Help! The Methodist church I attend is declining. Any way to save it?
Our church consultant recently told us that we need to sell our building and move. My fear is that if we are just going to recreate the same thing in a smaller space, there is no point. Does Methodism only work with a large, wealthy congregation? We were told the demographics in our urban neighborhood are not in our favor. In fact, looking around, there isn't a Methodist church (or any church) thriving in our culturally-mixed area, except perhaps the Hispanic Catholic church nearby. If we do take the money and start over, what should we do differently? Most of our members are aging. What about the younger set and those of us with toddlers, like me? Is the answer to leave and join a larger church or can we possibly attract others like us?
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Anna M. Clark on -
That's a fair question. I want to save it because the idea of a community church hold a lot of appeal for me and several others in the are. It's a shame that due to changing demographics and an aging membership, there aren't enough people to support a church building like ours. The building costs $15,000 per month over budget just to heat and cool. We've been told that if we move now, we will still have money to start over in a new location rather than let all the money get sucked up by a half vacant building. So, my dream of a church in walking distance is on hold indefinitely. I've decided to follow the church to its new location to see if something new and exciting can rise up from this misfortune. There is a palpable feeling that many in the congregation would like to see what if feels like to be more evangelical. It's been an inward-looking church for too long and now people are beginning to see that. I appreciate your interest. It's nice to have some people outside of this to talk to.
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Permalink Reply by Randy Reininger on -
Prayed for you guys, Anna.
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Permalink Reply by Ken Stober on -
When reading about your responses the words "attracting new members" keeps coming up. I think the days of attracting are over. Usually you are just attracting more Christians from other churches that are not as cool and hip. The real question I think is how can you get your members to impact and serve the community as followers of Jesus.
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Permalink Reply by Anna M. Clark on
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I like your point. I can tell we're all a bit out of practice in that regard. Individually, we are each doing some things, but doing more community service as a congregation would be a lot more effective. It's something I am going to keep pushing along with other vocal people in the church. I did host a neighborhood electronics recycling event which ended up being very successful - as a community outreach, that is. Not so much as a membership drive, but that was not the point anyway. We'll keep it up. Thanks for the encouragement.
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Permalink Reply by linda on -
anna, another thing your church might want to consider is the alpha course. it is a great relational, evangelistic ministry that started at an anglican church in london and has spread all over to various denominations.
it is a 12-week course on the basics of christianity. usually, how it is done is each week there is a free dinner (donations are requested), the night's teaching and then discussion in the small groups that one remains in for the duration of the course. the small groups are very much to be a safe place to ask any and all questions and when i did it many years ago it was a great way to meet people in a new church. when it is done well it really takes off. there is also a holy spirit weekend and it's always amazing to see what God does on those. it introduced me to how God still heals today. they have a one-night teaching on that and having been raised nominally presbyterian i had no idea God still did that. i was asked back to help out after i took the class and ended up co-facilitating a small group a couple of times. over 12 years later i still consider it one of the highlights of my church experiences for the friendships and fun i had. keep us updated on how things are going with your church. :)
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Permalink Reply by Anna M. Clark on
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Love this idea, Linda. I'm collecting all of these ideas and presenting them to our church at the appropriate time. I do agree that we need a program that involves some type of outreach, and a meal is usually a good incentive to attract participants!
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Permalink Reply by Darcy J Knight on -
I'd like to hear an answer to this one myself. I'm in a UMC with membership problems, and I'd love to know what to do about it.
By the way, Anna, define small for me, please? We're less than one hundred members, you?
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Permalink Reply by Anna M. Clark on
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We have about 150 members, so not too far ahead of you! I'm glad this discussion is reaching others too! I'll chime in from time to time, but for now I'm kind of sitting back and soaking up all the good info that people are sending.
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Permalink Reply by Daniel Young on
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Anna,
I am also in Dallas...live in Frisco. It seems if there isn't a church in your area that is thriving, then that is exactly where the "Church" needs to be (in your neighborhood, not necessarily the building).
I think we have lost the art of being missionaries in our city. We do not know how to engage the community around us. Some stats say that most of our growth in our nation is occurring through immigration which means different values, different religions, different worldviews and it is a struggle to learn to adapt to those changes. Even up here in Frisco, at the wal-mart on a Sunday night, I think it was 60% ethnically diverse (Asian, Black, Indian, Hispanic).
I worked in telecom for 6 years, the last 4 for a long distance company. That company did not have the foresight to see the changing landscape and see that long distance was a dying market. Instead they chose to live off the scraps of ATT and MCI. (that is literally what they said). Things are changing in our landscape as well for the church. The question is are we willing to embrace what is going on and adapt?
We are connected with Newsong...a good read for your team might be Dave Gibbons book, Monkey and the fish to see if your church is called to be a third culture church where you are at.
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Permalink Reply by Anna M. Clark on
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Thanks, Daniel. You are hitting the nail on the head. Our church was told that we are predominantly "middle culture" when the demographics around us only have 14% such people. The rest are "right culture" or "left culture." Without getting into what all those labels mean, the big takeaway from our consultant, who is one of the best around, is that either we learn to adapt to these different cultures or we move. Sadly, we have to move anyway because the building is simply too much of a drain. I would prefer to stay in the area and just move somewhere smaller and make it more "hip" and accessible, but the aging congregation is turned off by the idea of doing a storefront type of deal. The other option is to follow the demographics and move somewhere with more young families, etc. To me, this is abandoning the community and leaving no option for the people around here. What is so wrong with East Dallas that a church can't exist here? What does it even look like to be a missionary in one's own community? The Jehovah's Witnesses who come to my door sometimes are doing that, but most people don't seem to like that approach. So much of this is out of my hands, but I'm trying to learn from it and just gather some good ideas to bring to the table in the event that we do decide to go in a new direction. I'm grateful for all the responses to this question and I'm saving them in a folder.
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Permalink Reply by Hal Moran on
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I'm reminded of what Henry Blackaby wrote in his workbook - Experiencing God - "God is at work around you, and he is inviting you to join him in his work. Not the other way around.
In my own words, God is always on mission. Our only appropriate answer to his call is - yes Lord.
So, forget what others are doing around you and see what God is doing around you, then join in!
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Permalink Reply by Anna M. Clark on
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Hal, I wish I knew what God is up to here, but I don't. Well, I sort of do b/c our church is clearly not working. Our consultant told us that we need to move, but there is much internal strife going on. There is so much good but so much bad, too. It would help if I felt certain about anything, but I have only questions and no answers. The church will vote in December whether or not to move. If they don't move, then they we will disband and go different directions. I have a 2 and a 4 year old so I feel like I need to be someplace stable for them. At the same time, I love our pastor and band (although much of the aging congregation does not), so I'd like to follow them if we have the opportunity to start over somewhere new. If we don't get to do that, then I either get to drive 20 minutes away to a large "thriving" Methodist church or switch denominations (although only the Catholic church, with a mostly Hispanic congregation, seems to be doing okay). I live in an urban area where a range of diverse socio-economic backgrounds intersect. Seems our church is dying b/c we don't know how to reach these other groups. Also, we are a total turn-off to younger people. Nobody in their 20s and 30s wants to join this church. I have a business and I'm a young mother of 2, I do not have the talent or the time to create my own church. But yet the whole situation keeps nagging at me b/c I feel like it's a choice between doing what's hard and seeing this through, wherever it goes, and doing the easy thing, which is to run to the safety of the large successful church. Is there something wrong with me that I don't see that kind of church as the answer that people need? What about all the people who don't feel comfortable there, or who are poor and don't have money? Where is Jesus in all this? Thanks for listening. I will keep the conversation going as I learn more. I am hoping to learn a few things from this process.
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