by Alan Langstaff

This month of February is my birthday month. Towards the end of the month, I will turn 90 years of age. I was born in the middle of the Great Depression and can still remember the Second World War and all the decades ever since, together with the changes that have occurred over the years even in the Church. So this month I want to look at some of those changes, including in the Church. Let me touch on 10 changes in the church over these many years, especially in Evangelical and Pentecostal churches. (What are your changes?)

1) HYMNS THEN. SONGS NOW.

When I grew up we had a church Hymn Book; all we ever sang were hymns. Not so today. In many if not most churches, contemporary songs are ever-present. I remember when the popular song “Shout to the Lord” from Australia was first sung. That was over 30 years ago. So, choruses and songs have become more popular than hymns. Sadly some great hymns are rarely sung.

2) MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS

When I grew up church usually had organs or if they couldn’t afford an organ, a piano would do. Not so today. We have guitars, drums, keyboards, even a whole band. One of my favorite cartoons is a picture of a father showing his son a scar on his arm, “See this” he says, “that was 1972 and the battle of guitars in the sanctuary.” How long since you heard an organ?

3) CLOTHES

When I grew up people went to church in their “Sunday best.” Ladies even wore hats and men always wore ties. Not so today. They come in all sorts of gear. It was the Vineyard in California, if I have it correctly, that started the trend of informal casual attire especially in youth-oriented churches. So much so for “Sunday best.” Perhaps some Black churches are an exception.

4) NON-DENOMINATIONAL CHURCHES

When I grew up there were only denominational churches. You were a Methodist, or a Presbyterian, or a Baptist, etc, etc. Not so today. We have seen the rise of non-denominational churches and many of the largest churches today are that way. This took place around the early 1970’s when only 3% of churches were non-denominational. This is amongst evangelical churches. One example of this is President Donald Trump. He grew up going to a Presbyterian church but today he calls himself “non-denominational.”

5) TECHNOLOGY

It is hard to visualize the church back in the last century without technology. Without emails, overhead screens, and all the various electronics today. Such as Scripture on our phones, etc. Young people growing up today have not known anything different. That is their world. People my age, however, can remember when things were quite different. We didn’t even have a phone in our home let alone a cell phone.

6) CHOIRS

When I grew up larger churches had choirs who sang in the service, usually when the offering was being received. It is still there in some churches and you can see it on TV Services, but generally speaking, it is a thing of the past. Likewise, special singers are no longer featured, rather it is congregational singing most of the time.

7) OFFERINGS

Part of the old-time services was the offering – the time to pass the plate – which were all sorts of things from plates to bags. Not so today. Indeed I went to visit a larger church in my city and there was no reference at that service to an offering and not a reference to giving in the service. I eventually found out there were boxes in the foyer where I could leave my offering. Today people give in all sorts of ways including electronically. I still believe reference should be made in the services as giving is part of worship.

8) SERVICE TIMES

Originally the time for church on a Sunday morning was 11:00 am. It has been suggested that this was initially chosen to suit the farmers who milked their cows. It allowed them to get cleaned up for church. Then there was the Sunday night church which was more evangelical with a message to unsaved people. But now there is no longer a set time for church and the Sunday evening service is mostly non-existent in evangelical churches. Some have tried a Saturday night service but generally speaking that hasn’t caught on.

9) TV SERVICES

In recent times, especially since COVID, TV Services at home have become a substitute for going in person to a service. There are times when this is right. When my wife was ill before she died, I stayed home each Sunday and we listened together or watched a TV service from a local church. But to do that forever is to miss the full life of the church. Believers need to relate to other believers and that means personal involvement in a local church.

10) MISSION

When I grew up our denomination had a Missions department and they handled the mission work of the church. Once or twice a year we would have a Missions Sunday often with a special speaker. Not so now. Many churches get directly involved in Missions themselves, both in raising money for missions and also in sending out missionaries. One of the churches here in the Twin Cities, River Valley Church, has a special emphasis on what they call “Kingdom Builders.” In this last year of 2024 they raised $12,349,665 for Kingdom Builders above and beyond their regular tithes and offerings. Many other churches are also highly committed to missions.

LAUNCH OUT INTO THE DEEP

Years ago, as a young man of 20 years, in January 1956, I preached my first sermon. The idea for the sermon came from Lloyd C. Douglas and it was about the story in Luke chapter 5 of the disciples fishing all night and catching nothing. Along comes Jesus and he tells them to put out their nets on the other side of the boat. They did and they caught a large lot of fish. They had to change their way of fishing.

The church whilst built on a foundation that is never to change is also called to change to meet the needs of a changing world. Sadly most of the church is bound by tradition and they keep doing the same thing “year after year.” Someone has said, “The last seven words of a dying church is ‘We haven’t done it that way before.”

Isaiah declared in his generation that God was about to do a new thing.

“Behold, the former things have come to pass,
And new things I declare.” (Isaiah 42:9 NKJV)

May the church be ever ready to take a step of faith and obedience and do new things as the Lord leads.