The 1960s were a period when long-held values and morality seemed to break down, particularly among the adolescents and young adults. Many college-age men and women pushed back against the perceived “Establishment” of previous generations. Sex, drugs, rock ‘n’ roll, and antiwar protests were badges of belonging.

Radicals and hippies urged people to kick down “Victorian” and “Puritanical” restraints on their freedoms and behaviors. The results were free sex, living together, birth control pills, unwed mothers, feminism, increased divorce and abortion.

The countercultural revolution has changed people’s behaviors over the following decades.

The statistics don’t look good. Pastor Jon Hein, who works in our Synod office compiled a comprehensive demographic study of the WELS and other Christian denominations.

The study reveals that if the downward trends continue in the WELS, in the next two decades, we will lose approximately 106,000 members. That’s a 29% decline in membership across the Synod.

The Missouri Synod (LC-MS) loses a higher percentage of its membership annually than the WELS.

This denominational decline is not unique to Lutheranism. The largest Presbyterian church body in America has lost almost half of its members since the 60s. The same is true for the Episcopal Church. The Methodist Church is down 33%. The Reformed Church in America is down over 60%.

When we were on vacation in Cincinnati last summer, my family stopped for a snack at Tom and Chee’s restaurant, which is across from the Newport Aquarium. We ordered their world-famous Grilled Cheese Donut. It is exactly what the name implies – a perfectly made melted cheese sandwich on a wonderfully grilled donut. It was heavenly! (Although, I’m probably going to heaven sooner after having eaten it.)

There was a certain rich man who was decked out in the finest clothing. Every day was a feast. His closest friends gathered round about him, delighting in his company, and he in theirs. This rich man led the best of lives, had the best things in this world. He was a blessed man.

And this rich man’s name was Lazarus.

I recently read an article entitled, “How Pastoral Care Stunts the Growth of Most Churches.” It was written by Pastor Carey Nieuwhof, who is not a Lutheran pastor. In the article, the author suggests that churches will not grow numerically if the pastor is busy visiting the sick, the elderly, the infirm, and the straying. Taking the time to do that work means that he does not have time to plan, organize, and evangelize.

Have you ever felt discouraged? Despair? Depression? Loneliness?

Depression is a fog that surrounds you. It clouds your mind. It saps your energy. It distorts your view of reality. When depression descends, you can’t see anything good, everything feels sad, everything appears gloomy and dark. Then, the loneliness can set in. Friends and family leave you alone because depressed people are not especially fun to be around.

We just sang, “Day by Day.” This hymn was written by a young Swedish woman named Lina Sandell Berg. Because Lina was never strong as a child, she spent most of her time in her father’s study rather than playing outside. Lina grew very close with her father, who was a Lutheran minister.

When she was twenty-six, Lina accompanied her father on a voyage to Gothenburg. But, tragedy struck before they could reach their destination. As they stood together on deck, the boat lurched and her father fell overboard. The crew tried to save him, but they couldn’t. Lina’s father watched her father drown.

It was Christmas morning many, many years ago. One of my relatives was attending a University of Wisconsin school and had been taken in by the liberal philosophies of the professors and the evolution evangelized in the biology and science classes she took. She decided that Christmas morning was an appropriate time to challenge me on the truth of the Bible.

My dad is the youngest of five children. My dad’s mother died when he was only 4 years old. That left my dad’s father with five children to raise on his own. It was too much for him. A year later, my dad’s father died from a nervous breakdown.

Within a year, my dad had lost both of his parents. He was now an orphan.