You may have heard churches talk about growing pains. Kind of makes you feel lousy. You may not know what growing pains feel like, but you sure do know what shrinking pains are. The fact is, more churches are shrinking than growing. The fact is, shrinking pains are probably more painful than growing pains. The fact is, shrinking pains can be more acute, real, and dismal.
When thinking about managing your shrinking pains, your first thought may be to seek counseling or get involved in some grief management program. That may not be a bad idea. On the other hand, there are a few ways to consider your shrinking in a more proactive way.
- Recognize your role. The Bible indicates that the church is a gathering place of redeemed people, regardless of their age, socio-economic status, gender, background, race, or sin issue. Nonetheless, when it comes right down to it, some churches find themselves ministering to a rather distinct group of people. If your church is shrinking, it may help to understand who your “target audience” is—the people who are nearest and closest to the church. Perhaps you could focus on this demographic, rather than forcing yourself to try to make adaptations to a smaller and dwindling group of people. Alternately, you may need to realize that the church might just be shifting its focus. Often, a change in leadership will contribute to such a shift. Both dynamics could be at play, but fundamentally, the way forward starts with this: recognize your church’s role.
- Help others. A church is to be a helping institution, not merely concerned with its own internal affairs. Admittedly, when facing the crisis of a shrinking church, it can be hard to focus on outreach. However, this is what a church needs to be doing, regardless of the attendance or offering numbers. Focus on your community, the few blocks surrounding your church’s location. Find people in need, and seek to show to them the gospel, lived out in good deeds and kind behavior.
- Make adaptations. What might be keeping people from attending your church? What might be making people leave your church? Focus on these issues. For some churches, it may be as simple as having facilities that are too small, or pews that are too hard. Other churches must deal with the complexities of family feuding, an odious nursery superintendent, or the inability to supply parking to parishioners. The issues will vary. A church shrinks for some reason. Find the reason, and assess what you can do to adapt.
- Stretch, but don’t stoop. It’s okay to do new things, but don’t stoop to new lows. Don’t jettison doctrine or do weird things just to bring people in. Sure, you want to bring more people into your church, but the way in which you do so is important. Recently, some evangelicals have increased their boldness when talking about sex. Sure, there’s nothing wrong with talking about sex. But when these themes get more salacious than Scriptural, and more exhibitionist than expositional, we’ve got a problem on our hands. There is nothing wrong with stretching one’s self to adapt to the changes and invite more people, but there is everything wrong with crossing the line of Scripture to do so.
When considering a shrinking church, your primary goal is not to reverse the shrink. That would be great, but there may be other things at play, too. Your best response is to face the situation with courage, creativity, and a goal to honor Christ above all.