The Life Cycle of a church

Churches, like all of us, have a life cycle. We are born, we grow and mature, we reach a plateau stage, we begin to decline until we finally die. It might help to show the life cycle as a bell curve. The maturing and growth of the church is found on the left side of the curve while the decline side is on the right side. We read today that 80 percent of the churches in North America are on a plateau or declining. However, if you notice, the plateau is a rather small area leading me to believe that most of these churches are in decline.

Plateau

                  Birth                                                                                                                    Death

Unlike us, churches do not have to follow this life cycle. Although approximately 100 churches close their doors each week in America, churches do not have to die. At any point a church can begin a new life cycle. A church creates a new life cycle for itself when it begins new ministries designed to reach new people for Christ. Although a new life cycle can begin anywhere in the current life cycle, the best place to begin one is on the left side before a church reaches a plateau. Once a church starts down the decline side, and especially if they are far down that side, they become very risk averse. These churches want to protect what resources they have in an effort to keep their church alive and may not be willing to spend those resources on new ministries.

Unfortunately, it's also not easy to begin one on the left side. On the left side of the life cycle the church is growing. Things are going well. Developing new ministries requires change in what the church is doing, and why would anyone want to change something that is working so well? We've all heard, "If it isn't broke, don't fix it." I have a new slogan: "If it isn't broke, break it because it's going to become obsolete soon anyway." What got you here won't get you where you want to go in the future. The world is changing too rapidly for anyone, including churches, to rest on what has worked in the past. To be successful, individuals have to reinvent themselves and commit to personal growth and lifelong learning. The same is true for churches.

Every church began because someone had a vision for a church in your community. New life cycles for churches begins out of a vision for new ministry. Someone recognizes a ministry need that exists in your community and a vision is formed that will address that need. Perhaps someone else has a vision for another ministry need and a second new life cycle begins. Churches can start numerous new life cycles allowing the church to stay on the left side of the curve, and more importantly, reaching people for the Kingdom of God.

Where is your church on this life cycle? Management guru Max DePree has written that the first responsibility of a leader is to define reality, so be honest with your answer. If your church is on the left side, what can you do to ensure you stay on that side? If you determine that your church is on the decline side, what needs to change? How can your church begin a new life cycle that will bring encouragement to the church and transform the lives of those you serve?