Five Marks of a Dying Church

Posted on by
Reply

A few days ago, I highlighted a post on the observable decline among the Churches of Christ.  A few questions were raised, a few possible replies as well.

From Perry Noble’s blog comes this list: “Five Core Values of a Church in Decline”.

#1 – Laziness – Most people/churches are not “stuck” or in decline because they do not know or understand what the Lord wants them to do…God speaks very clearly in His Word and through His Spirit.  It’s just that God’s work always requires people to take a step of faith!  Remember, God promised the Israelites the “Promised Land,” but they actually had to go in and fight the battles.  A church that refuses to do whatever it takes and embraces laziness will eventually settle in the desert until that generation dies off.

#2 – Fear of Man – God has called His people to set the world on fire; unfortunately, too many church leaders today waste their time trying to put fires out and make people happy!  Scripture pretty much sums it up in Proverbs 29:25!  If your first question is always, “what does our biggest giver want” and “not what does God want” you church is stepping into the casket!

#3 – Pride – When a church and/or it’s leaders are not willing to admit a mistake OR that a method that used to work just doesn’t work anymore…it’s over.

#4 – Staff Abuse – This is something I’ve written about a lot lately…but I will say it over and over again, when a leader cares more about what his staff does than who they are becoming then he will begin to push them to put in 70-80 hour weeks on a consistant basis…and when they begin to show signs of being pushed too hard he will accueses them of being “disloyal” or “not bought in enough to make things happen.”  When a leader begins to do this (and other “leaders” sit by passively and watch it happen) then the quality of staff members the church is about to attract and keep will decrease significantly.

(One note on this…many times a pastor/leader who leads like this is lazy!  They often wait until the last minute to do things and then expect the entire staff to change and rearrange everything they are doing to accomodate his lack of planning.  Changes DO happen in ministry, heck, we had to switch up our entire Easter services at the last minute.  BUT…this should be the exception and NOT the norm.  AND…when it really is the exception the staff will always respond with passion and excitement because there is a consistant track record of loyalty TOWARDS them!)

#5 – Loss of Focus – When a pastor/leader (or group of leaders) become more obsessed with their “ministry platform” and begin to dive into other “ministry opportunities” and do so with such frequency that they cease to love the people that Jesus has called them to minister to…disaster is right around the corner because the church will become nothing more than a resource for the pastor to promote himself rather than a group of people whom God has brought together and given him responsibility over to love and lead.

No doubt the list could be longer than five, but perhaps this handful covers a lot of mileage.  Any key characteristics you feel were missed here?

For those readers in Churches of Christ, do any of these apply to the questions we raised a few days back?

For the rest of you, which of these marks describe churches you’ve observed, attended, or led?

Team Saskatchewan’s Sarah Slywka

Posted on by
Reply

Our good friend Sarah has been on our TV all week.

TSN’s broadcasts from the Scotties Tournament of Hearts have beamed faces from the Slywka family into our living room, none more often than Sarah.

While Team Saskatchewan failed to qualify for playoffs, they finished with a middle-of-the-pack record of 5-6, and were in serious contention until a rough second-last day of the round robin.  Finishing strong, they dominated Team Canada in their final match last night.

The Leader-Post did a great article on Sarah and her first experience at the Scotties.  If you haven’t already seen it, it is certainly worth a read.

Congratulations to these ladies for winning the right to represent Saskatchewan at the Scotties and for representing our province well.

Breaking the Chains of Modernity

Posted on by
16

Some years back, my library-browsing habit led me to discover Adbusters magazine.

Typically irreligious, often irreverent, it covered matters of politics and economics with greater vigour than I’ve ever personally felt about either of them.  Provocatively creative, the publication intrigued me.

It still does.

A piece from the latest issue, titled, “Breaking the Chains of Modernity,” opens like this:

The philosophical and spiritual problems of our age are so great that what our time calls for are new manifestos of knowledge and being. We need a kind of spiritual change that exceeds the political. Unfortunately most of us in the Westernized world spend more time trying to escape from ourselves (sex, shopping, addiction, fashion, entertainment, success), than we ever spend reflecting on the state of our existence, our heart or our soul. We are people driven by our desires: desires which destroy our hearts and any ability to have a connection to the greater spiritual realities that are all around us. As the Qur’an says, “God does not change the condition of a people, until they change their own condition.”

I find an unusual power–let’s call it the power of truth proclaimed–in hearing a blatantly secular voice call out the warning that we of the Western world are senselessly seeking escape when the salvation of our souls and society most needs us to engage in deeper ways than we ever have before.

I’m not certain of the greater context of the quoted Qur’an passage, but it the point is along the same line as the Bible’s, “Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you,” then it would be easy for both Adbusters and myself to AMEN it.

If the passage above resonates with you in any regard, head HERE for the full article.

If these thoughts about our persistent quest for distraction has conceived a simple observation or a full-blown rant, birth that baby in the comments section below.

Ash Wednesday

Posted on by
Reply

A year ago, I reflected on what I would do if I ever attended an Ash Wednesday service.  As of today, I still have yet to act on these intentions.

However, I am committing to re-entering the season of Lent, with its beginning today.  If Lent is unfamiliar to you, the following video will catch you up in a mere two minutes:

If you’re interested to push the exercise at least one more small step, you could join me in forty days of devotional readings from an Ignatian group of bloggers.  I’ve bookmarked THIS site as a few moments of ritual over the coming weeks.  I’d love to have you travel with me.

How about you?

What does Lent mean in your life?  How do you plan to mark it this season?

Please nudge me and others along by leaving your comments below.

Blessings on you in this season of repentance and renewal, as we taste of the wilderness.

Churches of Christ in Decline

Posted on by
4

If you follow me on Twitter (@jasonbandura), you may have seen this link already.

For the rest of you (after you go find me at Twitter ; ) ), below is an excerpt from an article posted by Michael Hanegan, preacher at the Central Church of Christ in Chandler, Oklahoma.

Here’s a sampling:

The Christian Chronicle recently released an article detailing the specifics about losses both in membership and congregations among Churches of Christ from 2003-Present. Their conclusion? In the last ten years we have lost one out of every sixteen members are have closed three congregations every two weeks for the last ten years. These numbers should be sobering. In the time that I have been at the Central Church of ChristI am personally aware of four congregations that have closed their doors, and know of a number of congregations that are barely hanging on numerically (not to mention other churches that are teetering on the edge of fracture and collapse).

But why?

The comments section on the Chronicle article are fascinating. Allow me to summarize some of what I heard from those who have responded publicly on the Chronicle website.

  • Good! God is finally cleaning house in his church! This is the purge we have needed to keep the church pure and the false teachers away.
  • If we were more evangelistic then we would experience growth like we used to (hear here the 40’s and 50’s).
  • Well if we weren’t so legalistic and addicted to patternism and John Locke we wouldn’t have this problem.
  • This is just terrible. What can we do?

If you wish to see the entire Christian Chronicle article allude to (and its comments section), it can be seen HERE.  The rest of Michael’s reflections can be found HERE.

A number of my most regular readers share with me a heritage in the Churches of Christ.  What do you say?

Why are Churches of Christ across North America in decline?

Please leave your comments below, and let the conversation begin.

(If you desire a greater challenge, hit me over on Twitter and give you reply in 140 characters or less!)