In consulting with many churches over the years I've come across some that need to pause, celebrate with thanksgiving what God has done over their existence, then send their members out to other churches and ministries with a blessing and close their doors. Here are some signs that they should do just that.
The church may have declined over the recent years and they no longer have a critical mass to do effective ministry. Critical mass is when a congregation no longer has sufficient numbers and active ministries to serve their community and multiply disciples. This usually applies to a more traditional type of church that desires to attract new people to ministries within the walls of the church building. Traditional type churches in growing areas usually need about 40 committed and active adults.
Another reason to close the doors of a church is a lack of biblically qualified church leadership. Most churches require a plurality of elders and a plurality of deacons to sustain church health and a disciple-making culture.
Still another reason to shut the doors is when the existing congregation and the leadership adopt a new philosophy of ministry that is not dependent on the building or existing church leadership.
Yet another reason is when the population surrounding the church dries up and there is no longer a sufficient number of people to support the work of the church and its facilities. This condition will be most common in the more rural or small-town areas that face a declining population.
Or, a church has faced one or more major issues that have destroyed its reputation to a point where it cannot recover or be revitalized. The result is people have left the church and new people do not come and stay very long.
Here's the good news. There are some alternatives to simply closing the doors and losing church ministry in a building that has been dedicated to the Lord's work in a community or area.
For example, before you close the church doors permanently, consider sharing the facilities with a new church plant or a newer, growing church. This can be one using a different language or several languages, especially if the community demographics are changing and mono-ethnic or multiethnic churches are needed. But do not expect the new congregation to be enfolded into an old and dying one. Think multiplication!
Partner with other like-minded, disciple-making churches to do a restart. To be successful, this needs to be a true restart, where a remaining core group starts over from the ground up. This may involve a name change, brand new guiding documents such as by-laws, job descriptions, policies, procedures, and most importantly, new leadership including a new pastor and a new group of people or advisory team to lead the restart.
Even when the church closes its doors for the last time, the church leadership or building owners may use the closure as an opportunity to sell the remaining property and invest the money and resources in church planting elsewhere or in a ministry where the Gospel witness can be carried on to reach new people elsewhere.
Here's the bottom line - do not try to hang on, and on, and on, hoping that something will happen to cause numerical growth or more financial investment.
And in all things, pray for discernment and seek first God's Kingdom (Matt. 6:33).
[Photo by Stefan Kunze on Unsplash]