Metrics of Renewal, 4: Seemingly Vibrant Churches in Unexpected Places
Liberec, Czech Republic. Not a highlighted spot on most people's maps. Certainly not a well-known place. But I lived in the Czech Republic for the better part of a decade, and I know its regions and cities. This article tells the tale of one church I encountered that displays all the characteristics of a seemingly vibrant church in an unexpected place. Communism decimated Czech churches. It's hard to destroy 1100 years of Christianity, and Communism wasn't the only philosophy to mount an assault on belief in the modern age. But Communism managed to finish off an entire generation of believers. When I moved to Prague, conservative Protestant or "evangelical" churches could claim maybe 50,000 people out of a population of 10 million. And many of those churches were demoralized after discovering that the fall of Communism didn't bring the masses flocking back through their doors. Czech churches certainly needed renewal, but I didn't see much sign of it....