The future of denominations

A book that has greatly influenced my thinking and ministry is Unfinished Business: Returning the Ministry to the People of God by Greg Ogden.  The primary focus of the book is that ministry does not just belong to clergy but is the responsibility of all believers.  After making his case, Ogden turns to what needs to happen in churches for this transition to occur.  It is an excellent book that I highly recommend to every pastor.

Earlier today I was re-reading a section of the book and came across a statement that I had previously underlined but had forgotten was in the book.  Ogden noted that "denominational life as we know it is perhaps fifty years from extinction."  He went on to give several things that were happening that caused him to make this prediction.  Given that this book was first copyrighted in 1990 and revised in 2003, I spent some time thinking about his prediction.

Of course, people have been predicting the death of denominations for many years, but Ogden's statement was that denominational life as we know it is perhaps fifty years from extinction.  At this point, his prediction is about 25 years old, and I don't think too many people would argue that denominations are weaker now than they were 25 years ago.  In the next 25 years could we see an even further erosion of denominational life and perhaps even the death of some denominational bodies?  I think so, for the same reasons Ogden notes in the book as well as at least one additional reason.  The evidences he lists are

• Denominations existed to keep alive a theological tradition.  In many denominations today it is difficult to find any sense of clarity of their theological heritage.
• With that heritage came a commitment to a style of worship.  Without ever looking at the name of the church one could usually tell what denomination a church belonged to by their style of worship.  With the variety of worship styles today that is no longer the case.
• People under sixty have little loyalty to denominations, and this includes pastors.
• Many denominational churches believe it is more of a liability than an asset to be associated with a denomination.  
• Numerous churches are now removing the denominational names from their church title.  While maintaining their relationship to the denomination, these churches are minimizing that relationship to appeal to more people.

Each of these continue to occur in the church today, and they continue to weaken denominations.  In addition to the ones he mentioned I would like to suggest one additional reason: their failure to recognize the growing numbers of bivocational churches within their denomination.

It is not uncommon today for one-third to one-half of all the churches in a denomination to now be led by bivocational pastors, and yet these pastors and the churches they serve continue to be ignored by most denominational bodies.  There are numerous judicatories who are addressing the needs of these churches and their pastors, but at the denominational level there is very little being done to resource and serve these churches.  I hear from bivocational pastors on a regular basis how lonely they feel as their needs are being totally ignored by their denominations.

No business would last long if it ignored the needs of one-third to one-half of its customers, but this is what many denominations are doing.  These churches and pastors need support so they turn to para-church organizations or other resources for the assistance they need.  Their loyalty and financial support is then given to the ones who provide them with the resources they need.

For the foreseeable future I believe the numbers of bivocational churches will continue to grow.  The denominations who are able to recognize this shift and are willing to support these churches can have a bright future.  The denominations who refuse to do either will soon find they are no longer relevant to the majority of their churches and will be abandoned by those churches.  At that point those denominations will no longer exist.

I think Ogden is right, in another 25 years denominational life as we know it will no longer exist.  Denominations are going to have to make some major changes in how they relate to churches and the resources they make available if they want to have any kind of a future ministry.  I'll write more about this in a later post.

The loyalty of a leader

I am currently reading Albert Mohler's book The Conviction to Lead.  When I finish the book I'll review it on this blog, but it has been a great read.  I just read a passage that talks about the need for loyalty to the organization that a leader must have if he or she is to be successful.  Mohler writes

The movements that make history are those that breed loyalty, and leaders who want to see that kind of loyalty must first demonstrate it themselves.  Are the people who follow your leadership afraid that you are only looking for the next opportunity?  If so, you can forget loyalty.  Do they see you living with less commitment to the mission than you are asking them to have?  Congratulations, you have just undermined loyalty.

So many of our smaller churches have had revolving door pastorates, and this is one reason that many remain small.  When congregations have been conditioned to expect their pastors to leave every 18-24 months we should not wonder why they are not enthused about change.  This is the scenario many of them have seen played out for years, even decades.  A new pastor comes in excited about being in the place where "God has called me to serve."  A couple of years later he or she announces that "God has called me to a new place of service" and abandons them.  During that time he or she has asked for commitment, dedication, and sacrifice from the people, but they have not seen such things from their previous pastors nor do they anticipate seeing them from this individual.  Such churches will never make history nor have much impact on their communities.

We have too many ministers who never unbox their belongings.  Almost as soon as they arrive at a new place of ministry they begin looking for the next opportunity.  I once had a young pastor call me within months after starting a new pastorate to tell me he felt God was leading him to another church and wanted my help in finding one.  His reason was that he didn't feel the church was following him.  I asked him how long he had been there, and the answer was eight months.  I then asked, "Why do you think they would follow you?  You haven't been there long enough for them to trust your leadership?  I know for a fact that they have paid for some of your education, bought you a new computer system, and done some other things to invest in your ministry there.  They've demonstrated their commitment to you, and now they are looking for the same commitment from you to them, and you're talking about leaving."  I refused to help him find another church.  He soon found one on his own, and within a few months it blew up.  To my knowledge he's out of the ministry now.

This same church then called an older, bivocational minister who has now been there for several years.  The church has a solid ministry going on in its small community and is supporting some missionaries both in the US and overseas.  This pastor has demonstrated a loyalty to the church they have not experienced in recent pastorates, and they are gladly following his leadership.  They are willing to go the extra mile because they see him doing the same.

It's time we in the ministry stop blaming God for our wanderlust.  If you want to leave, then leave, but stop acting as if God is so confused about what He wants to do with your ministry that He changes his mind every couple of years.  Climb the ministerial ladder if that is what you want to do, but don't be surprised if when you reach the top you find it's not what you thought it would be, and don't be surprised when you close out your ministry that you don't look back with regret at what your ministry could have been if you had only remained somewhere for an extended period of time.

More pastors need to fall in love with their congregations.  In my book The Bivocational Pastor: Two Jobs, One Ministry I wrote these words found in the diary of a pastor many years ago to express how I felt about my congregation.  "This morning I prayed hard for my parish, my poor parish, my first and perhaps my last, since I could ask no better than to die here.  My parish!  The words can't even be spoken with a kind of soaring love."  Do you love your place of ministry like that?  Do the members of your congregation know of your love for them?  Do they see in you the kind of loyalty that such love should create?  When they are convinced of your loyalty towards them, they will return that loyalty and follow your leadership.