SIGNS & WONDERS
Decline of the Mainline, Kirk Cameron on Hell, Boy Scouts Freefall
EDITOR’S NOTE: “Signs and Wonders” is a column that shares thoughts on news items that either do not rise to the level of a news story for MinistryWatch or are slightly (perhaps even significantly) outside of our normal charity and philanthropy “beat.” My goal is to be punchy, opinionated, and not to worry much about being slightly off-brand. If that is not for you, no hard feelings. But if it is…read on.
Slide of Episcopal Church Continues. My data guru, Ryan Burge, has published a new analysis of the Episcopal Church. He found that “the high-water mark for The Episcopal Church was in 1959, with a reported total of 3.44 million members.” That made it the fourth largest Protestant denomination in the country. It’s also important to remember that in 1959, the population of America was about half what it is today. Today, though, membership in the Episcopal Church has fallen to 1.5 million. Even more striking, average Sunday attendance in the Episcopal Church fell to 411,000 in 2023, the latest year for which we have data. Also worth noting: half the members of the Episcopal Church are over the age of 65. Burge concludes, “It’s really hard to be optimistic” about the future of the Episcopal Church and sister mainline denominations.
Kirk Cameron and Hell. Former child actor and current evangelical celebrity and apologist Kirk Cameron caused a stir by saying he was “rethinking hell.” I feel his pain. Hell is one of those doctrines I wish didn’t exist. The only problem: belief in hell has been a core Christian doctrine since the beginning of the church. Jesus himself spoke of hell repeatedly. If you rethink hell, what’s next? The resurrection? Again, I understand Kirk Cameron’s struggles, and hopefully his public utterances are nothing more than a misguided attempt at transparency as he wrestles with the issue. Until then, I recommend this piece by Al Mohler, “The Deadly Danger of Remodeling Hell.” In it, Mohler clearly defends the doctrine, and explains why rejecting it is so destructive for the church and for those who fail to take hell seriously. I also recommend this short video by Ray Comfort, Cameron’s long-time friend, who distances himself from his former ministry partner.
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Doctrine Matters. By the way, both pieces above highlight the importance of doctrine in evaluating ministries and churches. That’s one reason MinistryWatch requires ministries to have a biblical statement of faith in order to receive our highest ratings. If you want to know more about our ratings, click here. If you want to see MinistryWatch’s statement of faith, click here.
Abortion On the Rise. LifeNews.com reports that more than 100 abortion facilities have closed since the overturning of Roe v. Wade, with 23 of those closures taking place this year. Unfortunately, that’s only part of the story. About 60 abortion facilities have opened in pro-abort states during that same time. Also, with the growth of chemical abortions, usually administered via telemedicine, the number of abortions in the United States has actually gone up, not down, since Roe was overturned. Why is that? It’s due in part to the fact that the pro-life movement focused too much energy winning legal battles without actually winning the hearts and minds of Americans. And, in many cases, our political techniques alienated those we need to win over in order to eliminate abortion. In other words, what Christians do matter, and how they do it matters as well.
Scouting America’s Continued Decline. The group formerly known as the Boy Scouts of America continues its decline. It once had more than 6 million members. According to the latest numbers, membership hovers at around 1 million. Total youth membership dropped dramatically from approximately 2.08 million in 2018 to about 1.03 million in 2025. Concurrently, a report indicated female membership grew from near-zero to nearly 200,000 in the same period. If the 2025 total is 1,030,858 youth with 200,000 girls, that suggests only 830,000 boys—a loss of approximately 1.25 million boys since 2018.
Tim Ballard Under Scrutiny. For a hot minute, Tim Ballard and Operation Underground Railroad were evangelical darlings because they claimed to fight sex trafficking, a cause celebre in the evangelical world. A 2023 movie about Ballard, “Sound of Freedom,” was a box office hit. But we’ve long been skeptical of his story, and he was ousted from his leadership role at OUR. He has since been the subject of as many as eight lawsuits. Now, some of the men who were arrested in stings associated with Ballard are asking that their cases be reopened. The left leaning news organization “The Appeal” has a fascinating story on the latest related to Ballard. You can read it here.
Guide To Anti-Sex Trafficking Organizations. By the way, MinistryWatch has published a guide to anti-sex trafficking organizations. You can find it here.
