Roughly half of all Americans do not go to church. Of the 2,000 calls made by conference participants, about 100 residents agreed to receive information about Zion Lutheran Church. More than 500 residents said they belong to other churches, reported Zorb. It is a noisy world as we go into the 21st century. There is a flood of choices in which people can get information, ways people can seek out connections to other people.
People are in fact striving for meaning and spirituality.
The Rev. Asha Mary George-Guiser, assistant to the bishop for the ELCA's Southeastern Pennsylvania Synod, preached at the closing worship. Jesus is on-line, all the time. The Rev. Barbara Berry-Bailey, pastor for Trinity Lutheran Church, Philadelphia, and Lori Claudio, assistant to the bishop for the ELCA's Metropolitan New York Synod, served as the conference's Bible study leaders. What people long for and look for in Jesus Christ is compassion and community. People look for the bread of compassion and the wine of community.