The number of Presbyterian churches in London, Ont., has not changed in at least a decade and the collective roll from 1999 to today shows a downwards trend, but the city's population is larger. We're not only losing ground numerically, we're serving a significantly smaller percentage of the population. In the lingo of business, we're dying!
In the world of business Grow or Die is a theme which management consulting firms thrive on. Consultants suggest that if businesses cease growing they are automatically dying. Trainers, coaches and business gurus sell their services to facilitate corporate growth by helping to introduce new product lines, making acquisitions or finding mergers. "It seems to be true that there is no such thing as stability. Even when you think you're holding your own, you're probably losing ground," says Greg Schinkel, owner of Unique Training and Development, and a member of the visionary team at Metropolitan United Church, London (the UCC's largest roll with 2,000 people). In London, three struggling Anglican congregations merged to create one single thriving church. Schinkel and his church's plans for growth will acquire members from other denominations in addition to finding those who are currently unchurched. His church does not see anything wrong with growth because in the end, it all benefits the body of Christ.
Alice Mann, in her book Raising the Roof, says even the way we sit in church can exclude newcomers. People tend to sit approximately one third from the front of the sanctuary to the back of the church, and we sit on the aisles. Newcomers normally arrive right on time and either have to shuffle past people to sit in the middle or walk up to the very front row.You might as well place a spot-light on them the moment they arrive. Could existing members make newcomers feel welcome by sitting up front and in the middle of rows thereby letting newcomers slip in gracefully?
We think we're friendly and welcoming while non-attenders perceive our buildings as closed shops for members only. I ask those who enter our church if my church is friendly and they say yes. The problem at large, especially concerning the unchurched, is we don't know what these people are thinking. Why? Because we never meet them, and we don't do enough outside our walls to help break down the barriers. In another example, folks who recently joined my own church said it took two years to work up the courage to approach the doors. Once they did, they felt very welcome… but not before that!
In Manfred Kets de Vries and Danny Miller's book The Neurotic Organization they suggest that corporate or church struggles are the same as the individuals who work and worship within them. For example, businesses suffer from mid-life crisis just as people do. Employees can suffer from four and seven year itches with their employers, just as married couples struggle through these awkward times. Perhaps the Presbyterian Church is suffering from old age… hanging on until the end.
The good news is people are looking for answers that life has not provided for them and that God can. And we still do have the best deal in town: that of peace and forgiveness of sins for a personal relationship with God. Its just a matter of spreading the news.
