I was their church consultant in 2003. The church’s peak attendance was 750 in 1975. By the time I got there the attendance had fallen to an average of 83. The large sanctuary seemed to swallow the relatively small crowd on Sunday morning.
The reality was that most of the members did not want me there. They were not about to pay a consultant to tell them what was wrong with their church. Only when a benevolent member offered to foot my entire bill did the congregation grudgingly agree to retain me.
I worked with the church for three weeks. The problems were obvious; the solutions were difficult.
On my last day, the benefactor walked me to my rental car. “What do you think, Thom?” he asked. He could see the uncertainty in my expression, so he clarified. “How long can our church survive?” I paused for a moment, and then offered the bad news. “I believe the church will close its doors in five years.”
I was wrong. The church closed just a few weeks ago. Like many dying churches, it held on to life tenaciously. This church lasted ten years after my terminal diagnosis.
My friend from the church called to tell me the news. I took no pleasure in discovering that not only was my diagnosis correct, I had mostly gotten right all the signs of the impending death of the church. Together my friend and I reviewed the past ten years. I think we were able to piece together a fairly accurate autopsy. Here are eleven things I learned.
- The church refused to look like the community. The community began a transition toward a lower socioeconomic class thirty years ago, but the church members had no desire to reach the new residents. The congregation thus became an island of middle-class members in a sea of lower-class residents.
- The church had no community-focused ministries. This part of the autopsy may seem to be stating the obvious, but I wanted to be certain. My friend affirmed my suspicions. There was no attempt to reach the community.
- Members became more focused on memorials. Do not hear my statement as a criticism of memorials. Indeed, I recently funded a memorial in memory of my late grandson. The memorials at the church were chairs, tables, rooms, and other places where a neat plaque could be placed. The point is that the memorials became an obsession at the church. More and more emphasis was placed on the past.
- The percentage of the budget for members’ needs kept increasing. At the church’s death, the percentage was over 98 percent.
- There were no evangelistic emphases. When a church loses its passion to reach the lost, the congregation begins to die.
- The members had more and more arguments about what they wanted. As the church continued to decline toward death, the inward focus of the members turned caustic. Arguments were more frequent; business meetings became more acrimonious.
- With few exceptions, pastoral tenure grew shorter and shorter. The church had seven pastors in its final ten years. The last three pastors were bi-vocational. All of the seven pastors left discouraged.
- The church rarely prayed together. In its last eight years, the only time of corporate prayer was a three-minute period in the Sunday worship service. Prayers were always limited to members, their friends and families, and their physical needs.
- The church had no clarity as to why it existed. There was no vision, no mission, and no purpose.
- The members idolized another era. All of the active members were over the age of 67 the last six years of the church. And they all remembered fondly, to the point of idolatry, was the era of the 1970s. They saw their future to be returning to the past.
- The facilities continued to deteriorate. It wasn’t really a financial issue. Instead, the members failed to see the continuous deterioration of the church building. Simple stated, they no longer had “outsider eyes.”
Though this story is bleak and discouraging, we must learn from such examples. As many as 100,000 churches in America could be dying. Their time is short, perhaps less than ten years.
What do you think of the autopsy on this church? What can we do to reverse these trends?
Posted on April 24, 2013
With nearly 40 years of ministry experience, Thom Rainer has spent a lifetime committed to the growth and health of local churches across North America.
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473 Comments
The Church where I grew up, once thrived. It changed ministers and is now 1/8 of what is was, and continues to drop. There is no longer a youth group or youth choirs. There were once 3 youth choirs. There is no longer a reason to promote Sunday school. I remember there being 2 teachers to a classroom because the classes were so large. Currently there are only 2 middle school children. Their is no longer any interest in a Confirmation class. This is the Church where my husband and I met. The Church were there are 300 members and only about 38 attendees. We left because we feel it is “cold” and we no longer feel welcome.
Ruth, that sounds like a slightly different (though related) problem that churches often have.
One easy trap for pastors & priests to fall into, especially if they are really good at getting things to happen, is to allow the parish to become dependent on them and their skills. A minority of ordained ministers have the skill set, passion, intuition, and insight to be able to whip a congregation into a powerhouse. These ministers are able to identify the right people to do the right jobs at the right time and seem to be able to make any program successful. However, when they leave, it all falls apart. Nobody realizes at the time how much the pastor was doing “behind the scenes” in the direct operation of the church’s programs, from encouraging individuals and helping them run their ministries, doing and running ministries personally, to resolving interpersonal conflicts and personally settling disputes, to finding sources of funding and knowing how to talk to the various financial key people to get them to give when needed.
Sounds great, right? “The next pastor should be like that!” you say.
But here’s the trap: they won’t be. All but the wealthiest parishes are likely to have more mundane pastors who are only equipped to preach, counsel, and keep shop: the traditional role of the pastor. After a parish has one of the superpastors, they feel let down by the next one(s), wondering where their support went and why everyone seems to be fighting, or why nobody’s giving as much anymore.
The job that the superpastor /didn’t/ do in these cases was to train and empower the lay leaders to do what /the pastor/ was doing. Pastors come and go these days – rarely do parishes have a single ordained minister through their entire ordained life, even in traditions who seek that out, end even when they *do* get that, the pastor will eventually retire or die and the pattern continues the same way. The parishes who do best /after/ having a superpastor are those who have raised up capable lay leaders and kept them trained in their roles *AND* have developed a leader mentoring system (formal or not) where new leaders are continuously raised up. Only a *very* few of the superpastors know this, so it is usually dependent on the existing parish leaders to 1) recognize that they have a superpastor and 2) /ask/ the superpastor to teach them how to do things, to plan for their eventual departure by slowly taking their hands off and mentoring, rather than doing.
A superpastor often has such a force of will and/or cunning that when they /don’t/ take the special effort to mentor instead of “do”, they undermine, alienate, or otherwise break up the healthy core of do-ers in the parish. When he leaves, they are either not there anymore, or they’re no longer in the middle of things – nobody’s looking to them for leadership anymore, they’re only looking at the new, mundane, pastor.
In my seminary, we are taught about this as being a form of pastoral abuse, and one that’s hard to counteract, since 1) the superpastor is *so* well loved and has done so many good things (actually good things too, not just a perception – these ministries that they form and foster do real good and are definitely part of God’s mission and should NOT be discounted), 2) the damage isn’t usually seen until they’ve left, and 3) the problems are blamed on the new pastor instead of the old. It’s damage that can be repaired, but not without pain, dedication, and sometimes extreme measures (like bringing in a consultant like Thom and honestly working with them for an extended period of time, or being lucky and finding another superpastor who knows better).
You have described nearly half the churches of our Association, including my own. Up until 5 years ago, everything was going great. But then some thought a change of leadership was necessary. Such was not the case. Iwas convinced by a majority of the people to hold on. After those vents, we took a nose dive. We ARE beginning to rebound, but it is ever so slow. I know, and many in the church knows, that God is moving again in our church. I believe that we will rise again!
Our senior pastor would like to use this article in our church newsletter. Who do I need to contact to get permission to do so?
Kaylene,
You may reprint this article but please credit me and ThomRainer.com as the source.
Thank you.
Thank you for your prompt response! We will definitely credit you and the site as the source.
Wonderful, thought-provoking, and insightful article. I especially enjoyed the discussion following the article.
I am reminded of a church that I attended a few years ago, where it appeared there were little boundaries and some of what I considered were unethical events that happened. A fellow church-goer, who became a friend of mine outside the fellowship, offered a good piece of advice. He suggested that I look for the power-brokers in the church, as they are often the “oligarchy” who make the ultimate decisions in churches. When you find them, you will find how decisions are made and on what criteria decisions are finalized.
He was correct. I watched the power-brokers make what turned out to be a financially fatal decision for the church, which resulted in a mass exodus of church members, a divide of culturally diverse members, and the near bankruptcy of the church. From what I am told, members who did not agree with those holding the power were demeaned. Since I left the fellowship due to other reasons, I hear about the demise from other members who are sad that the church has been reduced to this state. Power does, indeed, corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely. I find it sad that so many are left to suffer for the whims of a few.
Dr. Kat,
I think that the corrupting influence of power is especially dangerous when those with power don’t consciously /realize/ that they have this power. In many churches, those “pillars” and “power-brokers” don’t realize how much power or privilege they have over other members of the church, thinking that they’re “just like anybody else” and that if others just [insert false-voice method here], they’d have just as much influence; as well as taking people’s silence and lack of opposition to them as consent and support. Not realizing their status in the group dynamic, they fail to consider these things, and fail to make any attempts at including other voices (that might disagree) or holding back and considering others’ needs, because that’s the job of the pastor, or the vestry, or the deacons
I have seen (and seen abused) pastors be able to harness these hidden leaders in various ways. The best, i think, was one who started convening a parish “leadership council”, separate from the official chain of command. These included some members of the official leadership, but was intended to get all the other kinds of leaders that the pastor could see all on the same page, without having to stay within the limits (or grant the extra power of) the official bodies (age limits, gender prejudice, time constraints, etc.). It ended up functioning as an “advisory” committee of sorts, taking on extra projects (like creating an alternative Saturday worship service, or helping with hidden pastoral concerns of parishioners), and such without interfering with the purposes of the vestry.
Inclusion of group “power brokers”, when possible, can lead to some really powerful places – not the least because they stop fighting things the official leadership is trying to do because they 1) had a say in it and 2) understand the reasons and goals behind it. Of course, this inclusion can only work if the pastor and other officials really want them to be a part of the leadership, and really listen to their advice.
An interesting article. Unfortunately there is still one obvious truth that hasn’t been stated. When a church turns inward and ignores the realities of the community, it is no longer a ‘church’. It is instead a social club, catering only to the interests of the membership. At that point, the role of the clergy is to provide some niceties for the members, but nothing more. Make no mistake, the membership was a ‘church’ in name only. Once a congregation reaches that collective mindset, there is seldom a chance to change the attitudes. Too bad, but not all ‘churches’ are real churches.
Reminds me of my current congregation more than I like to admit. Rural, small, I’m bi-vo. Feels like I have neither the available time nor the critical mass of concerned congregants to break through established power structures. How big a part does transparency play in church death? In my church, the Treasurer and Clerk are married to each other. They keep all membership and financial records at their house. Finances haven’t been audited by a CPA in living memory. No one counts the offering except the Treasurer alone. Who knows what’s really going on there?
So in other words despite years of having scripture taught to them when push comes to shove the congregation didn’t practice what it preached? This is just another example of the hypocrisy that I have considered to be the fundamental flaw of most religious organizations. I have always said that my first religious experience was when a little boy told me when I was about five the I and my family were going to hell because we weren’t Baptist. It was a very scary thing to hear as a child and I couldn’t understand why someone would say something so hateful and got so much pleasure out of saying it. Of course that family eventually turned into a big hot mess, but it made me leery of religion and its motives at a very early age. Then I realized that I was gay, which further alienated me from religious institutions. When I became an adult I started volunteering as an adviser for a gay, lesbian, transgender support group for youth. It was here that I saw the affects these same messages from the pulpit were having on these kids who were just trying to find a place were they could be understood, identify with a group of peers and get the support they weren’t getting anywhere else (far from it in fact). It was inspirational and heartbreaking at the same time. So I had another level of distaste for the way religious doctrine was being used to facilitate a hostile environment for kids that just want to fit into the world they were born into. I eventually interviewed a group of these kids and learned something from them about religious organizations that didn’t hold these restrictive beliefs. And one of the kids said to me, “you know most of the denominations forget that Jesus was a rebel, he was out there working for the rights of the marginalized people, and if Jesus were alive today he would be on the picket lines with the Human Rights Coalition.” And of course he is right. I am now 45 and dying of ALS. The nature that surrounds me is my cathedral, the true expression of the almighty. I see strength in the diversity of true religious expression and don’t see the principles as competing or mutually exclusive. Unfortunately, most people consider repetition to be tradition, and that includes not changing the demographic, and God forbid bringing in poor people. But primarily people don’t like to be wrong. My mother gave me the best answer I have ever received in reference to homosexuality. I asked her “Why are you so afraid of people like me, when you have lived my whole life loving me?” Her answer, “Because I was always taught that homosexuality is wrong, and if it isn’t then my whole way of life is questionable.” I am happy to report that she is an active participant in mine and my partner of 18 years life and remarkably she is the same lovely woman she always was. And to finish off my little rant I would also like to point out one of the most blatant hypocrisies is that we gay men are by in large not violent people (excluding those nasty queens in the Vatican), while our heterosexual male counterparts and religious institutions are in fact the war mongering parties and who continues to get persecuted. So in summation I hardly see it as sad that an hollow institution died!
Dear Brian,
My heart just cried for you as I read of the pain inflicted by Christians who were conveying to you a completely wrong concept of who God is and His love for you. Your Baptist friend likely was parroting the information learned but sincerely didn’t want you to spend eternity separated from God. (Being raised Catholic; I was also taught that if you weren’t Catholic, you were going to hell.) Unfortunately, the church you refer to, does practice what is preached – they just don’t realize that what is being preached/learned has everything to do with the law….the should and should-not-do’s of what is believed to be God’s will. There is not one person, in any church, under any label “Baptist, Methodist, Catholic, Non-Denominational”, etc (the label makes NO difference) that gets it right all the time…right and wrong is likely the main message heard (either in perception or reality). Well, my friend, right or wrong, good or bad is ALL lived from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil…yup…that same tree that Adam and Eve partook of. There are obviously good and bad things that happen all around us (murder, gossip, theft, sex trafficking, abuse – the list seems almost endless). So, how do we relate to a loving God when all these evils surround us? Which church organization has all the right answers? NONE….the church of Jesus Christ in reality, are its individual members-in Christ. Some church doctrines can often miss the whole point of Jesus life, death and resurrection entirely. Jesus understands who we REALLY are. No matter what the offense is, the difference this side of heaven is the consequences….if I kill someone I may end up spending the rest of my life in prison…or maybe not. If I steal stamps from the office that I work in…well, the consequences are obviously completely different. But, sin is sin. So, what do we do with the REAL issue? The state we are born in….spirits that are dead to God because of Adam’s sin? A relationship and surrender to Jesus and an understanding of His grace are the only way we can walk in peace and assurance that it is HIS sacrifice for us on the cross and His resurrection that are the source of life for us now (The Tree of Life). Since His death, all sins that have been committed were in the future. When someone has a salvation experience and there is often a “honeymoon” period where all is right with the world and we couldn’t be happier. But, usually no matter what church we go to, then comes the list of do’s and don’ts. Think about it….salvation is a free gift but we have to be good enough going forward to keep it (seriously-think about the absurdity of that). We are often led to believe that God is ready to write us off with the next offense, or we think that if we can be “good” enough, we can balance out the scales and not go to hell. Oh my, what a horrible existence. A very shaky foundation, at best. Jesus alive in me gives me the amazing gift of living out of the Tree of Life. Yes, there are many deep wounds that He wishes to heal that will enable us to walk in amazing freedom. Freedom to love others without agenda….when you realize you don’t have to “measure up”; it is an amazing gift you can extend to others just by being who you are. Because, the spirit in you that once was dead, is now alive with the Spirit of God….regenerated, whole, no condemnation….and that is the REAL you. Jesus in you is the real you. Will you have experiences that cause you pain…yes. There will be offenses, both given and received. Your salvation is not dependent on your reaction or ability to get the victory over/in those circumstances. Jesus in you is the ONLY measure of your salvation. Yes, many Christians have very horrible outward expressions of unkindness, manipulation, greed or every other sin known to man. It’s hard to wrap our minds around it, how can they be such awful people and still be Christians? When we walk around wounded and hurting, not understanding that the God of the Universe resides in us, we hurt people – life proves that this is true. In other words, they are human beings. That is why our judgment of their spirituality is a waste of time…we can’t know what is really in their hearts. Painful life experiences will influence the actions of everyone, believers and non-believers. Conversely, when the real love of Jesus is displayed, you know there is something different about that person. I’m not talking about love that says, “I’m OK, you’re OK”, I’m talking about a love that says, “God loves you and you are safe in that love”. As a believer, Christ in you makes you perfect! You died, were buried, resurrected and sat down at the right hand of the Father – IN JESUS. Yes, you are in Him and He is in you….that’s the good news….the real gospel. ALL the rest of life is then the process of growing in knowledge and grace. Not the knowledge of how to have a better life, but comprehension of just how awesome God and how much He really loves us. Your mom’s comment, “Because I was always taught that homosexuality is wrong, and if it isn’t then my whole way of life is questionable.” is a result of her perception of “right and wrong”. What you “do” is not who you “are”. Her fear may have caused you and her great pain. It is her decision to walk in her love for you that has provided the opportunity for healing in the relationship you have with her. GOD IS LOVE….He wants to do the same with all of humanity….that we all would know just how much He deeply loves us and how much He wants to heal our wounded hearts.
Hi Sue, thank you for you kind words and concern. I am very much at peace with impending death. There are many human interpretations of what happens after death. I personally believe we transcend such human concerns and I believe that death will be equally as dynamic and miraculous as our conception, birth and life in all of its incredible diversity. To me the idea that you have to give your life to Jesus, Buddha, Allah etc. are just human semantics that when put next to the complexity of an atom seem profoundly trivial. All of the teachings hold truths and principles to live by, unfortunately most disregard them when they become uncomfortable, which was primarily what I was trying to get over with my previous post.
I have a great deal of respect for my mother to be able to be that introspective and honest when she was trying to understand this new information about her son. She is a mother that always wants to protect her children. Growth is often painful and my family has been able to grow with such thoughtfulness and grace and support of me and my partner, which they were originally mortified by. I have to disagree with you, everything I do is who I am. I love a man and am proud of what we have achieved individually and as a couple, I speak my mind, I stand up to the best of my ability against injustice for others, I create to try to foster empathy and understanding of others, he works to help kids transition out of foster care so that they don’t become homeless, modify substance abuse and remain HIV negative and we love each other better than anyone else could have. Everything single thing we do is who we are.
Although I certainly would prefer to continue to grow old with a healthy body, I was very healthy, I have been able to see the blessings in this disease. I have lived the last three years in the moment. There is no past, unless I am writing about it, and there is no future just an endless stretch of the moment until there are non left.
So please my intention wasn’t for someone to worry about me. It was more like giving perspective from someone who isn’t your usual contributor. A friend posted this story on facebook and after I read it I felt the need to testify:) I hope this finds all of you well.
Thom, thanks for the article. We will be having a men’s prayer breakfast on Saturday morning and I plan on presenting these for discussion and prayer to decide what God would have us do in His church.
You have my prayers David.
Thom, great article. We’re using this post as a reference in some research we’re doing on the most common reasons why churches fail.
Question: How vital do you think activities during the week are for keeping a church alive? We know association is key, but are interested in your thoughts.
Matt
Levaire Group