How many churches have stopped growing in this country, in your denomination, of your church-type, in your town? It depends on who you ask.
Go on line and you’ll soon have statistics coming out your ears on this subject.
In our denomination–the Southern Baptist Convention–the most significant number, one that seems to have held steady for over three decades, is that some 70 percent of our churches are either in decline or have plateaued.
Plateau. Funny word to use for a church. One wonders how that came to be. Why didn’t they say “mesa,” “plain,” “delta” (ask anyone who lives in the Mississippi Delta–flat, flat, flat!), or even “flatline.”
Of course, in the emergency room, to “flatline” is to be dead. No one (to my knowledge) is saying a non-growing church is dead, just that some things are not right.
Healthy churches grow. Non-growing churches are not healthy, at least in some significant ways.
If it’s true that 7 out of 10 pastors in our family of churches lead congregations either in decline or in stagnation, this is a situation that ought to be addressed.
To my knowledge, everyone is addressing it. Everyone has an opinion.
My single contribution to this discussion is directed toward the shepherd of a stagnant flock: “If your church has plateaued, make sure you haven’t.”
To pastors of churches that either refuse to grow or are in decline, we offer these ten (hopefully) encouraging words….