The hustle and bustle of the church, growing fast and filled with families, has all but dried up. As you look over your church property, you see deferred maintenance, empty classrooms and clutter. I have heard it often said, “If we could find the right pastor with the right experience but still young enough to attract families, we would grow again.” Or, “If we could just have one or two families from one of the larger churches in town, we would begin to grow.” Over time that mindset has brought forth a spirit of discouragement.
Instead of seeing the picture as unfavorable, why not begin to see that God has not forgotten your church? Sure, the signs of defeat are everywhere, but where there are two, Christ is in their midst. One sure way to die is to do nothing, but in doing something, even if you fail, the church will go down with a fight instead of slowly drifting into death.
Rethink the Outside View of the Church
What is the image that the community has of your church? Begin to change that image by reimagining the church from the parking lot to the pew and everywhere in between.
Begin by scanning what the parking lot and church campus say to the potential visitor. As the visitor surely will, you might notice that the clear lines of parking spaces have faded with time. The once-smooth asphalt has weeds protruding through its cracks, exposing the lack of maintenance. The lawn looks overgrown. Observing the building in the morning sun, you can see it bleached and faded, revealing the well-worn church sign beckoning guests and attendees alike to enter.
What if, instead of doing nothing, you begin to do something? Begin to reimage the car-filled space; families exiting their vehicles heading for the church—doors of the main entrance open by trained greeters who gladly welcome guests and church members alike.
As you picture that image in your mind, begin to strategize what steps should be taken to take that image go from a dream into reality. While the church might not be able to afford a newly paved parking lot and a lawn maintenance company, it can afford a can of weed killer and a lawn mower. Where worn lines expose old parking spots, the church can paint new lines at a fraction of the cost of hiring a firm. You can gather a team to begin to paint the building one weekend at a time, and before you know it, the outside of the building is fully painted. With the parking lot and building returning to life, you now can focus on updating the signage, so the community will notice that life is being brought back to the run-down building. Where once despair took hold, it has been replaced with hope.
Rethink the Inside Use of the Church
The church campus and, by extension, the church lobby is an extension of the house of God; thus, it should be a place that honors the view of reaching people with the gospel of Christ.
As you step into your lobby, what do you see? Many struggling churches will see celebrations from the past. Memorial walls, plaques and trophies from past victories form a quasi-mausoleum to the church’s history instead of creating a space that welcomes new visitors. In a day when less is more, the church says more stuff is more. I do not want to ignore or forget the past, but the church should honor the past, present and future by creating spaces more conducive to the needs.
Members must remember that the church is not their home. It is not a member’s desire or likes that should decorate the church. Anything that distracts from the mission of welcoming guests should be removed and put in a place that honors the past and the present needs.
As you move from the lobby to a hallway, turn your attention to the classrooms that have become storage rooms. What does this say to guests? Initially, it tells the guests it did not prepare for them, their children or their guests. Begin combing these hidden treasure troves of collected material and process what can be used and what might need to be donated. Realizing that a church cannot keep everything it has collected over the years, it should be reviewed for use today or discarded with care as it has outlived its usefulness. While this will be one of the most challenging tasks to accomplish and will be fraught with emotion, remember that the church is preparing for future families and children, and therefore you have to make room for what God will do next.
These two steps do not address the worship center, restrooms, fellowship hall, children’s areas, etc., but they give you an idea that change is hard. If the church rebounds from decline, it must decide to live. Will you choose to lead the change that lets the church live? Will you help your church see that changing things is not for change’s sake but a step in rebounding from decline back to life? God did not call you to this assignment so you would bury the church but to help revive the church. As you reimagine the space, God will provide the vision to accomplish the goal and help bring the church back to life.