Church has always been deeply meaningful to me. But I have to be really clear about what I mean by that. As a kid “church” was CYF summer camp in the Pacific Southwest Region. And “church” was the youth group at my home church.
As an adult I watched as the good and close friends I had made as a kid, with one or two exceptions, drift away from the church. I watched their churches close. After years of serving in the “youth ghetto”* of the church, I entered the main life of the church and found myself lost. This is not that unusual a story. But it’s not the story I want to tell.
Unlike so many of my friends I got lucky and found a place within the mainstream of the church. I even went to seminary and became a local church pastor.
Now I find myself in the position of having to lead a congregation whose average age is nearly double my own. These are great people. But the inescapable truth of this congregation is that they once were three times the size. In the year that I’ve been here I’ve done 8 funerals and one Church family wedding, which was a second and third wedding for the couple.
Now, this is a great church – we are making budget, even in this economy – but the cold hard reality of this church is, if we don’t do something to grow in the next few years, 5 at most, we will be forced to make plans for our own closure. One or two bad flu seasons and we’re toast. And I’m pretty sure I’m not the only one. But that is also not the story I want to tell.
The story I want to tell is the story of those churches that are successfully transitioning. I want to celebrate the wins and learn from them. In my mind it all starts with being honest about the present…
*I was a Youth Sponsor, then a Youth Director;
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