I’m just finishing up a study leave period where my objective was to read anything I could find about life in churches that have become very small, very old, and therefore weak enough that the thought of needing to close has crossed their mind. There wasn’t a lot to read, I think because church executives and church-development pros like myself usually focus on other areas of ministry. Lots of people find this subject depressing. I think it is an exciting, largely unexplored area for ministry, just ripe for a pastoral approach.

So I started looking for stories about churches that had closed, and what happened afterwards. I have a few from my own personal experience, and have been offered some by colleagues. A Facebook post got a helpful response. Often, these stories of the people released from ministries without much future have allowed them to take on far more effective new lives for Christ. And the resources of that old church have often been able to support or develop a new ministry for another generation. So I’m finding support for my theory, or if you prefer, God’s promise, that death is a fact of life, but there is a resurrection. So far, that has always been the story I’ve heard.

Click here to read a story that’s a little different, sent by a friend from Portland, where I used to live.

Eastlake Presbyterian is in a modest neighborhood, and used to be a big church. Today, it’s down to 20 souls, mostly in their eighties. Their future is is problematic. Like any church in that situation, anxiety is high, and fear comes easily to the surface, making their future all the more difficult to unfold. But they, rather than shrinking from a new ministry offered them for reasons that would have come easily (risk for the building, fear of homeless people, hidden costs, no staff, no volunteers), they decided to take it on.

What I find interesting, though, is why. Why accept this ministry to homeless people, when the church is on the edge of closing? Homeless people are unlikely to be new members, bring new life, become pledge units. It is clearly not a church-renewal strategy. So why do it? Justice work is nice, but “Should we do this?” would be a logical question to ask, a reason to put their limited energy elsewhere. From the story, it appears plenty of other churches asked that question, and came to the logical answer. Eastlake’s answer, however, is different. Their answer is pretty simple, and yet breathtaking: they simply chose to be faithful. To them, it just seemed the right thing to do. And yes, it came to them in a Spirit-filled moment.

I don’t know what the future holds for Eastlake Presbyterian. They remain small, old, and limited in resources. The church may still need to close someday soon. But to me, it looks as if they are already receiving their resurrection gift. They chose to be faithful, and are being blessed in very unexpected ways. And if the church ends up closing, my guess is that those blessings will continue, maybe even multiply. What’s so depressing about that?

If you have a story about a church’s closing and what happened after that, good or bad, I’d love to hear it.

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