Some churches will not survive

What is your level of comprehension regarding what is happening in our world, nation, city, neighborhood? There are layers of disruption that has and still is occurring; Pandemic, economic, educational, Racism, rioting, Anarchists, intellectual dishonesty of our media, and for some death and dying. Are you in touch with the emotional impact these disruptions are having on people you serve? There are some definite warning signs that failure is emanate. Here are just a few.

Expecting Everything To Go Back To Normal – If you are tempted to wait it out until things “get back to normal”, you are acting from an entitlement mentality. Even after the pandemic is over and we can get ack to some familiarity, things are not going to be as they were before.

You Expect Others To Solve your Problems – If you are waiting on government or denominational leaders to solve this problem you are operating from a position of high risk. God has placed you in a position of leadership – so lead! You need to be humble enough to assess your community and various realities and make decisions on what you are seeing.

Expect Church To Happen Only Inside A Building – If the activity of God through you as a spiritual leader can only in a building, then you are missing out on what God really can accomplish.

Poor Communication – This pandemic has forced churches to shift communication styles very quickly. In fact, it has been amazing to watch. Social media platforms, digital tools are here to stay. The churches that will survive and thrive into the future are those that are using communication to ultimately drive activity throughout their entire organization. Communication is going to have a seat at the senior leadership table of thriving churches in the next normal. 

Insider Focus – Churches that have always been solely focused on those who are already attending have been on the brink of extinction for a long time. The recovery period will accelerate the decline of churches exclusively focused on those already attending. You and I need to double down on our efforts to connect with people who don’t follow Jesus and to lovingly see them get connected to his message. Churches that are just focusing on the insiders, that are more worried about the “keep” than the “reach,” will find themselves increasingly marginalized and unable to survive what comes next.Financial Issues – In the coming days we are going to hear of difficulty in the financial operations of the church. Either our debt load is too large in the face of declining attendance, our strategy is building focused less on humanity, or our need for large gatherings with minimal social impact. Money pushed a vision. The real question is what vision is needed that necessitates our financial support.