By George Keralis

Recently, a friend asked me to address the issue of dying churches.  Why are we losing so many churches?

I have experienced life in dying churches.  I’ve read autopsies and obituaries of dying churches.  In fact, I closed the lid of the casket at one church where I served.  On the other hand, I’ve also served healthy congregations. There is a vast difference between the two.

I’d like to suggest four obvious issues that potentially lead to the death of churches.  Furthermore, I’d like to suggest the root cause of dying churches.

  • The boom and bust cycles of economics contribute to the demise of churches.  When the jobs leave, so do the people.  Economic and demographic change affects us as individual families and churches.  We cannot escape these changes.  If we are not prepared to meet these changes, then we will start the inevitable descent to the bottom.  When enough people leave a congregation, the momentum for maintaining life drains out of the church like a tire with a nail puncture.  The air seeps out slowly.  If we do not seal the puncture, the tire will end up next to the rim.  No amount of filling it with air will solve the problem until we fix the leak or replace the tire.
  • Poor leadership contributes to the demise of churches.  Many churches do not have solid biblical leaders.  Lack of training, immaturity, infighting and immorality contribute to leadership weakness.  Ill-equipped leaders usually fail to set goals and plan for the growth of the congregation.  We can fly by the seat of our pants for a brief period.  Eventually, our pants tear and we fall to the ground with a mighty crash.
  • A “country club” atmosphere contributes to the demise of churches.  People expect others to serve them, rather than serving others.  Personal preferences rise to the level of biblical mandates as the church turns inward.  If financial records are available, we will probably find that these churches budget more money for themselves than they allocate for evangelism, the needs of people in the local community and helping missionaries to cross cultures with the gospel.
  • The refusal to change contributes to the demise of churches.  Dying churches refuse to make changes that will help to keep them alive.  I am not suggesting that churches should change their doctrine.  However, churches that continue to think and act as though they still live and minister only to the people in the 20th century will eventually succumb to death.   A little here.  A little there.  Before we know it, our pews are empty; our young people are gone; our financial resources no longer exist.  In the meantime, we are still thinking and acting like nothing has changed.  It’s time to wake up, church.

While these perceptible reasons for the decline and demise of the church rise to the top like cream, the root cause of most dying churches often remains hidden from our sight.

  • We neglect to bow to the Lordship of Christ as head of the church.  At some point in the church’s history enough people began to shift their allegiance from the Lord Jesus to materialism, comfort, sports or other things that might come between them and their relationship with Christ as their Lord.  The ship begins to tilt when enough weight shifts from starboard to port, while the passengers are oblivious to the imperceptible tilt of the ship.  Eventually, people notice the tilt.  Unfortunately, with diminished resources, no plan to right the ship and an attitude of surrender, the ship crosses the line of no-return and capsizes. 

How can we prevent the loss of another church?

  • Leadership must vigorously maintain their submission to Christ as Lord of the Church.  The church belongs to Christ, not to the leaders, not to the pastors, not to the congregants.  The church belongs to King Jesus (Matthew 16:18; Colossians 1:18; Ephesians 5:22-32).
  • The responsibility of biblical leadership requires leaders to hold up Jesus as Lord before the congregation as each opportunity presents itself.  The intent of leadership ought to be that of bringing every person to a mature relationship with Christ as their Lord (Colossians 1:28). 
  • The leadership of the local congregation must serve as examples in submitting their lives to the Lordship of Jesus as they incorporate the mandates of Christ into the plans and direction of the church for the near and distant future.  Entrusted by God to lead, leaders must never forget that their task is to care for the local church as Christ’s stewards (Acts 20:28; Titus 1:7).

Paul, in Galatians 4:21-31, compares Hagar with Sarah.  As he illustrates the inferiority of law to grace, he extends the illustration by comparing Hagar to Mt. Sinai and Sarah to the new Jerusalem which is above.  

I’d like to use Mt. Sinai and the Mount of Transfiguration (Matthew 17:1-8; Mark 9:2-8; Luke 9:28-36) to illustrate the difference between a life lived with an external law as opposed to a life that is being lived and transformed daily into something new and magnificent because Christ lives in that person. We cannot move from Mt. Sinai to the Mt. of Transfiguration without change.  We need to change:

Without change, we will shrivel and die, not only as churches, but also as Christians.

Dale Mason, a long-time friend and cross-cultural communicator, continually reminds me that God is preparing us for the greatest change of our lives.  We will die in this body.  God will give us a new life and raise us up in a new body (1 Corinthians 15).  As difficult as it may appear, we must embrace change to continue living, lest we die.

Today is a call to change your allegiance from anything that stands between you and Christ to complete allegiance to the King of Kings.

What other ideas do you have that will help to prevent the loss of another church? What other steps must leaders take into to prevent a church from dying? What concerns or ideas do you have that you would like this blog to address. Drop us a line.

As iron sharpens iron, so a person sharpens his friend. — Solomon