I’m not sure who came up with the idea that in order for a congregation to thrive they must be self sustaining. To me this seems much more like a way of bolstering the bias that the only legitimate congregations are ones with full time paid pastors, and ones with their own facilities. After all, how much would it really cost to have a self sustaining congregation of 15 or 20 people meeting in a living room? I guess technically they would be financially self sustaining – there just wouldn’t be much to sustain.
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Craig Sunter via Compfight
Take the same 15 or 20 people and put them in an old Church building that was built to accommodate 100, or 500, and they stop being self sustaining. Build in a history and tradition of having wonderful clergy who led the Church when the Sunday school was booming, and an endowment that has almost run dry, and you have a congregation in crisis.
Take those 15 or 20 people and put them on a mission. Maybe they work together to feed the hungry. Maybe they start a kids music program in a low-income neighbourhood. 15 or 20 people working toward a common goal can accomplish a lot in a community, but they may need some funding. They apply for grants, they look for partners, they seek out benefactors. Each of the 15 or 20 people are giving for the sake of the mission, but the more they get involved in the community, the more need they find for ministry. They could really use a staff person to be working in the neighbourhood all week, making connections, building realtionships. So the 15 or 20 people set out to raise the money to pay a pastor. They even go to other Churches, explain what they are trying to do, and ask for help. Is this Church financially self-sustaining? No – they are dependent on the generosity of people on the outside. Are they thriving and committed to the mission of Christ? Absolutely. Would they be a legitimate congregation, even though they are highly dependent on outside funding? I think so.
Let’s jettison the idea of the self-sustaining Church. Its time to talk about the God-thriving Church instead.
