I enjoy reading Martin Robinson's Blog Café Vista on the Together in Mission website. Martin is an author and the Principal of Springdale College in the U.K. Recently he has posted a series of articles about church planting and renewal.Here's an interesting recent post:
"Why Churches Close" by Martin Robinson
I am part of a network of churches that is planting congregations at a fair pace. That is the activity we love to talk about and celebrate. However, it is also true that for every three churches we have started we have closed one. That is not a bad average but we don’t often look in detail at the process that ends with a church closure.
I am very conscious that when it comes to the final conversation about closure, the underlying reality is that the church really died some 20 or 30 years before. My observation is that there are at least four key stages in the pathology of decline and closure. I wonder if you recognise any of these stages?
Stage One. The church has been successful and has even seen some growth but there are some warning signs. Leadership does not have a broad vision for mission and tends to treat their minister badly. The leadership and to some extent the congregation has been worried by the growth of the past – too many people coming in who are not quite like us – there is an emphasis on “us” on pastoral needs, on quality issues around worship. Connections with
Read the rest on the Café Vista Blog: HERE
The follow-up article explores what can be done to turn the decline around. Read it here: Life Beyond Death For Churches Near Closure.
