What to do when your church is closing.

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What to do when your church is closing? Find out here.
http://churchrealty.com
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In his book entitled "Exit Interviews," William D. Hendricks writes something astonishing: "Almost
all growth reported by North American churches today is the result of church switching and
birthrate within the churches rather than conversion growth."
He's referring to transfer growth rather than new converts. In other words, it's easier to go to a
restaurant and order baked fish than to catch and clean our own.
Over 3800 American churches close their doors annually throughout the USA. The reasons for
these closures run the gamut: real or perceived pastoral incompetency, strife, infidelity in
leadership marriages, lack of financial integrity, doctrinal discrepancies, power struggles,
persecution, congregational distrust or dissatisfaction (only 43% of Christians surveyed say they
fully trust their church), choosing sides on any issue, and more. It's no secret that church splits
inflict damage upon the army of God. Things like divorce, death or sickness of a beloved leader,
job transfers, college relocation, military reassignment and the like, wreak havoc upon the rank
and file Believer. All of these situations leave the average Christian scratching his or her head in
bewilderment as their brothers and sisters in Christ leave their fellowship, never to return.
Is it a "bad" thing for the members of a church congregation to scatter like this? At first glance,
yes. But it depends on one's perspective. Sure, it hurts, causing great emotional pain. Though it's
true, in accordance with Scripture, that if one smites the shepherd, the sheep will scatter, the
"scattering of the sheep" has been happening since the early days of the church, often without any
shepherd-smiting at all. Whether it was through the influential confusion brought upon the Church
by the Judaizers (Galatians 1:7; 2:14; 3:1) or the persecution and subsequent scattering of the
Church at the hands of the Romans under Nero's reign during which Peter was martyred, God
was never left wringing His hands, anxiously trying to figure out what His next move was going to
be. The Jewish-Roman wars of A.D. 66-70 also contributed to the scattering of the saints.
For the first two centuries of the Church, the Apostle Paul and others journeyed forth across the
known world to spread the Gospel. As a result of previous scatterings, while remaining true to their
faith in Christ, scattered believers had been divinely positioned, ready to receive these traveling
evangelists into their homes and give them provisions for their journey as they went forth
preaching the Gospel and as the Kingdom of God continued to advance. Again, notice how the
Church had been strategically placed, through persecution, to disciple new converts as they came
into being. These people would not have been there to receive the evangelists, had they not been
scattered by persecution or any other outside influence that had caused their once-cozy groups to
split up. God is always in control.
WHAT MAKES A CHURCH SPLIT A BAD THING?

2. For starters, there's the shipwrecked faith of the weaker Christians that so often occurs. Sadly,
many Christians will abandon the faith altogether in the face of a Church split, disillusioned as they
observe those whom they saw as "solid" Christian leaders suddenly picking up stakes and walking
out the door. For anyone with shallow roots, Satan can use a church split to spiritually destroy the
most vulnerable. For babes in Christ, seeing the world through rose-colored eyes, nothing on
Earth can compare to the sweet fellowship from which they've found nourishment. Suddenly,
boundaries become obscured. Friends become enemies. Brothers become adversaries. And
another church-attender goes down with the ship.
Another unfortunate result of a church split is that most of those in pastoral roles will, statistically,
never return to full-time pastoral ministry after they lose a church or are uncerimoniously drummed
out of the corps. In fact, though they still maintain a relationship with God, the statistics are
alarmingly high regarding those ministers who never even join another congregation, much less
pastor another flock. Even in these instances, however, it is becoming more and more common to
discover licensed and ordained ministers working in our midst as salesmen, floor managers,
telemarketers, etc. Once again, God's people have been strategically positioned to shine the light
of Christ into the darkened life of their coworkers - those who spend more time at work than they
do at home - and the Faith at Work Movement is spreading like wildfire. No one leaves their
problems at home. A battered wife is still a battered wife at the office. A dad whose daughter
turned up pregnant still has a broken heart while managing his crew. I served for 5 years as a
workplace chaplain myself and found that ministry quite fulfilling and appreciated by the staff.
WHAT GOOD CAN COME OF A CHURCH SPLIT?
To answer this, we must first recognize that God is more concerned with our individual character
than He is in our comfort. Satan and God have one thing in common, friends... they're BOTH
trying to kill us. That's right. The only good Christian is a dead one! We MUST decrease in order
for Jesus to INCREASE. In other words, the world must see more of HIM shining through our lives
than they see of US. We have NOTHING to offer that matters in light of eternity besides He Who
lives in us, the Spirit of God.
So, what are we made of? How strong are our Christian marriages? How strong is our church?
How strong is the sweet fellowship of the saints? Rest assured, the dreaded "rub" will come.
Everything WILL be tested. It MUST be tested. Tried by fire. The REFINER'S fire; the fire that
causes the dross to rise to the top as the silver is purified, allowing the silversmith to see His own
reflection in the product, testifying to its readiness for use. See, the Lord only builds with fireproof
materials. As the hay, wood and stubble are burned into ashes, once the smoke clears, stone and
silver are all that remain. So, burn, baby, burn! Jesus was tested and we will be, too.
That Christian who stands praying while his beloved church is crumbling, and remains faithful to
the Kingdom of God REGARDLESS of what happens to a building made of brick and mortar, has
received the highest order of strength, straight from the foundries of Heaven. It's the grace of God.
When unjust persecution comes, when unjustified crucifixion becomes our lot, we can call upon
this grace to empower us so that we may remain true to the cause of our Christ, regardless of
circumstances. Only the Spirit of God can keep us on course. We can not live vicariously through
our godly, spirit-filled ministers. Our Christianity cannot be typified by our worship style, preacher's
gifting, size of assembly, cost of the sanctuary, or the scope of our pastor's TV ministry. We must
resist the deceptive thinking that God is so enthralled with our particular church group and its

3. exciting ministries that He no longer sees us as individuals.
Part 2
HAVE IT GOD'S WAY
God says a really strange thing in Exodus 23:38. He states that He will drive out the enemies of
Israel by sending hornets. In other words, God would arrange it so that the Israelites would not
even have to fire a shot - their enemies would be "bugged" to death. Imagine an army of hornets,
lined up, stingers at the ready, awaiting the directive of Earth's Supreme Commander and Creator
to drive out Israel's enemies. Just crazy enough to work! But it's an order that never came.
Unfortunately, for the Israelites, it seemed too simple an answer to too big of a problem. So, in all
their wisdom, they chose to fight their own battles rather than trusting in the same God that had
delivered them from Egypt using flies, frogs, and then fed them with manna from Heaven and quail
every night. The result? Nearly forty years later, it was their children, not they themselves, who
would enter the Promised Land.
The point? God's ways are not our ways. They're much HIGHER than ours. Victory can be ours
only when the battle is the Lord's. He will share His glory with no man. In the midst of the pain and
suffering inflicted upon one's soul during a church split, imagine a seemingly silly thing like prayer
serving as a balm for the soul. Yes! Pray for those who are siding against you! No one can hate
the one they're praying for - no more than we can despise a garden over which we might toil. We'll
chase away the rodents, we'll water and weed and, ultimately, rejoice as the field bears fruit. But
we can never hate that over which we toil in prayer. God is able to cause our greatest enemies to
be at peace with us.
THIS IS A TEST!
Beware. The day of crisis is coming to your congregation or denominational camp. It HAS to. The
thing MUST be tested by fire. When discord and backbiting, divorce and disharmony abound, how
will we conduct ourselves? Amazingly, in my experience with church splits, I've noticed that both
sides feel quite justified in pulling out the sacred Word of God and using it to bludgeon one
another. The Scripture, intended to bring Life, now yields only death among the saints at the
hands of all out civil war. Which group's convictions are from the Lord? When is an issue important
enough to abandon all attempts at unity and reconciliation? There was never any greater act of
injustice than that which took place on Calvary, the day of our Savior's crucifixion. Peter didn't
speak out against it. He wasn't the only disciple not to utter a word in protest. Jesus was led "as a
lamb to slaughter" and did not even attempt to defend Himself. Even God turned His head as He
could not even look upon Jesus, Who became sin personified on the cross for our sakes.
In light of this truth, what critical, all-important, "paramount" issues are we debating over in the
midst of our own congregations right now? Folks, our commission is to "go and make disciples." If
our focus were upon that and ONLY that, living our lives in such a way before men that we might
win some, functioning as epistles read by all, there wouldn't be time, or the need, to lobby and
legislate against sin by political means. We wouldn't have the energy to debate the color of the
carpet. We're supposed to be making the world jealous for what we've found in Jesus. Instead,
we've allowed ourselves to be transformed from a counter-culture to merely another sub-culture
with a political agenda, quoting verses at a world that doesn't even acknowledge the Book from

4. which those verses came.
They see our disharmony and they are NOT impressed.
GOING OUT OF BUSINESS, OR DIVINE CLOSURE?
Many years ago, in Fort Worth, Texas, I had the privilege of experiencing an official, God-
ordained, church closing. In this situation, the pastor testified to receiving a vision from God while
out of town at the same time the church leadership team was having dreams and confirmations, all
pointing to the fact that God was instructing them to shut down their church. Both parties
confirmed the testimony of the other that God was leading them to forever close their doors. Why
was God leading these people to do such a thing? The people were happy, they were reaching
their neighborhood, they loved each other and had a good thing going. What could have been the
reason? Quite simply, the Lord had new work for each of its members to attend to.
The "closure" service was held in the presence of several other churches with whom this particular
group had been relating to for some time, including the team on which I had served. Many people
were eventually absorbed into these loving churches with which they had established a
relationship. The pastor spoke; the other leaders, too. One elder told of how God enabled them to
become debt-free in a very short period of time and even give their long-time, faithful secretary
some severance money over and above her final check. Members of the congregation performed
a one-act play, each actor displaying one of the many emotions that were surely being felt by the
church's soon-to-be former congregants.
Strangely, the number one comment I heard from the moist-eyed attendants was "I wonder how
many OTHER churches should have closed their doors years ago?" Frankly, I wondered that
myself.
Ironically, though I left the church I helped establish while it was in its seventh year to follow the
call of God to my current home town, two years later, in its ninth year, on Easter Sunday, that
church, too, had a closure service of its own.
Though many people from my own prior congregation have scattered, the fact is, as the lovely
faces of scores of people flash through my mind, to my knowledge, nothing but good has come of
these closings. I speak with many of them via email and telephone and I'm delighted by the praise
reports I've heard. Interestingly, the financial blessing that has occurred in many of their lives has
been the most obvious good to come of it.
WHOSE KINGDOM IS IT ANYWAY?
Folks, this thing we call Christianity is all about Jesus Christ. He alone is all anybody really needs,
whether they know it or not. We can quote Scriptures till our halo burns out, argue and Scripture-
whip the unbeliever silly. It's futile for we cannot intellectualize a person into salvation.
If lost people need Jesus and Him only, guess what the Christian needs? Guess what the church
needs? You guessed it.... CHRIST! And nothing else will satisfy. Not even a new carpet or re-
striping the parking lot.

5. Jesus is faithful to complete what He began. He will never leave or forsake us. He didn't come to
establish a denomination or build a cathedral. He created this thing we call "The Church," the
ekklesia in Greek (meaning "called out ones"). As with creation in general, Jesus created it and He
holds it all together.
Here's a newsflash: No matter how overwhelming your personal or corporate church
circumstances may appear to be, they're going to get worse.
You read that correctly.
As we grow in our relationship with Christ and He increases in us, He also increases the scope of
His dealings with us. Again, it's character, not comfort that God desires for His kids. He wants to
conform us to the image of His Son and nothing burns away human flesh like a baptism by holy
fire.
When the seas of turmoil and confusion begin to swirl uncontrollably within your church, forget
about digging into your church leadership's bag o' tricks. Instead, find your true north. We must
determine how Jesus would have handled the matter (in a word, "crucifixion"), and do likewise.
Here's the battle plan: 1) love unconditionally everything with a pulse 2) relentlessly forgive, right
and left, preferring others to ourselves 3) with wreckless abandon, empathize with others and
strive for unity, and 4) focus entirely on Jesus, the Way, as the sole solution.
Find out what the opposition needs... and GIVE it to them! Go exceedingly beyond what they could
have ever expected you to do. Then, hide and watch.
What God does next will amaze everyone concerned.
Part 3
CHURCH WARS: A KINGDOM DIVIDED
There are many reasons why church wars begin. Though there are times that the issues may be
critical and involve the spiritual integrity of the church., generally, we choose sides over very
insignificant issues.
For example, I've been told there is a church down South with a roof that's green on one side and
red on the other. This was done because some members of the church adamantly wanted green
and other members adamantly wanted red. The disagreement was so intense that the church was
going to split because of it. Finally, a compromise was reached. Unfortunately, the red and green
roof is a monument to the community of the kind of silly disjointedness they might find if they
become a part of the Body of Christ.
In relationships, whenever we see "the other side" as the problem, we've been deceived. People
are never the problem. The PROBLEM is the problem. We attack each other when we should join
forces in attacking the problem. Likewise, church problems are NOT the Church's real problem.
They are a symptom of a much deeper problem. The color of the shingles was not the issue
tearing the church apart. Yes, it may have been the issue that caused the friction, but the church
had other issues that needed to be addressed, and probably still does. Yet, in our desire to choose

6. the path of least resistance, we opt for putting band-aids on that which requires major surgery. In
essence, we prolong the agony of the inevitable. Usually, the underlining problems are very
complex and have been in development for generations.
A congregation experiencing significant problems over "superficial" issues should seek outside,
objective help. This is where the role of a church-planting apostle can be invaluable. If this is not
part of your denomination's organizational make-up, a trusted senior leader may serve just as well.
Sadly, just as some struggling married couples are reluctant to seek help, most churches function
in the same way. They see a request for outside help is an admission that they can't handle their
own problems. They see it as a sign of weakness rather than a potential position of empowerment.
A church pastor or leadership team believes they should be about the business of helping others
and don't want to admit that they need help themselves. The sad reality is that, by NOT seeking
help, those they thought they were helping may be hurt beyond repair as the result of a church
split.
Though I pray God's grace upon you should you ever face the ugliness of a church split, the reality
is that most Christians will have this experience at least once. Whether you define "church" as the
steepled building or whether yours is of the cozy "home group" variety, where humans are
concerned, disagreements are bound to erupt. They'll know we are Christians - not merely church-
attenders- by our love for one another. When we who have the Bible and the Holy Spirit as our
Guide and Teacher openly display to our community that we are unable to get along, what hope
can we offer to the world? We must make them jealous for what we've supposedly discovered
through our relationship with God through Jesus Christ.
Otherwise, the Church shall remain the #1 cause of atheism on planet Earth.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR Michael's mission is to bring Discipleship and Encouragement to the Body
of Christ. Since 1999, he has broadcast over 300 hundred inspirational articles and a dozen
booklets on subjects that will interest the thinking Christian, all designed to accelerate the process
of spiritual development in God's people. He is the founder of t.e.a.m. ministries
(team1min@aol.com). An Author, Pastoral Counselor and Teacher, his eMail broadcasts, known
as "Your Town for Jesus" are reaching millions around the globe WEEKLY. Write
team1min@aol.com if you'd like to SUBSCRIBE. A licensed/ordained minister, a Certified
Workplace Chaplain, and a Professional Member of NIBIC, he has ministered in Methodist,
Pentecostal, Charismatic, Baptist, Disciples of Christ, College and Cowboy churches. He is also a
Speaker on the Christian Speaker Network and may be available to speak to your church or
Christian group.
Article Source:
http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Michael_Tummillo

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What to do when your church is closing? Find out here.
http://churchrealty.com
==== ====