Will the Mainline Church Die?

That’s Tom Ehrich’s question:

“I think it’s time for leaders to lead, and for clergy to be aggressive about doing everything they can to grow their churches,” I told her. “Lay leaders shouldn't be allowed to stifle growth. It’s God’s church, not theirs.”

I wasn’t done.

“Other than budget expenses for something like a new Web site,” I said, strategies for moving forward aren’t about money or hiring. They are about mission, ministry, education, pastoral care, membership development and other factors that “shouldn’t require formal approval, unless your governing board has gotten into the habit of giving permission on everything that happens. If that is the case, correcting that dysfunctional sort of leadership is your starting point.”

Still, after 50 years of fighting about change, many mainline congregations seem braced for one last battle: whose hand gets to turn out the lights.

Time is running out. We need to break this deadlock. I think it’s time for change-minded leaders to lead, and for denominational officials to support them in the ensuing firestorm. Instead of fighting over who owns the building, we should be discerning who owns the mission. A congregation can’t be allowed to die just because entrenched leaders won’t allow life.

via Change or Die: When Lay Leaders Stifle Church Growth and Future.

Honestly, I think it’s clerical leaders as often as lay leaders who stifle growth (and life) in the mainline…