Therefore Grow...

September 13, 2010 Monday Message:

Over the past couple of weeks, I have been privileged to be included in a discussion called, “The Lutherans Die Out.” But the decline isn’t only in the Lutheran church. Midway into our discussion, the United Methodist Church released its survey of 33,000 churches, intending to find out why membership is declining. Presbyterians and Episcopalians have reported declines as well. As leaders in our churches, a brief look at the problem may, hopefully, point us to solutions.

If we just check statistics, we find that Lutheran women have only 1.7 babies, and I suspect other denominations are similar demographically. We’re no longer self-replicating. In fact, if we don’t “go and make disciples of all nations” – e.g. welcome people who are not like us – the handwriting is already on the wall. If your church is to survive, it will look/sound/act different. You need to be OK with that!

The average ELCA pastor is 59, and none is getting younger. I’m saddened by how many have their sights on retirement, refusing to start anything new. The cool thing would be to befriend a number of 20-somethings, and equip them to light a fire in the congregation. None of us can do it all. Build a 20+ team to carry the message. Make it easy for young adults to choose your church.

Be honest – teach truths from the Bible. Put on a quality Sunday Morning event that people wouldn’t want to miss. Give the congregation application for what you teach. Give them something on Sunday that they can use on Monday.

We’ll look at implementation of growth strategies next week. May the Lord walk with you on your life’s journey.

Norton Lawellin

P.S. - I’ll be teaching Psalm 51 at New Hope Center this Friday. Of course David’s confession in Ps. 51 is the result of events in 2 Samuel…