So, You're In Decline
OK, hypothetical situation. You're a congregation in decline. Your membership has been decreasing gradually, and is now significantly lower than it was at its peak. Those numbers are reflected in worship attendance and offerings, so the budget has shrunken, too. You're making ends meet, but just barely, so you're not sure you can hire an experienced pastor, much less contribute to Church World Service, etc. The members are a lot older than they used to be, too. There are almost no young families, and a majority of the members are past retirement age. Somewhere along the line, you lost touch with the folks who live in your neighborhood, so you don't know what kind of help they need, but you know you're not doing much to provide whatever it is. What should you do?
One scenario is to get the house in order and start attracting new members, especially those invaluable young families. The first order of business is to get a hip new website that comes up first in the search engine results and looks good on a smartphone. Next, switch to a more contemporary style of worship -- everyone knows that young people don't get into old hymns and organs. Then bite the bullet and put a coffee shop in the Narthex. Young people these days drink cappucinos and mochas, not that Folgers stuff you brew one pot at a time. There are other things you'll need to change, too, but if you put your heads together, you'll figure it out.
Another scenario is to assume that you're stuck with who you've got, and that the congregation might very well fade away. If that's the case, you've got to decide what you want the congregation's legacy to be. If anybody is going to remember it, you're going to have to do something besides showing up for Sunday worship, Tuesday committee meetings, and Thursday choir rehearsals. Nobody outside your walls will know you're doing those things, much less remember them, so there's no legacy-making material there. What will people remember? They'll remember if you go meet those people who live in your neighborhood, find out what they need to let them live into the life God envisions for them, and help them get it. They might remember other stuff, too, but that one's a promise.
So, how do these two scenarios play out? If you're successful in the first one, you'll get your membership numbers back to where they used to be. The offerings will start pouring in, and since a lot of those new members are dual-income young families, you'll be able to cover those "reinventing" costs, including the experienced pastor. Hopefully, you'll have enough left over to start giving to Church World Service again. Unfortunately, those dual-income parents are kind of short on spare time, so they're not really going to make much of an impact on your local outreach. You still won't know who lives in your neighborhood, or what they need. There's also a possibility that your efforts will be unsuccessful, because no matter what you do, you can't force people to want to join your church.
If you're successful with the second scenario, you've helped somebody. Maybe you drove the unemployed community college graduate to the job interview that they wouldn't have been able to get to otherwise. Maybe you spent a couple of hours talking to the widow, and when the predatory telephone solicitor called later that night, she wasn't lonely enough to make a foolish purchase just to keep somebody on the phone. Maybe you took the mother under your wing when she finally got the courage to take her two toddlers and her infant and sneak out of the house before her drunken husband woke up and beat her again. None of those things are even intended to bring new members into the church, but you accepted that before you started. Of course, there is always the possibility that word will get around that you're making a difference, and that people will want to be a part of that.
One scenario is to get the house in order and start attracting new members, especially those invaluable young families. The first order of business is to get a hip new website that comes up first in the search engine results and looks good on a smartphone. Next, switch to a more contemporary style of worship -- everyone knows that young people don't get into old hymns and organs. Then bite the bullet and put a coffee shop in the Narthex. Young people these days drink cappucinos and mochas, not that Folgers stuff you brew one pot at a time. There are other things you'll need to change, too, but if you put your heads together, you'll figure it out.
Another scenario is to assume that you're stuck with who you've got, and that the congregation might very well fade away. If that's the case, you've got to decide what you want the congregation's legacy to be. If anybody is going to remember it, you're going to have to do something besides showing up for Sunday worship, Tuesday committee meetings, and Thursday choir rehearsals. Nobody outside your walls will know you're doing those things, much less remember them, so there's no legacy-making material there. What will people remember? They'll remember if you go meet those people who live in your neighborhood, find out what they need to let them live into the life God envisions for them, and help them get it. They might remember other stuff, too, but that one's a promise.
So, how do these two scenarios play out? If you're successful in the first one, you'll get your membership numbers back to where they used to be. The offerings will start pouring in, and since a lot of those new members are dual-income young families, you'll be able to cover those "reinventing" costs, including the experienced pastor. Hopefully, you'll have enough left over to start giving to Church World Service again. Unfortunately, those dual-income parents are kind of short on spare time, so they're not really going to make much of an impact on your local outreach. You still won't know who lives in your neighborhood, or what they need. There's also a possibility that your efforts will be unsuccessful, because no matter what you do, you can't force people to want to join your church.
If you're successful with the second scenario, you've helped somebody. Maybe you drove the unemployed community college graduate to the job interview that they wouldn't have been able to get to otherwise. Maybe you spent a couple of hours talking to the widow, and when the predatory telephone solicitor called later that night, she wasn't lonely enough to make a foolish purchase just to keep somebody on the phone. Maybe you took the mother under your wing when she finally got the courage to take her two toddlers and her infant and sneak out of the house before her drunken husband woke up and beat her again. None of those things are even intended to bring new members into the church, but you accepted that before you started. Of course, there is always the possibility that word will get around that you're making a difference, and that people will want to be a part of that.
posted by ManOfManyInterests at 12:48 AM
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