When a Church Stops Reaching Its Community

What imagery comes to your mind when you hear the word “fortress”? A medieval castle? Fort Knox? Huge buildings with gates and locks and moats? Something that is almost impossible for the outside world to enter?

Any of those word pictures will work. The key is to keep people and possessions on the inside safe, and to keep people on the other side out.

If you talk to members in a dying church, most will deny that their church is a fortress. But in our [research of dying churches], we found that is exactly what was taking place. People in the community did not feel welcome in the church. Those in the church were more concerned about protecting the way they did church than reaching residents of the community. Read more