Locked From the Inside: Get ready, America, for a wave of church closings is an opinion piece by Joel Belz in World Magazine. Here are a couple of paragraphs:
Mainline churches, like the Methodist church in my own neighborhood, will not be far behind. Denominational treasuries simply aren't up to the task of sustaining ministry personnel and facility upkeep for neighborhood "franchises" that can't carry their own weight. When the 25 elderly people who gather now each week dwindle to a dozen, someone will have to pay the piper. And someone will have also to figure out who will mow the lawn of the church that isn't being used anymore.
And then—sooner than you think—it will be the turn of the evangelical churches as well. Thousands of them, too, are teetering on the edge of their existence. Stick your head in the door on a typical Sunday, and see how many children are around. If you were a regional manager for McDonald's, you'd close the place in a jiffy. Except for the grit and determination of a few old stalwarts, it would already have happened. But there's no promise for the future.
I think his assessment is accurate.
Leave a Reply