Sinners were urged to leave their anonymous seats in the back, and to move forward as the preacher railed against the evils of the day. Since then, the altar service has become such a staple in the church's diet, that most Christians over sixty years old still tell you they were first converted there. The altar was the Mount Moriah or burning bush of the last generation. Nearly every milestone in their spiritual pilgrimage was commemorated by a trip to the altar. But not anymore.
Many churches now install a drama team and an orchestra pit before ever considering an altar rail.
Their audience doesn't like it. It is still true today. In today's church, it still takes nearly eight conversions to add a single person to the morning worship attendance. That is, our quantity is up, but our quality is down. We almost never hear of the chain smoker who suddenly quits in a day, or the town drunk who becomes as religious one day, as he was antagonistic the day before.