A.      Membership in local churches of Christ in the United States is decreasing while the general population of our nation is increasing every year.

                                                              1.      If this trend continues, it would ultimately mean the practical extinction of the churches of Christ in this nation.

                                                              2.      This is not meant as a prediction of what will happen, but this extreme consequence is stated to alert members of the churches of Christ that there is a serious problem.

B.       This trend is troubling, yet we must understand that decreasing membership is not the problem that the churches need to address directly.