Guest Post: Church of the Dead

An article by Seth Caddell    3 Comments

Seth Caddell is a Pastor in Yorktown, Virginia… his wife makes legendary enchiladas, and he has a blog that you need to subscribe to (like right now).  I am excited to have him sharing with us today.

Why do churches die?

That’s the question that haunts many struggling congregations.  To be honest, there are no real answers sometimes for why certain churches die.  Some just do.  But there are a few observations we can make when it comes to this topic.  

Sometimes they lose touch.

Some churches die because they have refused to change; they have refused to update with the times.  They grow comfortable with the way things are, and never worry about reaching the next generation.  Church becomes a social club for many of these people, and their church slowly becomes more and more inwardly focused until they eventually die off.  Churches like these exist everywhere because it’s the tendency of human beings to be comfortable.  They begin judging those who aren’t like them or anyone who may upset the little kingdom they’ve established.

Sometimes they become selfish.

I mentioned above the selfishness that can slowly plague a church.  A church might begin spending more money on new pews. Or they begin cutting the outreach program or missions.  They forget that God has called us to take the good news to people, not sit in a building one morning a week and wait for them to show up.  They say things like “I didn’t get a lot out of the service today.”  Or “I want an after school program for my kids.”  Or any other “I” statement you can think of.

Sometimes they run their course.

There are times when a church dies that it should be celebrated rather than mourned.  God could use a church for a specific time with a specific purpose.  A town may shrink up, and some of the churches might die off.  It’s not their fault, and it doesn’t belittle the ministry they did in that city.  For churches that have run their course, there’s an incredible opportunity for the end of their church to be the birth of a new church.  I know of several churches that have donated their buildings to new church plants to give them a tremendous boost.  Churches that keep the Kingdom in mind, rather than their own interests can use the end of one church to be a great building point for the kingdom.

There are countless other reasons.

I could go on for days listing the various reasons a church might end.  The thing to keep in mind is that often the death of a church should be seen as an opportunity.  A new chance to try something else, a chance to pay it forward to another congregation, a chance to reinvest in the kingdom of God.

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