Why Conservative Churches Are Growing
             In this book Kelley addresses the issue that many mainline denominations are drastically decreasing in size and yet there are churches and religious groups that are growing, and the question is what is the difference between the two? The thesis of the book is that these churches that are dying do not need more sales, social events, or more entertainment. People can get these things anywhere, and the church cannot compete with many of the places offering these things. However, people come to church for religion and meaning and if they are not being offered this why should they come for anything else?
             Before we can address why conservative churches are growing, we must first look at why many mainline churches are decreasing. Many have said that the culture we live in today, modern man no longer needs religion. Even if he wants religion, he no longer needs churches, and even if he desires both of these, he certainly does not want those unreasonable requirements and absurd beliefs that require much of him. However, according to Kelley these assumptions go completely contrary to the evidence. Man needs religion just as much today as he has ever needed it in the past and it is precisely those unreasonable requirements and absurd beliefs that require much of him that give him the meaning that he desires. According to Kelley, it is the religious groups that persist in such "unreasonable" and "unsociable" behavior that are flourishing, while the more "reasonable" and "sociable" bodies are not.
             Kelley looks at many denominations within the protestant realm to help make his point. He points to Lutheran, Presbyterian, Episcopalian, and Methodist churches who are all declining and contrasts them to Seventh-Day Adventists, Nazarenes, Jehovah's Witnesses, and the Salvation Army who are all growing faster than the national population (the book was written in the 70's). How...