, I think you may be confusing quantity with quality. As far as the college campus work is concerned, the Local Church is a mile wide and an inch deep. In the recent past, they have been targeting “key cities”….almost all of them college towns. This campaign has been a dismal failure so far. Why? I can tell you why. It is because God is doing something among the young people in America again. Many are moving past and beyond their baby-boomer parent’s milk-toast Christian religion. They are seeking truth. Unlike most of the kids of my generation, they can tell truth from religious dogma, and they have some recent history to help them. Anyway, I think the vast majority of kids nowadays can sniff out the Local Church religion in a heartbeat. They will reject such religion and go about their business in search for the truth.
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I guess I should have been more clear. I was talking specifically about the U.S. and Canada. I mentioned the trainings around the world, because I think it indicates that
the increase in FTTA enrollment is actually home-grown, so to speak. Personally, I've known many "American" trainees, but maybe that's just a "
co-wink-ee-dink".
Not to nitpick, but when you say the numbers are way down from the 70's and early 80's,
aren't you really talking about the decline in membership that happened in the 80's? Not that that's irrelevant, it's just that it's...25 years ago. The simple fact that they've chugged along successfully
for a generation "post-fermentation", to me that speaks volumes. Even if they've never grown back to "pre-fermentation" numbers.
As for the campus work. The "Austin apprenticeship" started in the late 90's. Personally, I've known many people who "came off the campuses", many of whom went on to the training. Obviously, we're talking about different situations in different places. But the "key cities" campaign you mentioned, didn't that just start in the last 3-4 years? That would seem way too early to judge...but maybe we're talking about two different things.