There has been a numerical decline for four or more years. Worship attendance is in a steady decline. Offerings may decline more slowly as the “remnant” gives more to keep the church going. There are few or no conversions. Decline is clear and pervasive.
The church does not look like the community in which it is located. The community has changed its ethnic, racial, or socioeconomic makeup, but the church has not. Many members are driving from other places to come to the church. The community likely knows little or nothing about the church. And the church likely knows little or nothing about the community.
The congregation is mostly comprised of senior adults. It is just a few years of funerals away from having no one left in the church.
The focus is on the past, not the future. Most conversations are about “the good old days.” Those good old days may have been 25 or more years in the past. Often a hero pastor of the past is held as the model to emulate.
The members are intensely preference-driven. They are more concerned about their music style, their programs, their schedules, and their facilities than reaching people with the gospel. Their definition of discipleship is “others taking care of my needs.”
The budget is severely inwardly focused. Most of the funds are expended to keep the lights on and/or to meet the preferences of the members. There are few dollars for ministry and missions. And any dollars for missions rarely include the involvement of the members in actually sharing the gospel themselves.
There are sacred cow facilities. It might be a parlor or a pulpit. It could be pews instead of chairs. It might be the entirety of the worship center or the sanctuary. Members insist on holding tightly to those things God wants us to hold loosely.
Any type of change is met with fierce resistance. The members are confronted with the choice to change or die. And though few would articulate it, their choice by their actions or lack of actions is the choice to die.
A couple of years back, I was discussing the decline of churches and community organizations with my grandmother, who noted that she really didn’t think people today knew they “needed to join them.” Well, yes, exactly. And how shall they know without a preacher, as someone said? The decline of churches is not really the fault of people becoming more worldly, but rather of churches turning inward instead of outward.
“The decline of churches is not really the fault of people becoming more worldly, but rather of churches turning inward instead of outward.” Although sometimes true, not always true. Many small churches have very active evangelistic ministries yet see few saved as a result. Many reasons for this, not simplistic as suggested.
Possible Reasons: Numerical decline in community population, lack of conviction of sin & guilt in unbelievers, selfishness by unbelievers to continue their life as is, people looking for handouts from church & not interested in the gospel, Christians whose commitment to any church is minimal (“Sunday morning service only, don’t bother me the rest of the day or week”), attraction of TV & radio ministries as a substitute, unwillingness to give money to a church & therefore people don’t go to any church [more common than you think] , outdoor activities have become people’s “god”, growing individualism among Christians and therefore reluctance to associate with any church. This is only a small sample of possible reasons. In other countries, persecution has decimated churches as Christians leave and therefore churches close.
I wouldn’t be so quick to blame the churches themselves. Although a church may be the cause of its own decline, many other reasons exist as possibilities. To automatically blame the church for being too “inward” is theologically immature.
Now Wally, we can say that at times, God does not indeed give the increase, but if our earnest efforts at evangelism are bearing no fruit, shouldn’t we be willing to consider the possibility that either our efforts are Biblically uninformed, or they are culturally clueless?
No Bert, we do not HAVE to say that. Your reasons are certainly possible, but your analysis leaves out so many factors that we should consider. Also remember that several times Revelation describes people refusing to repent even though they know the truth abut what is happening to them. So I doubt we can say that the churches at that time will be uninformed or clueless. My point is very simple: Decline in churches has multiple reasons and not all of them are a church’s fault.
We were just gifted one of these church buildings. It is a 225 year old United Church of Christ build in a declining community where the congregation had fallen to just about 10 people. We have the resources and people to reclaim this building, and are looking forward to joining this community and hopefully using this building to help make a difference, both for eternity but also making a difference in their lives today. https://lcbcchurch.wistia.com/medias/hv1qcwcjmz?wvideo=hv1qcwcjmz&foreign_data=mailchimp_campaign_id%3Ab444a0ceeb
We were just gifted one of these church buildings. It is a 225 year old United Church of Christ build in a declining community where the congregation had fallen to just about 10 people. We have the resources and people to reclaim this building, and are looking forward to joining this community and hopefully using this building to help make a difference, both for eternity but also making a difference in their lives today. https://lcbcchurch.wistia.com/medias/hv1qcwcjmz?wvideo=hv1qcwcjmz&foreign_data=mailchimp_campaign_id%3Ab444a0ceeb
Paul, that’s great and I’m glad to see how God is using LCBC. I have a coworker who has attended the Branch Creek location for years and has been really blessed by their ministry.
No Bert, we do not HAVE to say that. Your reasons are certainly possible, but your analysis leaves out so many factors that we should consider. Also remember that several times Revelation describes people refusing to repent even though they know the truth abut what is happening to them. So I doubt we can say that the churches at that time will be uninformed or clueless. My point is very simple: Decline in churches has multiple reasons and not all of them are a church’s fault.
I didn’t say you “had” to say anything, Wally. I simply pointed out that we ought to consider the possibility that the reason our community is rejecting our evangelism and discipleship efforts isn’t a rejection of the Gospel, but rather a rejection of us and our methods. Is that so much?
Every time I see “The church does not look like the community in which it is located” or something similar to that, I think it might be better to say, “The church is indifferent in regards to being salt and light to community around it.”
I know that the statement as given is in the context of ethnicity and so forth, but there are times and places when the best of efforts and intentions do not result in God’s blessing of bringing into the fellowship an even representative sample of the surrounding community.
There could be a danger for the church in this situation to respond by making pragmatic decisions that are otherwise detrimental to the health of the church.
For instance, they might discover that the people in their community would be much more apt to attend if the preaching stopped talking about sin and judgment, and instead changed to warm, fuzzy preaching that tells people what they want to hear in their flesh instead of what they need to hear.
Discussion
NewThe death spiral
Eight Signs Your Church May Be Closing Soon
Twitter
Jim's Doctrinal Statement
New"Don't they know?"
A couple of years back, I was discussing the decline of churches and community organizations with my grandmother, who noted that she really didn’t think people today knew they “needed to join them.” Well, yes, exactly. And how shall they know without a preacher, as someone said? The decline of churches is not really the fault of people becoming more worldly, but rather of churches turning inward instead of outward.
Aspiring to be a stick in the mud.
NewNot Always True
“The decline of churches is not really the fault of people becoming more worldly, but rather of churches turning inward instead of outward.” Although sometimes true, not always true. Many small churches have very active evangelistic ministries yet see few saved as a result. Many reasons for this, not simplistic as suggested.
Possible Reasons: Numerical decline in community population, lack of conviction of sin & guilt in unbelievers, selfishness by unbelievers to continue their life as is, people looking for handouts from church & not interested in the gospel, Christians whose commitment to any church is minimal (“Sunday morning service only, don’t bother me the rest of the day or week”), attraction of TV & radio ministries as a substitute, unwillingness to give money to a church & therefore people don’t go to any church [more common than you think] , outdoor activities have become people’s “god”, growing individualism among Christians and therefore reluctance to associate with any church. This is only a small sample of possible reasons. In other countries, persecution has decimated churches as Christians leave and therefore churches close.
I wouldn’t be so quick to blame the churches themselves. Although a church may be the cause of its own decline, many other reasons exist as possibilities. To automatically blame the church for being too “inward” is theologically immature.
Wally Morris
Huntington, IN
NewAdditionally . . .
Here are links to two articles I wrote at Proclaim & Defend that relate to this issue:
https://www.proclaimanddefend.org/2014/04/01/what-do-we-build-that-lasts/
https://www.proclaimanddefend.org/2015/05/06/is-our-culture-our-failure/
Wally Morris
Huntington, IN
NewSome will close ...
Twitter
Jim's Doctrinal Statement
NewLooking inward
Now Wally, we can say that at times, God does not indeed give the increase, but if our earnest efforts at evangelism are bearing no fruit, shouldn’t we be willing to consider the possibility that either our efforts are Biblically uninformed, or they are culturally clueless?
Aspiring to be a stick in the mud.
NewNo Bert, we do not HAVE to
No Bert, we do not HAVE to say that. Your reasons are certainly possible, but your analysis leaves out so many factors that we should consider. Also remember that several times Revelation describes people refusing to repent even though they know the truth abut what is happening to them. So I doubt we can say that the churches at that time will be uninformed or clueless. My point is very simple: Decline in churches has multiple reasons and not all of them are a church’s fault.
Wally Morris
Huntington, IN
NewWe were just gifted one of these buildings
We were just gifted one of these church buildings. It is a 225 year old United Church of Christ build in a declining community where the congregation had fallen to just about 10 people. We have the resources and people to reclaim this building, and are looking forward to joining this community and hopefully using this building to help make a difference, both for eternity but also making a difference in their lives today. https://lcbcchurch.wistia.com/medias/hv1qcwcjmz?wvideo=hv1qcwcjmz&foreign_data=mailchimp_campaign_id%3Ab444a0ceeb
NewPaul J wrote:
Paul, that’s great and I’m glad to see how God is using LCBC. I have a coworker who has attended the Branch Creek location for years and has been really blessed by their ministry.
NewKen S
Ken, are you at Allentown Bible Church?
NewPaul J wrote:
Yep, that’s me. How’d you find me?
NewI bumped into Joe Fox on
I bumped into Joe Fox on another Facebook Group a while back. Are you newer on staff there?
NewHuh?
I didn’t say you “had” to say anything, Wally. I simply pointed out that we ought to consider the possibility that the reason our community is rejecting our evangelism and discipleship efforts isn’t a rejection of the Gospel, but rather a rejection of us and our methods. Is that so much?
Aspiring to be a stick in the mud.
New"The church does not look like the community"
Every time I see “The church does not look like the community in which it is located” or something similar to that, I think it might be better to say, “The church is indifferent in regards to being salt and light to community around it.”
I know that the statement as given is in the context of ethnicity and so forth, but there are times and places when the best of efforts and intentions do not result in God’s blessing of bringing into the fellowship an even representative sample of the surrounding community.
There could be a danger for the church in this situation to respond by making pragmatic decisions that are otherwise detrimental to the health of the church.
For instance, they might discover that the people in their community would be much more apt to attend if the preaching stopped talking about sin and judgment, and instead changed to warm, fuzzy preaching that tells people what they want to hear in their flesh instead of what they need to hear.
NewPaul J wrote:
Since 2015. Technically though, we have four leaders on our leadership team but only one is actually paid staff (and it’s not me or Joe).