The next chapter for the Church

 

                                    The Next Chapter  for the Church.                                                                                                               r

 

Saw this Article in the KYOWVA Evangelistic Association:  newsletter earlier this year,

I made a few editorial clippings but the overall message is we need to Prayer for the Church and have lots of work to do. Enjoy.

The American church is facing a series1of challenges regarding its future. 80% of churches pre­ covid, could be in the category of subtracting or suryiving. Those in the subtracting category are

those who are experiencing a numerical decline. Those in the surviving category are those who have currently reached a state of plateau. Neither growing nor declining. For the first time in the that Gallup has tracked American religious membership, more adults in the United States do not attend church than attend church. In the book the Great De-churching, author Jim Davis reveals, "More people have left the church in the last twenty-five years than all the new people who became Christians from the First Great Awakening, Second Great Awakening, and Billy Graham crusades combined."

 Many of those declining congregations are made up of an aging congregation who are growing weary and who also have some uncertainty about the future of their local expression of the Kingdom of God. We are seeing churches close at a rate unlike anything we have seen in America. According to Lifeway Research, in 2019 approximately 3,000 Protestant churches were started in US, but 4,500 Protestant churches closed. Just five years prior, in 2014, the same Lifeway study found that 3,700 churches had closed and 4,000 had opened.

Another challenge that must be considered is a diminished pool of those who preach the Word It is not uncommon for churches to face a ministerial search that lasts more than a year.

Focusing on keeping the people you have and not reaching those who are lost. This type of thinking also confuses what it means to be faithful. Faithfulness is defined as keeping the lights on and the door open instead of being on a mission to reach those who are outside of a relationship with Christ. Faithfulness should be defined as being the best stewards of God's resources.

The changes that are facing us today require us to be very intentional about our solutions. It is also time for congregations to consider what is possible if they were to unite their resources with like-minded congregations. Church mergers have always been a challenge, but examples are available to give us hope for the future.

In the event that a church makes the painful decision to no longer

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operate. The best solution is to what to do with the resource to make the most Kingdom Impact. That’s Kingdom thinking even in death of a congregation.