I am sometimes asked by the church pastor for my opinion on how his church is going. It is an absurd question to ask of someone who does not know what is happening on the ground. However, here are some questions for pastors to ask of themselves if they want to measure their own church.
In order for the congregation to get a feel for how vibrant the church is I ask an important question: how many things have you closed down in the last 12 months?
It is interesting that many feel that closing ministries down is a sign of failure. Just this week a friend told me with sadness, regret and guilt that they have terminated their evening service. But closing ministries is often a sign of health. Let me explain.
God has given to his church, and to every congregation in fact, all they need to exist. But he also limits the resources each congregation has. Over time, congregations respond to needs and opportunities by commencing new ministries. These ministries all take resources to operate, and many continue to exist just because they exist. They have a lifespan far beyond what they should. After all, who would want to close down a ministry that is still doing good things? The problem is that these "good" ministries take resources that may be better used elsewhere. Consequently, new and important God given opportunities are missed. In fact, we are so often so busy resourcing these older, "passed their use by date" ministries that we become content in our activity and don't even see the new opportunities before us.
One of my colleagues this week described this phenomenon as the "church cupboard syndrome". I guess we are all familiar with this syndrome. The church cupboard is the place where everything that was handy and useful once is stored. It becomes so full that it is impossible to find or sort anything and it cannot fit anything new in. We are very hesitant to discard anything.
There are many reasons why we don't discard things. Sometimes it is because those who began them have a strong attachment to them and it would cause great hurt and conflict if they ceased. Sometimes it is because someone well respected commenced the activity and so out of respect we continue the institution. Sometimes it is that the activity ticks away doing good things and so we don't see the immense resources required to keep it going. Sometimes we want people to be active in some form of ministry and we have nothing better with which to replace the ministry.
The problem is that unless this is addressed we will become less and less relevant to our community and less and less helpful to our congregation members, both of which have the danger of dishonouring Christ.
Here are some thoughts on how to deal with "passed their use by date" ministries:
"¢ If closing a ministry down will cause such revolt and conflict as to not be worth the battle, then apply only the resources to the ministry that are appropriate. Often such ministries are over-resourced and function fine with fewer resources. Sometimes they die and sometimes they get a new lease of life.
"¢ Look at the people you are striving to reach and the congregation God has placed you in. Are there ministries that can and should be done, that are new, opportunistic and entrepreneurial? If there are, share the vision with those who have the ability and supply them resources to get it done.
"¢ Ask your congregational leadership team to think through why each ministry exists and the value of the ministry. The grid at the back of Peter Bolt's book Mission Minded is a good way to think. What does the ministry contribute to evangelism? to edification? to equipping?
"¢ Recognise the fact that in our city most people operate at a pace where they cannot possibly fit in any more activities into their lives, so it is our goal to reduce the less valuable activities, so they can be involved in more valuable ministries, rather than just asking and assuming people will do more.
