In 2019, the United States saw 3000 church plants and 4500 church closings. For all the excitement surrounding new additions, we still had a net decrease of 1500 churches in one calendar year.
With that ratio, the outlook is very dismal.
Every Sunday, 87 churches have their final worship service.
That reality should cause us to wake up. Churches are dying. Mine could be next. Yours could be declining to the point of no return.
What is the best chance to help a dying church? It’s not sending in a young preacher that will attract young families like a magnet to a church where dysfunction is blocking the way at every entrance. All you will do is continue a pattern of a revolving door of new pastors who give it their all for two years and then leave the ministry and initiate a new pastor search team.
The best chance to help a dying church is when God uses a healthy one to come alongside it.
Why is that such a rarity?
Territorial ecclesiology robs us of experiencing God’s work among the big “C” Church.
We are so busy trying to protect our base, promote our brand, and grow our congregation, that we miss what God is doing beyond our little corner of the world.
Trying to protect our kingdoms does not advance God’s Kingdom.
If you are a struggling church, have you ever considered asking for help from another one?
If you are a healthy church, have you ever considered offering help to another one?
Now we who are strong have an obligation to bear the weaknesses of those without strength, and not to please ourselves.
Romans 15:1
If we can rid competition from our churches, we can start viewing one another as partners in the Great Commission. We need to start prioritizing what God is doing among all the churches rather than focusing on how we can brag about what we are doing through ours.
What would happen in your city if churches actually started helping other churches?
Travis Agnew serves as the Lead Pastor of Rocky Creek Church in Greenville, SC. His most recent book is Just (About) Married.
