Mountair Christian Church<\/a> is almost 90 years old. \u00a0It has been through ups and downs in its career. \u00a0When it was planted it was in the suburbs and the surrounding community was made up of young, middle-class white people. \u00a0Over the years the city has taken over what was once a suburb and the community has changed dramatically (a common story). \u00a0The people had a desire to reach the community but as years passed had a more and more difficult time figuring out what that looked like.<\/p>\nWhen I came a little less than three years ago the church was comprised of about 60 people and about 80% of them were over 75 years old. \u00a0The church was dying. \u00a0It\u2019s not that they weren\u2019t trying. \u00a0They had hired a band to come in and play more contemporary music twice a month. \u00a0They hired me, a \u201cvery young guy\u201d in their estimation (I was 31 then). \u00a0When a young person happened to wander into the church they were smothered by hospitality and welcome as people hoped against hope that they would return. \u00a0They thought they were ready to change.<\/p>\n
The Usual Way<\/h3>\n
As I\u2019ve learned more about turnaround churches I\u2019ve found the common way to handle a situation like the one that existed three years ago at Mountair is to come in \u201cguns blazing.\u201d \u00a0Actually the guns start blazing before the pastor is hired (if this is handled ethically). \u00a0The pastor sits the church leadership down and says, \u201cLook, we all know the church is dying. \u00a0Reviving it will be difficult. \u00a0If I\u2019m going to come here you need to commit to doing the following\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n
Sometimes this means committing to the recommendations of a consultant. \u00a0Sometimes it is committing to a new structure or music or a name change. \u00a0The regular way to turn around a church is to do radical surgery right away.<\/p>\n
(The second place finisher in turning a church around is for a pastor to chaplain a dying congregation while planting a new church in the building.)<\/p>\n
Another Way<\/h3>\n
Before sharing what is happening at Mountair I want to say that I think the usual way can be great. \u00a0Sometimes radical surgery is the only way to go. \u00a0I know of many churches where the \u201cguns blazing\u201d approach has worked and they are thriving. \u00a0So this is not a diatribe against it, just an experience of another way that might also work.<\/p>\n
When I came to Mountair I had a close friend tell me to do nothing but love people for a year. \u00a0I didn\u2019t like that advice much. \u00a0I saw so many things that needed to change! \u00a0I don\u2019t like the status quo. \u00a0But by the grace of God (and my respect for my friend) I heeded his advice (mostly). \u00a0I spent a year listening to stories, making hospital visits, doing my best in preaching and Bible studies, holding my tongue on many things I knew needed to change. \u00a0In that year a funny thing happened\u2013I learned to truly love and care about our elderly congregation and they learned to love me as well.<\/p>\n
When love enters the picture it changes things. \u00a0I still knew many things needed to change and that people wouldn\u2019t like many of the changes, but I also knew I didn\u2019t want to hurt people in the process. \u00a0So we began tackling one thing at a time. \u00a0To me it felt like we were trying to put out a fire with a thimble of water at a time. \u00a0To them it felt like I was spraying them with a firehouse. \u00a0But in the midst of that tension we loved each other.<\/p>\n
Another thing I\u2019ve learned along the way is that momentum matters. \u00a0As we changed something and the world didn\u2019t end people were more willing to talk about changing the next thing. \u00a0As they saw success happening\u2013even a little at a time\u2013it made them more willing to move into the next challenge. \u00a0I can\u2019t lie, at times it\u2019s been excruciating taking what to me is such a slow pace, but the thing that has kept me from turning into the proverbial bull in the china shop is my love for the people.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s been two years and nine months. \u00a0In that time we have reformed some unhealthy leadership structures, had elders go from sharing a communion meditation in the service once a quarter to seeing themselves as leaders in the church, moved from a \u201cno\u201d to a \u201cprobably\u201d disposition in regard to change, spent $25,000 updating the building so it wouldn\u2019t be a deterrent to reaching the people in our community, began a Missional Community where people are taking the initiative to engage our surrounding community, become a church of 50% long-time members and 50% people from the community, agreed to spend money from savings to hire an Associate Pastor to help us move into the new ministry we\u2019ve been dreaming about, and had the older people give permission for me to run with some new things that will hopefully make Mountair a presence for the gospel in our community for decades to come. \u00a0It\u2019s seemed slow but a lot has happened in two years and nine months, and we\u2019ve loved each other in the process. \u00a0(And what I\u2019ve written here is really only a fraction of the story.)<\/p>\n
The Right Conditions<\/h3>\n
I do want to briefly note that part of the reason this approach has worked is the spirit of the elderly people here. \u00a0They want to see this church reach people. \u00a0They love every person who walks through the doors. \u00a0They may not know what \u201cmissional\u201d means, but they love Jesus and know they\u2019re supposed to love other people. \u00a0If this were a church where people didn\u2019t care about God\u2019s mission I don\u2019t think this would have worked. \u00a0They\u2019ve been willing to change because they love God and they\u2019ve learned to trust me. \u00a0That trust couldn\u2019t have happened without time.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
By Trevor Lee (HT: :mic): How do you turn around a dying church? \u00a0There are books that have been written on that topic. \u00a0There are consultants who have led many churches through the process of gaining new life. \u00a0I have not written a book and I am not a consultant. \u00a0I\u2019m not giving an exhaustive […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":197,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-28800","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n
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