A Tale of Two Churches

From the Living Church:

The decline among youth involved in [the Episcopal] church is particularly sharp. Episcopalians tend to be disproportionately older than the general population, Mr. Hadaway said. “That means a higher death rate and a lower birth rate. We are not replacing those members who are dying,” he said. During the past five years, membership has declined 7 percent. The five-year decline in average Sunday attendance is 11 percent.

From the Washington Times:

Roman Catholic churches nationwide are rushing to accommodate a surge in demand for the traditional Latin Mass, which is drawing a surprising new crowd: young people.

Since July, when a decree from Pope Benedict XVI lifted decades-old restrictions on celebrating the Tridentine Mass, seven churches in the Washington metropolitan area have added the liturgy to their weekly Sunday schedules.

"I love the Latin Mass," said Audrey Kunkel, 20, of Cincinnati. "It's amazing to think that I"m attending the same Mass that has formed saints throughout the centuries."

[snip]

The Tridentine Mass helps people in their 20s and 30s who have grown up in a culture that lacks stability and orthodoxy see something larger than themselves: the glory of God, said Geoffrey Coleman of the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter"s Our Lady of Guadalupe seminary in Denton, Neb.

I don't wish to be accused of triumphalism when I juxtapose these quotes. As I have written before, I get no joy seeing the Episcopal Church spiraling into oblivion but at the same time it's hard to muster up sympathy for those blinkered fools running it who claim their 'sixties agenda, their clown and Hip-Hop Masses, their U2charists etc. are all aimed at drawing young people into the emptying churches. All they have to do is attend a Traditional Latin Mass at a Catholic Church and make a rough calculation the percentage of those attending who are under forty. If they did, they might reconsider their hideous innovations but only if they are truly interested in getting all young people into their churches, not just those who think exactly as they do.