Do Churches Have to Die?

On Sunday, April 13, 2008, the Peniel Church of the Nazarene in Greenville, Texas, celebrated its 100th anniversary. This church was organized in April 1908, six months before the merger in Pilot Point, Texas, which marked the beginning of the Church of the Nazarene 100 years ago. The Peniel church has averaged less than 100 in attendance throughout its history.

Four miles away in Greenville, about 35 miles northeast of Dallas, the property of the recently disorganized First Church of the Nazarene—more recently known as New Beginnings—is for sale. The church building is in a good location in Greenville, a town of about 25,000. Dallas District Superintendent Rob McDonald says the anticipated $1 million (USD) proceeds from the sale of the property will be invested in a new church. Greenville First Church was organized in 1937. After years of decline it was disorganized last year because, according to McDonald, it lacked a healthy core of lay leaders. However, Greenville First actually lasted longer than the average church.

In nearly 100 years of history in Canada and the U.S., more Nazarene churches have been disorganized than presently exist. Research Center Director Dale Jones reports: "Since 1908, we have recorded 10,318 organized churches (through the 2007 assembly year) in Canada and the U.S. Of those, 5,447 (52.8 percent) have been disorganized. Another 241 (2.3 percent) are currently inactive. That leaves 4,630 active organized churches (44.9 percent of those ever organized)." These statistics shed much light on the "life cycle" of churches—they reveal that, on average, churches survive less than 60 years.

This "life cycle" realization led to NewStart, an aggressive new church evangelism program started in the mid 90s. NewStart's premise is that at least 100 new churches must be started each year simply to replace disappearing churches, let alone show an increase. Since the beginning of NewStart, more than 1,500 new churches have been started, about half of them among immigrants and minorities. The life cycle of churches is, of course, descriptive, not proscriptive. Churches don't have to decline and die, but most do. Peniel lives on, and Greenville First lasted 70 years. Why?

According to Jones, recent studies indicate one cause of decline is failing to maintain worship attendance over 100. He says, "Once churches reach the 100-plus level, they have to stay there. Otherwise, they tend not to be able to sustain themselves at a smaller size." How, then, do you explain the survival of Peniel and the majority of Nazarene churches that are under 100?

Jones explains "If a church never runs more than 80 or 90 (or even 30 or 40), the church learns how to budget and program for that size." It appears that if a church grows to more than 100 and then declines to under 100, it seldom recovers. But why do so many churches decline and eventually disappear?

Stephen Borger, superintendent of the Intermountain District, which includes southern Idaho, eastern Oregon, and Utah, suggested three reasons: lack of leadership, lack of mission recognition and motivation, and lack of fire.

Borger says, "According to William Booth, founder of the Salvation Army, it is the nature of fire to go out. Primarily because of the first two reasons, there seems to be no 'fanning the flame in declining and dying churches.'"

One third (28) of the churches on the East Ohio District are older than 80 years. Two are over 100 years old. District Superintendent David Downs surveyed these older churches and found that all but four of them are at least relatively healthy and viable. He also observed, "As I look over the list I am reminded of many significant ministries in which they are involved. They are not all growing, in fact a sizable percentage of them are, along with their communities, smaller than they were a few years ago. However, they each support pastors, experience conversions regularly, and receive new members."

Downs concluded, "I can say with great confidence that aging churches do not necessarily have to die."

Clair MacMillan, superintendent of the Canada Atlantic and Quebec Districts, believes that frequent changes in pastoral leadership tend to create cultural confusion in local churches. Every pastoral change, he claims, "tends to challenge the local culture," creating instability, which leads to decline.

When asked about the future, Jones warned: "Projections are always tricky. But at current rates, we should lose about 600 of our current churches by 2017. By 2032, another 750 could be gone, leaving us with around 3,300 of our current active, organized churches, a 29 percent loss overall."

The challenge for district and general church leaders is to start enough new churches to more than make up for these losses. What if more aging churches could learn how to reinvent themselves and live indefinitely? Unlike people, churches don't have to die, unless no people are around. But most churches don't die as a result of population decline.

Some years ago, Greenville, Texas, First Church changed its name to "New Beginnings," hoping for new life. This didn't work. Church leaders knew they had to change to survive, let alone grow, but renaming the church was not enough. Any church that lives beyond the average of about 60 years has to change and adapt to change.

The Grace Pointe Church of the Nazarene in Indianapolis has done that. In his 17 years of leadership, Pastor Keith Robinson has moved this 80-year-old congregation from an outdated building with limited resources to a new, expansive campus at a strategic location. Congregational culture has changed from an aging, predominately Caucasian group to a multicultural, generational mix of long-term members and new converts. Worship celebrations now include singing in Spanish as well as English to attract immigrants to a church that is intentional about being missional in its neighborhood.

In recent years, attendance has doubled to more than 500. This is a time of transition for congregations in Canada and the U.S. Many churches, such as Grace Pointe, are experiencing significant growth even as others are declining. As some forms of church are disappearing, new growth is emerging. No single life cycle exists for all churches. Some never seem to get a good start while others have found ways to achieve health and growth indefinitely. However long a church exists, its life should be celebrated.

Think of all the people the Peniel church in Greenville, Texas, has led to faith and ministry in their 100 years. Greenville First (or New Beginnings) church also did good work during its 70 years of life. While churches may not need to die, when they do it's good to celebrate the story of each church and of the people who came to faith during its existence. After all, none of the churches mentioned in the New Testament remain today.

Even though those ancient churches disappeared long ago, their faithfulness is remembered as new churches emerge in every generation and culture.

Tom Nees has served in the Church of the Nazarene in a number of leadership roles.

Holiness Today, May/June 2008

Please note: This article was originally published in 2008. All facts, figures, and titles were accurate to the best of our knowledge at that time but may have since changed.