It Doesn't Have to Be That Way

It is a well established fact that mainline churches, including churches within The UMC, are experiencing a long-term, steady decline. The vast majority of churches are aging out, that is, their membership consists primarily of older adults who in 10-15 years will no longer be able to be active. Younger generations have largely abandoned the institutional church. Worship attendance and giving have plateaued or are in decline. The spirit of these churches is one of anxiety, not hope, of discouragement, not expectation. Their unstated purpose is survival.

But it doesn't have to be that way. Churches don't have to plateau and decline. They don't have to waste away and die.

Countless time, energy, money, and effort have been invested in an attempt to revitalize plateaued and declining churches. Unfortunately, this investment generally does not accomplish the desired result. The reason for this failure to produce, I believe (and this is just my thinking - but, again, this is my blog) is that we invest our time and energy in the wrong things. We focus our efforts on the institutional church - appearance of the building (especially the nursery and restrooms), people greeting at the doors, the style of music in worship, programs and activities for children, youth, and young families, PR and the right branding and a clear mission statement, WIG's (for Central Texas Conference folks), etc.

Nothing is wrong with any of these efforts. In fact, they are all important. But they will not, of themselves, reverse the decline or produce church growth. Something more is needed. That something more, in my opinion (again) is healthy spirituality.

But here's the thing: we cannot manufacturer healthy spirituality. That is the Spirit's work. The Spirit is the one who cultivates healthy spirituality in our lives as individuals, small groups, congregations.

What we can do is to be intentional and faithful in our relationship with God, placing ourselves in a position for the Spirit to work in our lives - individually, as groups, as a church. We can live as a spiritual community, walking together in deep, authentic, committed spiritual friendships that are focused on learning and living the ways of God that Jesus taught (the Kingdom of God). The church as a spiritual community is the secret to spiritual health and vitality that, in turn, produces numerical growth. The book of Acts bears testimony to this reality. (See Acts 2:47b, 5:12-14, 6:7, etc.) People hunger for that which is spiritually vibrant and genuinely life changing. They are attracted to authentic spiritual community.

Without this intentional spiritual focus - this intentional commitment to grow and live as disciples of Jesus - all our efforts to produce church growth are just that - our efforts, our plans, our work. The heart is missing. The power is missing - the power of the Spirit.

The institutional dimension of church life exists to nurture the spiritual life (as I said in a previous blog). It is secondary; spiritual growth/formation is primary. When a congregation becomes sidetracked in running and maintaining the institutional church - programs and activities, finances and buildings, traditions and creeds, etc., the spiritual focus gets lost as does the purpose of making disciples. The congregation's busyness blinds them to these losses. The soul of the congregation begins to wither away. The life and witness, power and joy, gifts and witness of the Spirit disappear. The church becomes a shell without an inner life.

But it doesn't have to be that way ...