Recently a brother from England brought us a copy of the statistics of the whole of Christianity in England. Almost every group in England—whether the Catholic Church, the Baptist Church, the Presbyterian Church, the Methodist Church, or the Episcopal Church—has dropped in its numbers. Only one newly formed group called the “Home Church” is increasing in number. In England and the United States no other religion has as much influence as Protestantism and Catholicism. On April 19, 1987, the Sunday Times of England published a report on the number of people in the major denominations in 1970, 1980, and 1985 and included a prediction for 1990. The first denomination is the state church, the Anglican Church, which is also called the Episcopal Church or the Church of England. Their numbers were 2,500,000 in 1970, 2,100,000 in 1980, 1,980,000 in 1985, and the prediction for 1990 is 1,800,000. This shows a decreasing trend. In other words, they did not have a gain but a loss.
The second denomination is the Presbyterian Church. Their numbers were 1,700,000 in 1970, 1,400,000 in 1980, 1,300,000 in 1985, and the prediction for 1990 is 1,200,000. Their number is also decreasing sharply. The third one is the Baptist Church, which produced the great gospel preacher C. H. Spurgeon a century ago. The number in the Baptist Church was 870,000 in 1970, 700,000 in 1980, 640,000 in 1985, and the prediction for 1990 is 580,000. This is also a decreasing trend. The Methodist Church, also called the Wesleyan Church, being founded by John Wesley, is also included in this trend. These are the numbers in the Protestant denominations.
Next we come to the Roman Catholic Church. Their numbers were 2,650,000 in 1970, 2,300,000 in 1980, 2,130,000 in 1985, and the prediction for 1990 is 1,960,000. Without exception, this also shows a downward trend. As for the Pentecostal Church, there were 91,000 in 1970, 89,000 in 1980, 78,000 in 1985, and an estimate of 71,000 in 1990. Some people say that the charismatic groups are spreading rapidly and are powerful in the Western world, but in fact the charismatic group in England has decreased, not increased. Hence, even the Pentecostal and charismatic movements have had no power at all.
The numbers in the independent churches were 250,000 in 1970, 220,000 both in 1980 and 1985, and the prediction for 1990 remains at 220,000, showing no further increase or decrease in number. This situation may be considered to be the best one. Then we come to the Home Church. It was not in existence in 1970, but the number in 1980 was 25,000, in 1985 was 89,000, and the prediction for 1990 is 145,000. In the beginning the number was 25,000, but by 1990 it is estimated to have 145,000. From these predictions and statistics, we have an impression that we must take the way of homes. These statistics are not insignificant. Within the twenty years between 1970 and 1990, all the major sects and denominations, including the larger ones, have been decreasing in number. Without exception every one of them has displayed a downward trend. However, only the Home Church, which was not even in existence in 1970 but was recently raised up, is on the increase. This is a warning to us.
Therefore, we have a reason to change the system. Before the change of system, we also showed the same downward trend. This is not a small matter. Christianity has come to such a point because no one wants to labor. Everyone wants to “go to restaurants,” and no one wants to “cook.” When we first started the work in Taiwan thirty-eight years ago, we paid much attention to small groups and put emphasis on the small group meetings. Therefore, there was a constant increase and multiplication. However, gradually the small groups disappeared, and we went backward and retrograded. For this reason, we were led by the Lord to strictly correct this error by abandoning the way we practiced, changing from big meetings in the meeting hall to the meetings in the homes.
By the Lord’s grace, we know that leading a home meeting is not easy. Nevertheless, there is a secret of success. We have used the illustration of eating, but we must also consider man’s need for education. Education is not achieved by luck. A person grows not only physically but also in maturity. He must be matured to the age of twenty-five to twenty-eight before he can receive a doctoral degree. A person’s education progresses from kindergarten, through elementary school, junior high, high school, and then college. In a sense, no one likes to take this way, because it is difficult. However, those who have the understanding of human life realize that a person must be willing to spend twenty years in studying, from kindergarten at the age of four, all the way through college or graduate research afterward. Then his education can be considered adequate.
Six thousand years of human culture have progressed to the state where everything begins with education. In the past even an illiterate person could work in a factory, but today to work in a factory requires a minimum of a junior high education. This compels people to pursue education. We truly respect the parents in Taiwan. They are frugal in eating and spending so that their children’s education can be furthered. Because of this, Taiwan has advanced to where it is today. This is absolutely not by chance. This illustrates our need for continual learning in changing the system from the big meetings to the home meetings.