Tim Sunderland and Phil Walter ponder the sad case of a declining church putting things off for too long
Goodway Road was a small church on a housing estate in the north of Birmingham.
They had started as a Brethren Assembly and over time had affiliated to the Evangelical Fellowship of Congregational Churches (EFCC) and the Fellowship of Independent Evangelical Churches (FIEC). They had seen a steady decline in numbers over several years. The church consisted of an elder and his wife, two housebound ladies and a very active older lady. There was also another couple on the fringe of the church. They had no engagement with the local community at all, and were dependent upon other churches for support, including the provision of a preacher each week.
Sent with hope
In 2007 they approached our church [writes Tim] for help with the preaching and, sensing something of an opportunity, my family and I were sent to work for the church with the hope that we could help to lead something of a revitalisation process or, if not, help it to close. After discussions with the church elder, EFCC leaders and the FIEC church restoration leader, where we discussed the challenges and changes ahead, we began working with the church in the summer of 2007.
Our aim was that, with the support of other local churches and Christians, we might be able to restore this gospel work and its witness. We did a number of key things:
• We tidied the building in order to make it useable. With the support of other Christians, we threw out a lot of things that had been accumulated in unused rooms and decorated where necessary.
• We gave the church a new logo and sought to make the community aware of our presence and our new activities.
• I met with other local church leaders and made them aware of what we were trying to do and sought their support with the hope that they might have people who wanted to join our work. During this time, I met a young Christian family who lived in the community and were looking for a new church. They decided to join with us and threw themselves into the work.
• We leafleted the local community and invited them to a holiday club at the end of August, run with the help of young people from our sending church. We used that event to launch a weekly children’s club. Some of the numbers were encouraging and we made fresh contact with a good few families in the community.
• In September 2007 my wife, with an elderly lady at church and another young mum, started ‘Jelly Babies’, a baby/toddler group. Again, the number of those attending was encouraging.
• The church service was moved from a Sunday morning to 4pm in the afternoon and we sought to make it more accessible to the community, with refreshments and children’s activities.
• I sought to build some links with local primary schools and discussed how we might be able to support the RE curriculum. I was able to get a Canadian Christian drama group into the high school to take an assembly and some lessons.
• Our Christmas event was a high point, when the children’s club put on a modern-day nativity and the building was full of families from the local community.
Disappointment
However, by Easter 2008 we were pretty sure the work would not be able to continue. In the end, the church had waited too long to seek help. Their numbers had reduced dramatically, the elder was tired of holding it together and there was very little energy or enthusiasm to start a new work. There was a lack of willingness and commitment from some within the church to make the changes necessary, despite these being highlighted in early discussions. We were also unable to find enough significant support from other local churches/Christians. It would have taken much more than simply a new family or two, and a burst of activity, to truly bring about revitalisation.
Phil Walter’s comments
As Revitalisation Coordinator for the FIEC, I have learned very quickly that some churches, for many and varied reasons, will have to go through the painful process of dying. However, a church can die well and impact the spread of the gospel, or it can pass away with sorrow, regret and perceived failure.
Come with me to a village in Bedfordshire, the home of a once-thriving village work, blessed by God and in its heyday seeing folk saved, baptised and discipled. As time has elapsed, the church has become geographically isolated, with few houses in the direct vicinity, and as a result has had to face up to a dwindling congregation, which stood at just seven elderly but passionate believers. What are they to do?
This dilemma faces numerous churches in the UK as they confront this reality. There are many aspects that need to be considered. The experience of this church was painful, long and far from easy. What will happen to the members? Will they be cared for? What should we do with the building? How do we distribute any funds we have left? When do we stop meeting? How are we going to tell the community? What are the legal requirements? These questions and many more were earnestly prayed about as they sought God’s will in this. FIEC Practical Services were on hand to assist in the areas requiring specialist knowledge, but the church battled with ‘How can we die well?’ All of which can seem like huge mountains to climb. However, as we shall see, facing up to such reality can bring great potential for gospel growth.
Honouring the Great Commission
What has happened is for me a template of what a church can do to still be involved in the Great Commission.
First, they emptied their bank balances! They distributed their not insubstantial finances among the missions they supported. This was a great blessing and contributed much to the sense of gratitude to God that they felt as they were able to give in a positive manner.
Second, they decided on their last Sunday Thanksgiving Service to remind all who came of the years of God’s blessing upon the work. God in his goodness had raised up this work many years before, and it was helpful to them to finish with a recognition that this was about Jesus and his church.
Third, they put the building up for sale, which subsequently was purchased by a developer. Was that the end? Certainly not! The money from the sale has been given to a church plant through the FIEC. The group have sought to stay together as they joined another church, and now meet up regularly to pray for the church plant they have funded. This links them positively with the gospel work that their decision ‘to die well’ has funded. They have become partners in the gospel.
It is sad to see a church close whatever the circumstances, but this church died well and left a legacy of new life in a wonderfully fruitful way.
