A very bright man and a long time member of Woods Chapel UMC likes to say: "There are three kinds of churches. Growing, stagnant, and declining. Each have their own set of problems. Which problems would you like to have?"
WCC has been blessed to be growing for a number of years. Little by little, we are running out of sanctuary space. If we do nothing, in 2-3 years our congregational growth will flatline and we will become a very different place. The joy of growing problems will be replaced with the problems of stagnation. People will start asking questions like, "what is wrong? has God removed his hand of blessing?" And my favorite, "maybe we need a new preacher." The joy that we currently feel will also be replaced by a sense of loss as we realize that we have created the stagnation because we did not plan for the future.
There are three possibilities that come to my mind to solve this problem. The first is expensive: build a new sanctuary. The second would be to start a sattellite church or seed a new church start. The third option is the one that I can not think of. It is some good idea that my paradigm is yet unable to see or sieze upon. Maybe your brain can find the third option.
More on this topic tomorrow. Please be praying with me about this.
It's a beautiful day in God's world, be sure to see the good.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
2 comments:
I think if we made the 11:15 service a contemporary one, that it would ease space in 10:10.
The"maybe we need a new preacher" is not an option in my opinion. This is not the typical Methodist church. I believe you should be here for the long haul to carry out whatever new plan is drawn up and continue the current plan.
Post a Comment