There are a lot of projected reasons as to why the Church is in decline. Everyone has a theory as to why this is the case and, adding to the conversation, here is my theory.
We are too focused on churches to the detriment of Church.
I am not talking about the idea that we are too focused on the institution of the church or the four walls of the church or not reaching out to new people or not changing worship styles.
I am talking about scale. We are too focused on our own little church to the detriment of the larger, universal (catholic) Church.
The problems of our day are massive in size. Global hunger. Poverty. Preventable diseases. Homelessness. Education. Violence.
These are massive problems and require massive structure in order to address and take them head on. When we focus on our little church we are limited by what our church can do, repair, help, and reconcile. Even the largest individual churches pale in comparison in scale compared to most denominations. The Catholic Church has over 1 billion people.
That is scale. That is scale that can change the world.
Perhaps our individual churches remain small because we do not focus on the Church, but we are focused on our little church.
A cup of water can quench an individual, a well can sustain a village.
A church can help an individual, the Church can change the world.