Don’t Forget To Turn off The Lights

Goodbye is never an easy thing to say. There is almost always pain and heartbreak associated with a farewell. Perhaps this is why so many of us avoid it like the plague. I have had to say farewell numerous times in my life. Growing up my family moved constantly and we said goodbye to many friends. I left college friends and seminary friends. And I’ve said goodbye to my father, who passed away over a year ago. It’s never easy, and even the thought of some of those farewells bring tears afresh to my cheeks. But goodbye is a part of our existence on this earth, and as painful as it is we must come to terms with it.

As a church consultant I have helped a handful of churches wrestle with a host of different issues related to how ministry and church life are done. One of the issues that has come up a couple of times now is church dissolution. When should a church finally close its doors permanently? It is not an easy question to answer, and I, by no means, claim to know the right answer. There are, however, a few questions which have guided my thinking on the subject, and I believe answering these questions can help us get closer to determining when we should turn the lights off and lock up the doors forever. I share them with you now merely as a means of provoking healthy thought.

1. Have you sought God for helping to grow, sustain, and revitalize your church? This has to be the starting place for our discussion. For the most part the only churches who have these discussions are declining and struggling churches, so it seems only fair to remind ourselves that it is God who grows and revitalizes a congregation (1 Corinthians 3:6). So have you sought God or are you simply throwing in the towel? The question is really attempting to get at motivation as much as anything. If we are merely quitting then we should think again before we close our doors. If, however, we have sought God and are being led to believe that this is a ministry he is diminishing then we have reason to move forward.
2. What will be the impact on your community if your church disappears? Is your church the only gospel witness in a community? Is your church providing a service to the community that is not being met elsewhere? Take into consideration what it means for your church to disappear from a context. Be careful not to over-estimate your place in the kingdom, but think carefully about your role in your context. It may be that God is calling you to suffer through a season of decline and difficulty because you’re still needed. It may be also that you are not that influential in your community and your disappearance won’t mean anything. There is, after all, a reason why some churches are declining and it may be that you’ve never had much of a role in your context.
3. What could possibly bring about some level of vitality in your church? Is there a simple change that needs to be made in your congregation that could bring back some vitality? Often there is not one thing that needs to happen, it is a series of major overhauls that must take place for a church to be re-birthed or built up again, but occasionally small changes can go a long way. What do you think needs to happen? Is it realistic to plan and strategize for that change? Don’t close your doors before you’ve considered all your options. Be diligent and persistent with what God has given you and pursue every opportunity to continue the ministry.
4. Could you be of more use somewhere else? Remember that the Kingdom of God is bigger than your one location. Jesus said that the gates of hell would not overcome his church (Matthew 16:18), but he didn’t necessarily mean your specific local body. If there is another place where you will be better used for the kingdom than you should consider carefully going. A dying church may or may not be revitalized, but a dying church that holds on forever may actually become a detriment to your spiritual life and your service to the kingdom. Sometimes a strategic move is exactly what needs to happen.
5. What motivates you to hang on? I want to couch this assessment in questions about motives because it is from out of the desires of our hearts that we act, and often what’s going on in our hearts can be an idol. So we must be careful. If all signs seem to point to a dead church, a church that is not changing, and doesn’t have any plans to change, then it may be that your church is really dead and just twitching about. Ask yourself why you still cling to this congregation. Is there merely a sense of nostalgia associated with it? I can appreciate that. It’s hard to let go of something you’ve grown up in and loved, and been changed by. But is that a sufficient reason to still cling? Is there merely a fear of what others will say when your church closes up, a sort of “I knew it would happen” that comes murmuring through a community? There can be some embarrassment associated with church closings, but not every closing means failure. You must trust God.

The reality is, of course, that I don’t have any idea if your church should or should not close. I may have an opinion about this or that situation, but ultimately you need to decide those things in prayer and in conversation with your body. But I think these questions can help direct our steps. Sometimes a church is dead and doesn’t even know it, probing questions can bring to light what’s really going on. Sometimes a church is just going through a tough season and needs to be reminded that their hope is in God; these questions work that way too. I am sure there are some other questions to ask, feel free to share your thoughts. Whatever you do, however, it’s important to talk about it. The elephant in the room doesn’t get smaller just because you ignore him…eventually you may end up stepping in a mess he’s made because you didn’t address his presence in the first place. If you think you might be in this situation, let me encourage you to have this conversation. It’ s not easy, but it may be necessary.