An Introduction to A Series of Articles on Alternatives to Closing Churches

2×2 has become a student of Lutheran ministry. This is not something we entered into intentionally. Our congregation, Redeemer Lutheran in East Falls, was unceremoniously locked out of our House of Worship in 2009 by SEPA Synod. It was clear that we were expected to die. But we were not without choices. We could fade away and abandon the many bonds we had formed as Christians, both as a community of faith and within the secular community, or we could continue to live our faith as a worshiping community without a church home.

Nearly two years after the lockout, we are still an active Christian community, although excommunicated from other Lutherans. We met for ten months in members’ homes. We felt cloistered as if we were in hiding. We decided to go into the world. This breathed new life into our community and slowly more people have started to participate.

We made a project of visiting other congregations — the very congregations who so easily voted to allow the bishop to take our property for the enrichment of synod’s Mission Fund, which they use to fund their budget shortfalls. (The same Synod Assembly which voted to take our property approved a hefty six-figure deficit budget!)

To date we have visited about 20 congregations. Most appear to be struggling. We can’t help but ask, Why?  AmbassadorsReportAugust2011

We see a lot of people dedicated to their churches. We see a lot of good things happening — good worship experiences, good ministry initiatives. We see people who are proud and have passion for ministry, both among the clergy and laity. We also see a quiet despair, a tiredness — a perpetual Advent with everyone waiting for a cost-free miracle to revive their ministries. We see good ideas but no way to measure the effect of ideas.

Closing churches is the antithesis of ministry. It is abandonment of the faithful. It is abusive. Tactics used, at least in our community, are the same tactics used by bullies. If a congregation resists, call them names, spread gossip, isolate them from other congregations, and attack their leaders to scare off others. A great deal of harm is done, but the Church doesn’t know this because they do not return to study what the effects their actions have had on communities and individuals. Churches closed are churches forgotten.

Closing churches as a “mission strategy” must be abandoned. We believe (partly from our own experience) that revival is not only possible but desirable. It is work and it requires innovation. We hope that Redeemer’s resistance has been influential in deflecting this misguided thinking. The Synod Assembly in 2011 voted for a balanced budget for the first time since approving the taking of our congregation’s assets. We suspect this will slow down the need to close churches. That’s a start.

Most of the churches we visit promise to pray for us. Well and good. But the answer to prayer is probably in taking some action. We have encountered very few willing to take ANY action to remedy a mess they helped to create — not only at Redeemer but at other congregations they failed to help and forced into closure.

2×2 has been studying parallel trends in the secular world. Most of us are entrepreneurs and actively engaged building businesses. We think the Church can learn a great deal from the business world.

We will start examining some of these ideas in a series of future posts.