The slow death of certain denominations has been charted by polls, study groups, seminaries, and think tanks. Countless sermons are preached, classes are taught, books are written, and consultants are hired, in order to revitalize congregations. Denominational executives establish committees, task forces and study groups. Conferences are held and encouragement is given lip service, while privately, everyone knows the sad truth: few congregations will ever reverse decline once they are in its grip. The money, time, and effort are better spent on starting new congregations, because the old ones seem incapable of rebirth.
How can this be true for a faith founded on new life? If the gospel can prevail against the gates of hell, why can’t it prevail against the massive decline facing our congregations?
A fine article, and a very cogent warning for us who have happy successful congregations.
It’s not just a question of size, it is a question of age. The fact is, unless you continually make a very strong push to get and retain young families and young singles, no matter how “successful” you think you now are, your congregation is going to start to age out, and then you start getting into all the issues described in this article. Cutting back your Sunday school, youth and young singles programs is a pretty clear sign you are on your way to death, sooner or later. Continuing to be attractive to younger people may mean doing a bunch of things older congregations may be uncomfortable with. These are some thoughts, based on things that have been done at our church over time to be more attractive to younger people:
(1) having at least one “contemporary” service with a rock band rather than an organ and choir–however, this doesn’t mean you have to compromise on the message of the Gospel or turn your service into “entertainment” rather than worship (see, e.g., point 9 below);
(2) being willing to live with crying babies or unruly children during services (within limits of course), or providing a good “cry room” facility next to the sanctuary where at least the service audio can be piped in–young parents will typically take their turns with their young children in the cry room, reducing the disruption;
(3) moving back at least one service on Sunday so it meets in the late morning or early afternoon (young people don’t get going on Sundays as quickly as older folks);
(4) possibly having a Saturday or Sunday evening alternate service, again for younger people who just aren’t able to make Sunday mornings;
(5) providing child care as much as possible, even if this means that older members have to volunteer to help out with this;
(6) emphasizing the quality of your children’s Sunday school programs (this is the number one way you will get and keep young families–if their kids like coming to Sunday school, their parents are not going to tell them no and the family will keep coming back)–get as many members involved as you can who are willing to help out with Sunday School (of course, with proper background vetting and training) and who will be enthusiastic working with children;
(7) emphasize youth group and singles ministries, and be willing to pay a pastor experienced in this area to lead those ministries (often the youth minister is the low person on the totem pole, right out of seminary, and that can lead to disastrous results);
(8) consider putting one or more younger (but mature Christian) members on your vestry or board of elders–contrary to popular belief, sometimes younger (in age) believers are some of your strongest, because they have been through the culture wars first-hand, and they know what their contemporaries are going through and what it would take to get and keep them in church–and you will also be training your future lay leaders for the church;
(9) providing sermons with theological substance, not just feel good anecdotes–again contrary to what people think, younger people are hungry for solid theology and teaching (think Tim Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian), whereas they will immediately see through the typical mainline sermon as fluff without substance they won’t want to waste their time with. Most folks in their twenties and thirties are dealing with real issues in trying to live the Christian life, and they want real instruction and teaching in how to do that. They will support and join churches that help them do that.
(10) Training and encouraging your congregation, not just the ushers and greeters, to be more welcoming of new people coming to church and checking it out. This means making it clear that people will be welcomed no matter how they dress, that folks make efforts to get to know other people they don’t know, and that the church encourages people to sit in different locations in the sanctuary each week (so that you don’t end up always sitting in “your pew,” where only “the people you know” sit around you). This can be difficult, and the pastors and elders have to be willing to take the lead on this in their own behavior at church, or it will not filter down into the rest of the congregation.
Watch the Southern Baptists on this one. The have been stagnant, know it, and are taking steps to address it. There should be a lot of interesting strategies that work or don’t, providing useful information on practical evangelism.