What to do when your church is closing.

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What to do when your church is closing? Find out here.
http://churchrealty.com
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Just recently I read an article in a popular Christian magazine on how 12 churches were profiled
due to a thriving congregation and attendance increase in spite of the uncertain economy. I was
interested in how and why these churches were surviving when I coach pastors and their wives
who come to me because they are burned out and ready to close it up and walk. So, are these
pastors and churches special in God's eyes? Why such a tremendous gap with some churches
thriving and others closing up? After reading this article one could be inspired if they didn't know
what I know about the pastors who've had enough and want real change or they're gone.
But what interested me the most was after reading the article, the resource box at the bottom read:
This magazine is looking for healthy churches to be featured in future issues of the magazine. And
then gave a website address if you cared to share how your church is thriving.
Oh, how we need encouragement in this day and hour. How nice that we can read about the large,
healthy churches and share in the joy of blessings coming their way. They are healthy because
their pews are filled, the people are involved in church activities, and many are hungry for the Lord
and even though statistics inform us that only 1% of church goers financially support the church,
1% of a lot of people can mean the church doors remain open. The size of these churches ranged
from 700 members of the smallest to over 32,000 in the largest.
So, that still leaves the question, what's happening with the smaller churches, why are they closing
and pastors walking out to the tune of 1500 per month? I won't pretend to have all the answers
and certainly I cannot share everything herein. But let me point out a few relevant things here.
If we could ask the Lord to come to a meeting and then ask him why it seems he prospers large
congregations and is less supportive of smaller ones, what do you think he would say? Well, I
always go to the word to find the character of Christ in similar or other situations to answer these
things. We know Jesus came for the lost and the sinner not the righteous because he says so in
Mark 2:17 when he said, "Sick people need the doctor, not healthy ones." Does that mean he
doesn't love healthy people? No, it just means he came to help those who need it. Then in Luke
4:18, he said, "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me because", and then he lists why he came to earth;
to heal the brokenhearted, deliver the captives, give sight to the blind and the downtrodden shall
be freed from their oppressors. Does that mean the Lord doesn't love the joyful, carefree,
prosperous Christian? Of course not, he advised those who are doing well to help the ones who
are not.
I've learned over the years that when a pastor is about to hang it up and walk, he or she is
suffering from a broken heart, captive to numerous personal and ministry struggles, downtrodden
due to oppressors from within and without who are used by the enemy to thwart every good work
and passion that God carefully placed within them. The pressure is so deep being hit from so

2. many directions; they just want relief from the battle of their souls.
When the rich man came to Jesus proclaiming that he had kept the Ten Commandments from his
youth, Jesus didn't spend time praising him nor publicly applaud his success, instead he instructed
him to use his wealth and his stated righteousness to help those who weren't as blessed.
Of the twelve churches and pastors who were featured for their 'healthy' churches, one in
particular stood out among the rest for me. This pastor recognized the tough times for many in his
congregation. In order to help those who had lost jobs or experienced salary cuts, he posted an
Acts 4 tree for others to respond. And do you know what happened? Those who weren't struggling
stepped up and took the place of those who were. What kind of a bond do you think the people in
that church are experiencing today? What kind of love is transferring in their hearts?
I recently spoke with a pastors' wife who shared that she and her husband both work full time as
well as share church responsibilities. They struggle to even keep their congregation going. She
said they are at the point of hanging it up and walking out, the congregation shows up and just sits
there. So we're looking at some problems deeper than just a simple lack of financial support.
So, what would Jesus say here? Does the character of Christ even remotely indicate a favor for
larger churches over smaller ones? The Bible repeatedly explains that when you have a word, a
very good word, a call from the Lord, you need to find a platform and release that, it's called
evangelizing the gospel. But God also informs us that we have an enemy who will do whatever he
can to postpone, stifle, prevent, destroy the pastor, his word, his ministry and his marriage in order
to 'get even' with God for kicking him out of heaven. God's people are racing to get the word out;
the enemy is racing to stop it.
Satan hates it when churches prosper and he hates it when anyone helps the 'little guy' out from
underneath the stronghold of oppression. Pastors believe in demons, in theory, some try not to
translate it every moment into reality for fear that people might label him 'crazy'. Yet they confess
to me the intensity of the spiritual attack they experience and I can tell you this, they must have a
tremendous word inside them to be so targeted.
If 4,000 new churches begin each year, but 7,000 churches close, it should be obvious we have a
major problem here. These are undeniable statistics. We don't have to guess what the Lord would
say here. Quite frankly, the money situation is only a drop in the bucket compared to their greatest
problems of dealing with contention, problem people, discouragement, depression, marriage
problems, and yes they are targeted in their morals as well as just a general lack of support.
Pastors are honorable gifts placed in our lives. We need each and every one of them to find their
place of value, large or small. If Christ came not for the free but for the captive, and if he came for
the weak not the strong, the debilitated rather than the 'healthy', why don't we take the pages of
our magazines and newsletters and use this space to speak about a huge problem of pastors
leaving their posts and their mandates that God gave them?
Once a problem is out in the open, and the devil can't hide it anymore, help is sure to come. There
are way too many loving, righteous Christian's who are looking for a cause to support. Let's first
expose the problem and then deliver the solution.

3. In order to survive, pastors need to get into relationship with a mentor or coach. This should be
someone with wisdom, experience and the discernment to pinpoint problem areas while using
Bible principles. Also, pastors need to find other pastors to form mutual, trusting relationships,
where they can talk and pray for each other, without fear. This can be accomplished through an
online membership group.
Every pastor is the apple of God's eye. We can pray and pray and ask God to help them and we
should, but didn't he already say, "You help them?" Let's ask ourselves, what can we do? What's
our part? God's looking for a willing heart.
Would you like to learn more about reversing pastor burnout, discover how it got there in the first
place and then experience how to get it off and proceed with a successful ministry? You can, but
first you need to step forward and initiate the process. I will give you 30 minutes of my time for
free. In that 30 minutes I will tell you in brief, what's going on with your ministry that got you where
you are now and give you a couple of easy options to think about that will help you move forward.
Go to: http://www.susandavidlifecoach.com either fill out the Free Consultation form or email me.
What do you have to lose, 30 minutes of your time? (free sessions are limited to time available)
My experience with working with pastors is vast. I can nail between one and three of your major
hold-backs and most frustrating hurdles in that 30 free minutes, email me.
Article Source:
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What to do when your church is closing? Find out here.
http://churchrealty.com
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