Church foreclosures

The Wall Street Journal reports that since 2008 almost 200 religious facilities have been foreclosed on by banks.  The two years prior to that there were eight such foreclosures and virtually none in the decade before that.  Clearly, our national economic crisis is having a negative impact on churches.  According to the article there are perhaps hundreds of additional churches that will be facing foreclosure or bankruptcy in the near future.

This impact isn't limited to foreclosures however.  I know some churches that are severely strapped by their mortgage payments to the point that their ability to do ministry is quite limited.  There simply isn't money available to do ministry; it's all tied up in making their mortgage payment.  I know of at least one church that is struggling to find a new pastor because of their mortgage payment.  In better times, they were making payments ahead of schedule, but now they are finding it difficult to offer a salary that will attract a pastor with the experience and skills this church needs. 

Too many churches operated under the premise of "if we build it they will come" only to find out that only works in movies.  Churches expanded for an anticipated growth that never developed.  In fact, rather than growing some of these churches experienced a drop in attendance.  One church that stretched itself for a new mortgage had a serious drop in attendance due to a conflict that erupted.  As people began to leave the church their finances followed leaving them struggling to pay a mortgage payment, staff salaries, and offer programming.  Other churches saw their offerings drop, not because of people leaving but because of the declining finances of their members.  It's hard to tithe on an unemployment check.

It's always difficult to predict the future, but some believe that we will not see a major increase in the numbers of people attending traditional churches in the near future.  As the Builder generation continues to shrink churches will find that much of their financial support has come from that generation.  Succeeding generations are not making up the difference as long-time members pass away or move to warmer climates.  The younger generations are not as committed to church or giving as the older generations.  An increasing number of the younger generations are becoming involved in house churches and other non-traditional church settings and are unlikely to return to traditional churches any time soon, if ever.

All of this is to say that now is probably not a great time to be building new ministry facilities.  That is not to say that such building is always wrong.  I know one small, bivocational church that just voted to add on to their fellowship facility.  They have outgrown their current one and need the additional space.  They are not building for anticipated growth; they are building because of growth that has already occurred.  Perhaps more importantly, they plan a very modest addition to their existing facility and have the money in hand to pay for it.  They will incur no debt to build this addition, and it will not limit the ministries they are currently doing.

Limiting a church's ability to do ministry by incurring large debt on building new facilities seems foolish in today's economy.  I think it is important to remember that buildings are merely tools for ministry; they are a means to an end, not the end itself.  IF the church facilities are limiting the church's ability to do ministry, and IF the church has the funds to pay for an addition or new facility, and IF the church is convinced that new facilities are part of God's vision for that church, then go for it.  But, if any of these aspects are missing I would be very cautious about building anything right now except the Kingdom of God.