Thursday, December 3, 2009
Small Churches, Should We rebuild them?
In the last three years or so I have been very interested in rebuilding small Churches. At this point in the post we need to identify what we term small churches, They are the ones which are in danger of extinction. We in the Missionary Baptist ranks have gotten so accustomed to "small" Churches that We often equate the size with "holy" and that is not the real case. The real trouble with letting Churches stay small is that it can go out of existence very fast. Case in point, In one local Association that I have researched, In the last ten years there have been five Churches closed up. The local Association has lost over four hundred in Church Membership. I would say that this is cause for alarm. I would like to hear your opinion.
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Yes, it is cause for alarm, Bro. Marlin, unless these churches have become so ineffective in their witness for Christ that He is allowing them to close.
ReplyDeleteI'm sure the factors are many as to why some churches (particularly ABA) are struggling.
-people don't care for the truth
-other churches are more "exciting"
-some are not very visible (go 8 miles down this Farm Road, then turn right on that Farm Road, then go 4 miles down the blacktop & take the 2nd dirt road to the right,etc.)
-And perhaps some churches are not outreach minded and are simply "waiting on others to come"
Then when a church hits the danger level (10 or less with usually no youth), visitors feel a bit wary. ("Wonder what the problem is here?")
Then again, some small churches have rebounded and are great witnesses for the Lord today.
Others are still a witness in their community and serve a great purpose, even though small in number.
As someone who has worked in church planting from college-town Oklahoma out to urbane Maryland and back down to rural east Texas, the biggest problem(s) I can see are bundled in a combination of:
ReplyDelete1.) inadequate top-down leadership... meaning, that a long-standing board of deacons holds the strings of the pastor, not allowing him to fulfill his Biblically-mandated role as shepherd and overseer. Too many earnest but prideful men try to wrangle control from God's man.
2.) unrealistic expectations/inability to understand culture... meaning, once upon a time, church attendance was a given in society. Those days are past. If churches expect to be relevant in people's lives, REAL relationship are going to have be developed.