Ministry Matters: Incentives to Decline: Why Some Churches Really Don't Want to Grow

Your congregation has been in significant decline for years. Members acknowledge that something must be done to reverse the decline. Plans are discussed and official votes are taken to make church growth a top priority, but with few results. Nothing seems to gain traction. When growth is a priority but nothing happens, low-grade depression and lethargy inevitably follow.

The slow death of certain denominations has been charted by polls, study groups, seminaries, and think tanks. Countless sermons are preached, classes are taught, books are written, and consultants are hired, in order to revitalize congregations. Denominational executives establish committees, task forces and study groups. Conferences are held and encouragement is given lip service, while privately, everyone knows the sad truth: few congregations will ever reverse decline once they are in its grip. The money, time, and effort are better spent on starting new congregations, because the old ones seem incapable of rebirth.

How can this be true for a faith founded on new life? If the gospel can prevail against the gates of hell, why can't it prevail against the massive decline facing our congregations?

No church members want to see their local congregation die. It would seem that their motivation to keep the church alive would be strong enough to overcome any obstacle, yet each year more churches close their doors while lamenting their fate. It is as if there are counterforces at work against the very changes that would bring new life.

We know along with Paul that there is perversity at work in the human heart and believe that same perversity can be at work on an organizational level as well. At an unconscious level, members of dying churches may be influenced by some hidden payoffs in the church's decline. Until we're willing to name and confront the incentives for decline that exist alongside the desire for new life, we may find our churches continuing to not do the thing they want but instead to do the very thing they hate. Read more