Small Churches, etc.
Here’s our second posting on the future Presbyterian Church (USA), a church in decline. Our basic notion is that the church needs to get smaller if it is ever going to grow bigger. Embrace our smallness, we recommend, and we advise modesty about who we are by the mercy of God. We think the church is actually too big, as in too big for its britches. Today’s topic is about small churches chained to big old buildings, and then strays into the contested territory of stewardship. See what you think. And then share it, if it’s not too much trouble.
God must love small Presbyterian churches, since so many of them were created. Such churches are the bane and the blessing of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). We served the sweetest small church (as in under 100 members) for nine splendid years. Smaller membership churches bless us with their abilities to survive with little resources for sustained periods. Those graces will increase in importance as the whole denomination shrinks and shrinks.
Small churches reveal the future of many congregations, which casts a baneful shadow over the whole church. They are also the ones most affected by the current Presbyterian decline. One of our sources informs us that much of the membership decline of the denomination can be traced to losses within the old “First” churches of small county-seat towns throughout the nation, along with churches in farming communities that are in retreat, agricultural and otherwise. When those towns are losing population, Presbyterian churches are especially vulnerable to congregational leakage. We tend to emphasize education, which means that we send many of our children off to college, and few will return to the old home town that lacks opportunity.
The bane and blessing of small churches are their buildings. Because of our denominational history, we have a lot of old church buildings. Some are pure gems, and stand as beautiful and solid witness to the perseverance of faithful saints. The best of these shelter a small gathering of worshipers who are able to support themselves and to reach out to the surrounding community with welcoming hearts and helpful hands.
Others are not so fortunate, and their aging buildings are but money pits, strangling the congregation’s ability to afford adequate preaching, teaching, and pastoral care, not to mention any meaningful mission. Thus, here’s the New Rule:
If the upkeep of any church building cripples that congregation’s calling to serve both its internal and missional needs, that church will sell said building and use the receipts to support itself in a different physical setting.
Every church, large and small, should attend to the mission of God beyond its property lines at the minimal level of the tithe, or 10% of its annual income. A church of whatever size, whose outreach potential is destroyed by brick and mortar concerns, is guilty of idol worship. Buildings are sometimes strong, sometimes subtle seducers of the Spirit. We can come to love them too much, and Presbyteries can steer church members away from this particular sin.
A small church freed from the albatross of maintaining a moldy old building might form one or more house churches. It may seek to build another, more efficient structure scaled to its needs. It may rent from a near-by church or school. It may merge with some other congregation. Many directions are possible, but each one would insure that its missional tithe is paid.
While we are talking about churches doing what they rightly expect from their members, that is, tithe their income, let’s offer this New Rule:
From now on, all churches will pledge 10% of its income to the wider church. That’s the missional bottom line. Another percentage can be added for mission projects the local church chooses.
Most of the minimal pledge would be made to Shared Mission Giving. That covers Presbytery, Synod, and General Assembly. If the congregation is in a Presbytery with a high per capita apportionment, it would be free to count that money as part of the 10% pledge. For obvious reasons, the larger the church the higher the percentage of mission giving that church can afford. Medium-size churches can set goals of 25% of income given away, splitting it between Shared Mission Giving and local causes. A church that gives lives the Gospel, and so do its people.
That’s the big reform proposal for the day. Churches too small or too poor for their buildings need to walk away from them and breathe the air of liberation. All churches need to practice what they preach: tithing. And if they don’t preach it, why the heck not? Are they chickens or Christians?
What say ye?
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
Monday, August 30, 2010
Small Presbyteries
The Presbyterian Church (USA) is entirely too big. Sure, as in years past, we removed approximately 60,000 more members from our rolls than we added in 2009. That’s the rough equivalent of a town the size of Bowling Green, Kentucky. We reel at that thought, because the people of Bowling Green are dear to us, too dear to lose.
Overall, the church has dropped from a high of 5 million members in the 1960’s to 2.1 million today. We’re here to look beyond reasons for this decline and suggest a way to stop the shrinkage, and, perhaps, reverse it. It fits under the back-door notion that the way for the church to grow larger is for it to get smaller. Here the words of the Baptist pertain: "[Jesus] must increase, but I must decrease" (John 3:30).
Our church is no longer the prominent religious franchise it was during the presidency of Dwight D. Eisenhower. We liked Ike, the officer and Presbyterian gentleman, but he passed away some time ago, as did the church we once were. When we say that the Presbyterian Church is too big, we mean too big for its britches. We strut around as if the world cares when we tell it what to do in this area of life and that one. The fact is that it doesn’t -- and won’t -- no matter the righteousness of our cause or how loudly we shout.
Showing a little humility about who we really are would be good for our collective soul. Maybe we reach that virtue by embracing our diminished size. Being small, powerless, and insignificant to the world puts us in good company. It’s the way of Jesus and of his early followers. It’s the way of the Hebrews in their reluctant march from slavery into freedom.
Permit me to set this idea in practical terms. Our Presbyteries are excessively large. We have belonged to three Presbyteries in our time, and each could be cut in half, into thirds, or even quartered. Allowing adjustments for varying population densities, here’s the New Rule:
Presbyteries should contain at least 6 churches and not more than 24.
Presbyteries sit at the center of the connectional church. The smaller the connecting points, the stronger the overall connection. There’s an electrical circuit analogy we could use about now, but we’ll spare you that. In our experience, the relational gap between the Presbytery and churches, especially smaller churches on the geographical fringe of the Presbytery, yawns widely. A small Presbytery could not afford to neglect one of its member churches, and neither could it afford to be neglected by one of its members. A Session would grow in responsibility not just for its own congregation, but also for the health of the Reformed church in its local area. The Smaller Presbytery is better positioned to become truly parochial, in the best, Wendell Berry sense of that term.
All of the Presbytery Executives and General Presbyters we have worked alongside have been stellar individuals. They have been real colleagues in ministry: lovers of God and the people of God, wise sources of counsel and support. However, we believe their days on the payroll of Middle Governing Bodies (what a terribly wooden phrase) are numbered, and I’m not speaking of those approaching retirement. These smaller presbyteries need but a part-time stated clerk, whose job would be to insure that the Presbytery’s business is conducted decently and in order.
Presbyteries as we envision them will be short on program and long on de-centralization. They will need minimal structure: a Committee on Ministry, a Committee on Preparation for the Ministry (we can imagine the COM and CPM combining in some cases), a Committee on Representation, and, perhaps, a Budget Committee. That’s about it.
Small group theory applies nicely here. Large groups gather in a sanctuary, an auditorium, and even a sports arena. We enjoy these settings. They can teach, refresh, and even inspire us. But personal growth is usually slight, because in large groups we observe more than act, and both risks and rewards are low.
If we want to grow spiritually, we do it best when we participate in a smaller group of people. In this group, personal trust and knowledge abound, and a creative tension is held between acceptance and accountability. The group members are honor-bound to love us, but they love us too much to let us get by with any flapdoodle. A spiritual challenge discussed with this group will be re-visited in subsequent gatherings, and the support received can send the soul soaring. Others may notice our growth in faith, hope, and love, and want to join our group. Thus it grows.
The same applies to Presbyteries. The more tightly churches are connected, the more those churches reflect the grace of God. Churches that are truly local and in close conversation with a few other neighboring churches, will grow, in mission, membership, and, Lord willing, in number of congregations.
Keep all that in motion for long enough, and the Presbyterian Church (USA) will get Bowling Green, Kentucky back and maybe similar communities in years to come. That’s the theory, anyway.
Next, we will cover small churches, described, as they will be, as the bane and blessing of the Presbyterian Church (USA). But the topic at hand is enough for the day. Get small, presbyteries, so that bigger you will be.
Those are our thoughts. What are yours?
Overall, the church has dropped from a high of 5 million members in the 1960’s to 2.1 million today. We’re here to look beyond reasons for this decline and suggest a way to stop the shrinkage, and, perhaps, reverse it. It fits under the back-door notion that the way for the church to grow larger is for it to get smaller. Here the words of the Baptist pertain: "[Jesus] must increase, but I must decrease" (John 3:30).
Our church is no longer the prominent religious franchise it was during the presidency of Dwight D. Eisenhower. We liked Ike, the officer and Presbyterian gentleman, but he passed away some time ago, as did the church we once were. When we say that the Presbyterian Church is too big, we mean too big for its britches. We strut around as if the world cares when we tell it what to do in this area of life and that one. The fact is that it doesn’t -- and won’t -- no matter the righteousness of our cause or how loudly we shout.
Showing a little humility about who we really are would be good for our collective soul. Maybe we reach that virtue by embracing our diminished size. Being small, powerless, and insignificant to the world puts us in good company. It’s the way of Jesus and of his early followers. It’s the way of the Hebrews in their reluctant march from slavery into freedom.
Permit me to set this idea in practical terms. Our Presbyteries are excessively large. We have belonged to three Presbyteries in our time, and each could be cut in half, into thirds, or even quartered. Allowing adjustments for varying population densities, here’s the New Rule:
Presbyteries should contain at least 6 churches and not more than 24.
Presbyteries sit at the center of the connectional church. The smaller the connecting points, the stronger the overall connection. There’s an electrical circuit analogy we could use about now, but we’ll spare you that. In our experience, the relational gap between the Presbytery and churches, especially smaller churches on the geographical fringe of the Presbytery, yawns widely. A small Presbytery could not afford to neglect one of its member churches, and neither could it afford to be neglected by one of its members. A Session would grow in responsibility not just for its own congregation, but also for the health of the Reformed church in its local area. The Smaller Presbytery is better positioned to become truly parochial, in the best, Wendell Berry sense of that term.
All of the Presbytery Executives and General Presbyters we have worked alongside have been stellar individuals. They have been real colleagues in ministry: lovers of God and the people of God, wise sources of counsel and support. However, we believe their days on the payroll of Middle Governing Bodies (what a terribly wooden phrase) are numbered, and I’m not speaking of those approaching retirement. These smaller presbyteries need but a part-time stated clerk, whose job would be to insure that the Presbytery’s business is conducted decently and in order.
Presbyteries as we envision them will be short on program and long on de-centralization. They will need minimal structure: a Committee on Ministry, a Committee on Preparation for the Ministry (we can imagine the COM and CPM combining in some cases), a Committee on Representation, and, perhaps, a Budget Committee. That’s about it.
Small group theory applies nicely here. Large groups gather in a sanctuary, an auditorium, and even a sports arena. We enjoy these settings. They can teach, refresh, and even inspire us. But personal growth is usually slight, because in large groups we observe more than act, and both risks and rewards are low.
If we want to grow spiritually, we do it best when we participate in a smaller group of people. In this group, personal trust and knowledge abound, and a creative tension is held between acceptance and accountability. The group members are honor-bound to love us, but they love us too much to let us get by with any flapdoodle. A spiritual challenge discussed with this group will be re-visited in subsequent gatherings, and the support received can send the soul soaring. Others may notice our growth in faith, hope, and love, and want to join our group. Thus it grows.
The same applies to Presbyteries. The more tightly churches are connected, the more those churches reflect the grace of God. Churches that are truly local and in close conversation with a few other neighboring churches, will grow, in mission, membership, and, Lord willing, in number of congregations.
Keep all that in motion for long enough, and the Presbyterian Church (USA) will get Bowling Green, Kentucky back and maybe similar communities in years to come. That’s the theory, anyway.
Next, we will cover small churches, described, as they will be, as the bane and blessing of the Presbyterian Church (USA). But the topic at hand is enough for the day. Get small, presbyteries, so that bigger you will be.
Those are our thoughts. What are yours?
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