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When a church is dying, what are its options? Today we cover five of the most common pathways for dying churches.
Today’s Listener Question:
FROM WILLIAM
Our church is on its last legs. We have a little money left in our accounts, but not enough for a full-time pastor salary. There are only a few elderly families left in the church, and we don’t do much more than meet each Sunday morning for Bible study and worship. Do we just need to close or is there another option. Some just want to sell the building and give the money to a local ministry. I’d hate drive by in a year and see a strip mall where our church used to be.
Episode Highlights:
- For a neighborhood, the church building indicates a sacred space.
- Every neighborhood should benefit from a local church.
- “A vacant church looks like a long-abandoned castle of a long-forgotten king.” – Graham Singh
- Church mergers are really starting to work well when the younger church cares well for the older church.
- An abundance of activity anesthetizes the pain of death in dying churches.
The five pathways for dying churches that we cover in this episode are:
- Give the building to a healthier church
- Give the building to a church planter
- Share the building with another church
- Merge
- Replant from within
Resources mentioned in this episode include:
- ChurchReplanters.com
- Find more resources at the Revitalize & Replant page at ThomRainer.com
Revitalize & Replant is sponsored by the North American Mission Board and ChurchReplanters.com. More than 10% of churches in North America are at risk of closing and the North American Mission Board is committed to reversing this trend by decreasing the death rate of existing churches while simultaneously increasing the birth rate of new churches. To learn more about what it means to become a replanting pastor or to explore resources for replanting and revitalization in your own church, visit ChurchReplanters.com.Submit Your Question:
Do you have a question about church revitalization or replanting for us to use on the podcast? Visit the podcast page to submit your question. If we use it on the show, you’ll get a copy of Autopsy of a Deceased Church and Reclaiming Glory.
What are some practical ways a neighborhood can benefit from a local church? I’m in month 6 of a plateaued church with an older congregation. I was called to pastor 6 months ago. Thank you
I am working with a church right now who is exploring this very issue. They are located in a small town of 750 nearby to a larger city. After having done our 1-mile demographics, we have seen some possible lines of exploration. Since 21% of the population have never finished high school and one of the core leaders is a retired math educator, the possibility of partnering with the county community college is an option. The idea is to sponsor one or more classes for the community just to get them on the church campus on a regular basis. Also 20% of the families are headed up by single parents. There are any number of ways to help respond to those type of situations, especially as we come up on Fall Festivals (free fun for the kids), the Christmas season (help with toys or free babysitting for mom to go Christmas shopping) and even Valentine’s (seminars on single parent issues or beginning a Divorce Care class).
Interesting post from podcast. The key is that churches needing revitalization at this stage of their life may need to be permission-giving for an appropriate person or entity outside themselves to have authority to make crucial decision for them. At the same time it can be too big of a threat to them.
It is important that the authority helping them make crucial decision authentically cares about the past, present, and future of the congregation, and sees the remaining people as persons of worth created in the image of God.
I’m in a church with attendance of 140+ in worship and 67 in Sunday School. The Board hired me with the understanding that the average age of the congregation is over 60 years, and the average age of the leadership is close to or over 70. I will be hanging on every word in this podcast series as I develop the attitude and plan for replanting from within.
For now, I am encouraging the saints, eliminating the negatives that are obvious, and asking a key question: How will this activity or committee help in the revitalization of the church we see in two years? Keep this great information coming!!!
Thank you for the podcast and the focus of it. I am in desperate need of the insights and material. I pray that it is not too late. Books of the Autopsy of a Deceased Church were distributed early this year. I knew when I came over 8 years ago of the need for a Comeback. I worked through and prayed much about the content in Comeback Churches prior to coming. The three decade long decline initially slowed, but that was only temporary. A 475 seat auditorium which now holds 70 or so for worship seems like a mass of emptiness. First time guests can sense the void. I am praying and reaching out to request pray, guidance and help. I know that our situation is not an isolated one. In our association alone there are 14 churches which face varying levels of problematic sustaining levels.
Six months ago I become a pastor of a church merger. It has went really well and we are starting to draw younger families into our church. The unity between the two older population churches has been remarkable. I was wondering if there is some kind of outline for priorities for a pastor out there when two churches merge? There is no deacons in either church and the by-laws and constitution needs to be ammended so I am working on these things in the next 6 months but I am wondering what else of priority am I missing?
Thank you,
Terry