What Happens When the Small Church Becomes Inconvenient?

There is a problem facing the mainline Church today. It is spoken of frequently among Church professionals—less frequently with lay people. (Maybe there would be a solution if we were all part of the discussion.)

The topic (although it is not stated this way) is “What to Do with Inconvenient Churches.”

That includes most of us.

What makes a congregation “inconvenient”?

Let’s look first as what makes a “convenient” church.

Convenient churches are those that have 150 or more at worship each Sunday. They have a pastor who has already served five years and has no desire to move on. The convenient church has a paid-for property and a growing number of members supporting the ministry from the grave.

The convenient church can send a good percentage of offerings to the regional and national offices. They can send year-end gifts to major church agencies and the denominational seminaries and camps.

When a convenient church calls the Regional Office, their calls are returned. The bishop is a familiar face to them and can be counted on to visit for special occasions. Seminarians look over the list of convenient churches with hope that they might one day serve in their alluring comfort and security.

The convenient church really has little use for the regional office. But the regional office needs them and the dollars they can supply. A symbiotic bond is formed.

The inconvenient church may have some of the same traits. They could have a good number of people. They may have a paid-for property. They may have a settled pastor. But something happened —or didn’t happen— somewhere along the line that made them damaged goods, flawed beyond redemption in the eyes of church leaders.

The congregation may be clueless about its reputation. It was probably shaped over the years in the clergy gossip mill until the mere mention of the congregation’s name brings muffled chortles and knowing glances.

It is likely that clergy were somehow involved in whatever created the inconvenient situation. They are in a position to make sure the other clergy get their spin. There will never be a forum to properly examine the history. By the time the congregation learns they are marked, it is too late. The Church just doesn’t have time to deal with them and the trouble it would take to turn things around. Inconvenient.

The result is condoned shunning. Pastors won’t want to serve them. Hierarchy, in their number one role as employment agency for rostered leaders, wants the people they see and work with regularly to be happy. The laity are unknown, novices in church procedures, and will be no threat. Out of sight; out of mind.

Yet most churches today fall into the inconvenient category, possibly from decades of dealing with an unresponsive Church structure.

Churches that have been abandoned by clergy in favor of more convenient assignments quickly get used to going it alone. If they are fortunate, they develop lay leadership. After a while, they assume every congregation has trouble communicating with the regional office. Every church gets appointments 11 months in the future.

Now the real problem comes in. Clergy may not want to serve these congregations but they definitely don’t want them to go it alone.  The behind-the-scenes clergy prejudice becomes impenetrable.

The problem: no one wants to commit to service in these unpopular congregations.

The solution: create a team of pastors to serve them without commitment.

The team will be made up of retired pastors and pastors who don’t want the inconvenience of moving or readjusting their lives. Call them interim ministers. Have them report regularly to the regional office, so they know what’s going on without having to actually do anything about it. This isn’t far-fetched. It’s actually part of the rationale of regional bodies. The problems may have festered so long that no one wants to deal with them. Better to let the short-termer, uncommitted pastor take the blame. The priority is the comfort of the pastors!

Somebody needs to take the blame.

The “inconvenient” churches need help. A committed pastor has the best chance of providing that help, but it takes work. He or she may need to spend six months visiting every home. Someone may need to admit to some leadership failings. Reconciliation requires a little self-sacrifice. Remember the cross.

Inconvenient churches may need the services of a regional body — but they are not in a position to pay more than a token amount. That’s not all their fault. Their ministries have been neglected for years and that affects stewardship.

So in the world of Church, the attention goes to the congregations that don’t need it.

As long as funds are adequate, everyone can get by. But in difficult times, even the “convenient” deep-pocket churches may become needy.

Someone has to make up for the shortfall when the bigger churches can no longer support the hierarchy at the level to which it is accustomed. (Suddenly they have to do the same work with less money and fewer people — just like the inconvenient churches they failed to serve!)

That’s when the “inconvenient” churches become vulnerable. It has less to do with their ability to survive (they are used to struggling) than it does with the whole lop-sided system.

The “convenient” churches can now use their clout to insure their own survival.

The obvious answer to the hierarchy that has already distanced themselves from their smaller congregations: Close ’em down. Take their assets. Make life more convenient for the convenient churches.

It is quickly forgotten that the nature of ministry is to help the weak.

If the Church looks at their smaller congregations (the majority) as windfalls in waiting, they are missing their mission.

The way things are going, it will be their turn soon enough.