Denominational decline

Our judicatory has its monthly staff meeting tomorrow, and one of the agenda items is a discussion of a couple of recent articles that address the decline of denominations, and especially middle judicatories.  I don't think there is much question that we live in a time when churches have much less connection with their denomination, and in the nine years I've been on our region staff I have seen some of our churches separate themselves from our region.  Attendance at association and region events has declined dramatically over the past few years.  I serve seven associations, and some of them no longer have annual meetings due to the limited participation over the years, and others are considering abandoning their association meetings.  Giving to support denominational missions is also down.  While I think denominations and judicatories still have much to offer their churches, I also believe that we will see churches place less and less importance in these organizations unless major changes are made.

Our readers come from a wide variety of denominations.  What kind of relationship do you and your church have with your denomination?  Is your personal relationship with your denomination any different than the one your church has?  If you are a bivocational church leader, do you think the fact that you are bivocational has any impact on that relationship?  What would you like to see your denomination and/or judicatory do that it is not currently doing?  If you identify several things, what is the one thing that would add the most value to you or your church?  Are there some things you wish your denomination would stop doing?  If you currently have a limited involvement with your denomination or judicatory, what could they do to strengthen your relationship with them?

Here is a great opportunity for you to be heard on this important issue so I hope you'll take some time to answer some of these questions.

A danger of bivocational ministry

Let me begin by apologizing for no recent posts.  Last week my wife and I took a week's vacation, and I promised her I would not do anything ministry related.  I kept my promise.  We went on a picnic, spent a couple of days visiting our daughter and her family, and got some work done around the house.  The week before that I was tied up with several activities that just didn't give me the opportunity to post anything on this blog.

This evening I want to address a danger that we often do not think about when considering bivocational ministry.  I saw it mentioned in another blog I was reading earlier today, and it really got my attention.  The danger is using bivocational ministry to keep a church open when it should really be closed.

Many, not all, churches call a bivocational minister out of economic necessity.  They simply do not have the money to afford a fully-funded pastor so they call someone who is bivocational.  Obviously, I don't think there is anything wrong with that since I am so supportive of bivocational ministry and served as a bivocational pastor for 20 years.  But, there are some churches that call a bivocational minister to keep the doors open for a church that essentially died years ago, and that is a problem.

We make a mistake if we believe that there is never a time when a church should close its doors.  In fact, if a church has no vision for ministry and people's lives are not being changed as a result of the ministry of that church, I believe that church needs to make some serious decisions.  Is it good stewardship of God's resources to spend what little money comes in just to keep the lights turned on and the building heated?  There are many churches that has survival as its only vision, and I would argue that survival is not a worthy goal for a church.

Such churches barely raise enough money each week to keep their utilities turned on.  There is never money available for ministry, and if such a church did have extra money come in it would likely want to put that money in a savings somewhere in case giving decreased even more.  Some of these churches own property worth thousands, even hundreds of thousands of dollars, that is being used for a small number of people to huddle together each week so they can remember how things used to be.

These churches often can only remain open because they call a bivocational minister to come in and serve as a chaplain to the membership.  That can be appropriate if such a pastor serves as a hospice chaplain who provides excellent care while the final days of the church's life is lived out.  Such a person can provide a valuable ministry if he or she can honor the ministry that has existed in the church for many years and lead the church to close its doors with dignity and make its resources available to new ministries that may rise up in the community.  But, the danger is that too often a dying church calls a bivocational minister to come in and lead them in pretending that everything is OK when everything is not OK.

Of course, how do we know when a church has reached the point in its life when its time to close?  How far down the decline side of the life of the church can a church go and still be able to come back to life?  I must admit that I don't know the answer to that.  I've seen some churches that I thought were about to close their doors, and they came back to life under new leadership.  I'm not sure anyone on the outside can ever know for certain how much life is left in a church.  That's why I believe it is very important that those in leadership in some of these churches take a very honest, hard look at their churches and decide for themselves if there is any life left in their churches.  If not, then perhaps the best thing that such churches can do is to recognize the impact they have made for the Kingdom of God and close down so newer ministries can come in and continue that work.  This may well be the hardest decision a church ever has to make, but it might be the decision that brings the most honor to God.

Family memories

This evening I was driving down the street towards our home when I saw a father and his son tossing a frisbee in the backyard.  I only glanced at them, but it was enough to remind me of so many afternoons and evenings spent with our children.  I remembered the times when I coached our son's little league teams and all the evenings he and I threw a baseball in the backyard.  I thought back to the times when our daughter would ride on a tractor with me and the pet duck she used to have.  Dozens of memories went through my mind, and I wished I could relive every one of them.  But, both of our children are grown now with children of their own.  The closest one lives two hours away so we don't see our children or grandchildren nearly as often as we would like.  As I continued to drive home I thought that I needed to include this on my blog just to remind the readers of how important it is to make memories with your families.

If you have young children at home just remember that they will grow up one day and leave home.  All the times you were too busy to spend even an hour with them will leave with them.  I know you're busy with a lot of responsibilities, and "one of these days you'll be able to spend more time with the family."  Just remember that you are making memories right now that will forever be etched on the minds of your family members.  Will those memories be about what a great pastor you were, or how many hours a week you put in at your job?  Or will they remember times in the back yard tossing a frisbee or a ball?  Will they remember the committee meetings you had to attend or will they remember the evenings you went to their school play and sat there smiling while they sang their songs?

Yes, God has called you into the ministry and given you important responsibilities, but if God has given you a family you have responsibilities towards them as well.  Probably, your church had pastors before you and will have other pastors after you leave.  But, what about your family?  I have always intended to be the only husband my wife will ever have and the only father my children ever know, and I have tried to create good, lasting memories for each of them.  I have to confess that I've failed at times, but overall I think I have succeeded for the most part. 

What kind of memories are you making for your loved ones?

Making good use of your time

After my first book was released in 2000 an individual writing a review for amazon.com told people to not waste their money or their time buying the book.  I believe he complained that I was anti-education and that almost anyone could write a better book if they had the time.  The first complaint was wrong, and I think the fact that I just completed my doctorate confirms that I am not anti-education.  I sometimes complain about what many people preparing for the ministry are being taught, but I am committed to life-long education.  The second complaint made me laugh at the time and still brings a chuckle when I think about it.  I assume my critic will not write a better book because he just doesn't have the time to do so.

Long time readers of this blog and of my books know that time management is a frequent theme for me.  It is the number one problem for most bivocational ministers.  We've all felt the squeeze when there is just too much to get done in the amount of time we have.  I struggle with it, most bivocational ministers struggle with it, and my critic seems to struggle with it as well.  I thought about all this when I came across a print out I did a few years ago of a web page I ran across on a business site.  The author of the article was Myers Barnes, and this was written in 2001 for the HousingZone website.  I will just copy a couple of paragraphs from the article.

Einstein understood time management is an oxymoron.  It cannot be managed.  You can't save time, lose time, turn back the hands of time or have more time tomorrow than today.  Time is unemotional, uncontrolled, unencumbered.  It moves forward regardless of circumstances and, in the game of life, creates a level playing field for everyone.  The paradox of time is that we rarely consider that we have enough of it when, in fact, all of it is available to everyone equally.  You and I - along with the rest of the world - start each and every day with the same 24-hours...1,440 minutes...86,400 seconds.

The only difference between being a productive person and a disorganized person is whether or not you grasp - either consciously or subconsciously - that you cannot manage time; you can only control the events within a given timeframe.  You can make use of time...as in riding the train to the station...but even if you choose to stay in the depot, the seconds will continue to click by on timeless tracks.

These words remind me of a phrase one of my professors at Bible school kept telling us: You get done what you spend time doing.  That's true for each of us.  At the end of every day as we lay down to sleep we can look back on our day and realize that we got done the things we spent time working on.

No one, and certainly not bivocational ministers, will accomplish everything there is to do in a day's time.  There will always be another phone call that could have been made, another visit to someone's home that could have been made, some more time spent on Sunday's sermon, or more time spent with the family.  At the end of every day there will always be some unfinished work.  That's why it is so important to set priorities and make sure that we spend time doing the most important things first.

We have all the time God has seen fit to give us.  The challenge for each of us is how we will use that time for the greatest good.

Yoked churches

Several years ago while I was a bivocational pastor our Area Minister asked if I would consider serving as the pastor of a second, smaller church near our church.  I was willing to do it if the logistics could be worked out, and the leadership of our church gave their permission.  However, the second church did not want to share a pastor with another church so it never happened.  Although there are occasional examples of yoked churches in our denomination, it is not a common thing.

At our judicatory meeting today we were discussing the possibility of asking some of our smaller churches to consider sharing a pastor.  Like so many denominations, we are having difficulty finding pastors for some of our smaller churches.  A yoked parish could provide many benefits to both churches and to the pastor, but from experience I know it will be a hard sell to many of them.

How many of you currently serve more than one church?  I would like to hear a little about your experiences, what you see as some of the positives as well as some of the challenges, and if you feel particularly called to such ministry or are you doing it out of necessity.

New resources for bivocational ministers

For a long time there were few resources developed especially for bivocational ministers.  I'm glad to report that as the numbers of bivocational ministers are increasing more resources are being developed to help us succeed in our ministries.  Just this week I received information about two new resources.

One is a doctoral dissertation that addresses lay and bivocational strategies for the church in North America.  The doctoral candidate wrote asking for some information he needed before finishing his dissertation.  In the past few months I have discovered several doctoral papers that address different elements of bivocational ministry.  Many of them were written by denominational leaders, and that bodes well for bivocational ministers.  People are recognizing the value we bring to the churches we serve, and they are looking for ways to come alongside and provide the assistance we need to address some of our challenges.

Terry Dorsett sent me a copy of his new book Developing Leadership Teams in the Bivocational Church.  Ministry teams are important in every size church, but they are critical in bivocational churches.  Bivocational ministers simply do not have the time to do all the work that needs to be done in a church, and, besides, that isn't biblical anyway.  The biblical model is the Ephesians 4 model that has the pastor equipping the congregation to do ministry.  Terry offers a great resource to help the bivocational minister equip church members to minister to one another and to their community.  He provides six training sessions that will help church members feel confident in filling the pulpit and in making pastoral visits.  Included in the book are the lessons, exercises, and worksheets a bivocational pastor will need to train lay people.  I've only glanced through the book so far, but it looks like an extremely practical book that every bivocational minister will want.

I've been told another book is being released that also addresses bivocational ministry, but I haven't received a copy of it yet.  As soon as I do I'll let you know.

I hope you feel as excited about this as I do.  Your valuable work is being recognized!  Denominational leaders now see that bivocational ministry isn't second class ministry performed by people who couldn't cut it in real ministry.  Without bivocational ministers many of our churches would have to close their doors, and their ministries would come to a close.  God has been raising up bivocational ministers to serve His churches, and He is now leading people to develop the resources we've needed for a long time.  I truly believe that we will see even more material being developed in the near future, and for that each of us should be thankful.

Does anyone need the church?

I had a couple of interesting conversations this week with people who have been in church all their lives and are thinking of leaving it.  They both tell me they love God, but they are tired of the shallowness and mean-spiritedness of the people who make up their churches.  One is a Baby Boomer who serves on the leadership board of her church, and the other is a 30-something who appreciates the depth of his pastor's sermons but is very disappointed in many of the people who attend their church.  Right now, the only thing keeping this person from leaving is his concern for the spiritual well-being of his children.  Unfortunately, these two people are not alone in their feelings about the church.  Read They Like Jesus But Not the Church, Jim and Casper Go to Church,  Revolution, or Death of the Church and you'll find similar stories. 

People are not leaving the church because they are turning their backs on God.  In fact, they often claim they are leaving the church in order to protect their faith.  They would probably say that the Surgeon General should require a notice on the side of the church saying "Caution!  Attending church can be hazardous to your spiritual health."  After serving as an ordained minister for the past 28 years with the last 9 in judicatory work I would have to agree that some churches can be hazardous to one's spiritual health.  But, are these people right?  Is a believer better off not going to church?  The answer is no.

I do need to qualify that answer a little.  I know some churches that no person should attend if they are serious about wanting to grow as a Christian.  The best thing that could happen for the Kingdom of God is that these churches would close their doors.  They have been spiritually dead for decades and would attack anyone who tried to revive them.  The few people who still attend there are often mean-spirited people with very poor theology who run the church like their own little fiefdom.

But, if you are in one of these churches, the attitudes and actions of the people should not cause you to turn away from the church...just that one.  Shake the dust from your feet and run away as fast as possible.  The good news is that there are thousands of churches you can choose from, and some of them are quite healthy and are committed to seeing people grow in their relationship with God and to ministering to the communities in which God has placed them.  Such churches need people who are committed to growing and serving.

Even these churches won't be perfect.  You will find problems in these churches as well.  You see, churches are made up of people, none of whom are perfect people.  By the way, that includes you as well.  As the old saying goes, if you find a perfect church don't join it.  As soon as you do it won't be perfect any more.  Even people who love God and are committed to spiritual growth sometimes creates problems and hurts people.  Even if we try to live totally and completely sold out to God there will be times when we will fall short.  The godliest people will disappoint others at some point.  That is when we need to extend the same grace towards them that has been given to us so many times over the years.

If we focus our attention on other people we will always be disappointed.  If our focus is on God we will never be disappointed.  We need the church in spite of its flaws.  Remove a stick from a fire and it will soon cool down and lose its heat and its ability to warm others.  Replace that stick back into the fire and it will quickly reignite and begin to burn brightly.  When Christians remove themselves from the church they soon begin to lose their spiritual fire.  We need to be with other believers, including those who are flawed, to maintain our own spiritual fire.

It should be noted that this does not mean that everyone must attend a building with a high, tall steeple and pipe organ.  There are wonderful churches meeting in storefronts, office buildings, homes, and virtually any place where a group of people can gather.  There are also great churches meeting in traditional church buildings .  What is important is that you find a church where you can grow and serve and commit yourself to serving God with that group of people.

As Christian leaders we have to be studying our church to see if it is a safe place for Christians to attend.  Are there opportunities for spiritual growth in your church?  If so, are people actually growing spiritually in your church?  Can people experience true community with others in your church, or is your church very closed off to outsiders (and possibly some insiders)?  Are there opportunities for people to minister to others in your church?  If Jesus Christ was to return this Sunday would you be excited for Him to visit your church?  If you can answer yes to each of these questions, there are a lot of people looking for your church.  Find ways to help them find you.