The reasons for growth and decline in a congregation can often be complex. What is clear is that some congregations are ready for growth when the opportunity comes, and others are prone to decline, no matter how much is done for them. This is because of the way that the existing congregation works – its dynamic. The attitudes of the people, to God, to their priest, to each other and to the newcomer, are actually much more important than the style of the worship and the state of the finances.
Think for a moment about how different types of people make up your congregation. I don’t mean young and middle-aged and old, or black and white and Asian, but rather the way in which groups of people behave. Four types are represented in most congregations….
That sound you hear is the sound of a hammer hitting the nail right on the head. I completely agree with his assertions, and can think of numerous examples of each type in my own parish. I’m bringing this to the next vestry meeting!
Our senior pastor’s sermon this past Sunday was on the theme that we all need to realize that a healthy church is constantly changing. Not in terms of doing a “New Thing” or compromising the Gospel for the ways of the world, but recognizing that in reaching people for Christ we always have to acknowledge that we cannot become fossilized. The biggest danger is becoming an “AARP church,” where people are comfortable, but where the church is not bringing in new people. Such a church is doomed to age and eventually die. There are others, however, and the Park Street Church in Boston comes to mind, where the church is committed to bringing in new believers. (In Park Street Church’s case, they will be celebrating their bicentennial next year.
http://www.parkstreet.org/about_park_street)
We are lucky to have a lot of older people in our congregation who recognize this. As one of our older attenders, in her eighties, said to me recently, “I would rather be in a church that’s alive, even if it means getting used to rock music and a praise band, than be in one that is dying.”
Let’s not confuse “alive and growing” with “new and different”.
Park Street Church is FAR from a typical congregation. It is enormous, has a vast endowment, is historically famous and architecturally notable. It is also in a thriving urban center with lots of Old Rich Families, Yuppies and Homosexuals (two income, no kids to pay for), not to mention tourists, to pick up the tab.
My question is: What do we mean by ‘growing’? Growing in numbers and worldly wealth? Growing in the Faith? Or what, exactly? It’s not an easy question, and never has been.