This may be news to many people, especially the denominational and synodical managers (they are not leaders). There is only one easy step to escape the plummeting future, which has two parts.
1. Faith in Jesus Christ is access to God's grace.
2. The Gospel plants the seed of faith through preaching, teaching, and Holy Baptism.
The Gospel is the Spirit's work in the Means of Grace, without entertainment, conditions, errors, watering down, legalizing, or rationalizing. Nothing is more damning than saying, "We had 573 at our special event! The parking lot was full because our new program!"
More damning is the parson who says, "We don't have enough people to have mid-week worship services." That lazy parson is denying faith in Christ, access to God's grace, Romans 5:1-2, which makes his plea as empty as his head.
A congregation has more power than an electrical substation, but that has been short-circuited by those who exploit everything except the Gospel preached and taught, the Sacraments of Holy Baptism and Holy Communion.
KJV Matthew 18:20 - 20 For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.
When was the last time Matthew's verse was spoken? "Confessionalism is told to whisper low in Jerusalem lest she be heard in the streets of Gath." T. Schmauk
The Big Five do not teach the Scriptures. They might be forgiven for using the Dynamic Equivocation of the NIV, RSV, ESV, NRSV, and Beck tragedies, but this is no time to whisper low. The managers have reached the low-point where they have nothing left but to sink down month by month.
Can the synodical managers even spell his name correctly? They call themselves "Confessional" but reject the Augsburg Confession, as Dr. Lito Cruz has noted.
