6
THE ROAD DOWNHILL
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Nothing killed Oak Valley Community Church; it looked like it was fading out, but it actually committed suicide in secret. The beginning of the decline looked like a normal fluctuation in membership, but before long the church could only keep its essential programs going. One by one the others closed down. The church's once-healthy finances had also gone from a dip to a crash. Survival was only possible through a generous grant from denominational headquarters. The few remaining members were all retirees with negligible disposable income. Sitting through their meetings was an endurance test. The remaining members were left plodding along in a gloomy rut, so bound to it that they feared change even more than the rut. The new pastor had been there for more than a year. He had now thrown in the towel and was waiting for the chance to move to a better church. In the advanced stages of stagnation, the church might not be able to attract a pastor, or afford one. These piteous churches have a few elderly women and even fewer elderly men. But they generally have no men between thirty and fifty years of age, and the trend is that there are not many women of that age either. The few that remain are often oddballs and social misfits, who only add to the church's social isolation from the wider community. Many members are absent and making their primary allegiances elsewhere, either in other churches or in non-Christian circles. The stagnation syndrome has taken deadly control of every aspect of church life. It is facing the end. Churches try not to close down because it would be an admission of defeat. They amalgamate with other churches; many amalgamations are really deaths in disguise, and many are not much more successful. Often, when two amalgamating churches choose to use one existing building and sell the other, the people whose building is sold tend to either stop attending church altogether or move to another separate church. Churches might be willing to act when every member hears death knocking on the door. But in too many cases, churches prefer to die rather than risk the trauma of renewal or replanting. Tips There is hope. The steps to renewal at the end of the previous chapter might help if your church is only dipping into the stage of decline. It is too late for renewal in many advanced cases. You are basically replanting a church from scratch using the support of the people you have. You need a clear mandate, which might not be easy to get. Even though members agree to change beforehand, they might be hurt or angry if it happens; for them the grief is real and you must not underestimate it. The church might pay its pastor a meager salary and provide facilities, outdated as they probably are. You need to know how to plant a church. Remember, start small and keep focused. |