By Gregg Boll, Executive Director of Missions

In part 1 of this article, I laid out the reality and challenges facing our churches in a post-Covid, post-Christian world. We said that:

1. Membership among our SBC Churches has been on an 18-year decline.
2. While baptisms have been declining since 1999/2000 for our SBC Churches, they have been on the rise since the low point of the Covid pandemic and are now near pre-pandemic numbers, but nowhere near their peak of 445,725 in 1972 vs. 250,643 in 2024.
3. Gifts from SBC Churches to the Cooperative Program unified budget have declined in seven of the past 10 years, with receipts for the year just ended (2024) being 4.4% less than a decade ago.

In part 2, I shared the reasons and impact of these three trends upon our churches and the S.B.C. Now, I want to help you form an intentional, missional strategy to counter these negative trends working on your church. Why? Because nothing is more demoralizing and discouraging than ministering/pastoring year in and year out with little or no impact, growth, or Kingdom wins. No pastor wants to preside over the slow, steady decline of the church the Lord called him to serve. I am working with a few biblical assumptions. One, over time, the LORD expects His churches to reach lost people, disciple them for works of ministry, and send them on mission. Jesus said that He would build His church. The LORD expects His church to be advancing, growing, and impacting lostness. Ken Hemphill pointed out once that when a new baby enters our life, we would become alarmed if our baby didn’t reach certain growth and development thresholds over time. If they still weighed 10 pounds and could not talk at an appropriate age, we would be greatly alarmed and seek medical help. A second, closely related biblical assumption is that believers should be reproducing their faith in others (evangelism/discipleship) and churches should be reproducing themselves through church planting/replanting. Surely, this is what Jesus intended when He spoke of believers “bearing much fruit” through abiding in Him (Jn 15), the way He ordered things and people within the Body of Christ for the “building up the church” (Eph.4:12,16) and any number of other Great Commission passages, not to mention the advancement and growth of the early Church we see throughout the book of Acts.

If you find yourself leading a church that is just holding its own or declining, this next part is for your encouragement and help. While every church and situation is unique, as I
have worked with dozens of churches in decline over the last several years, I have found there are common, predictable conditions present in every one of those churches. Here they are:

1. Missional Drift – The church has forgotten its God-given mission and reason for being. The church doesn’t see itself as a missionary to the community that continually reevaluates its ministry and strategy, rather, simply repeats its calendar of activities year after year, which over time becomes more about serving members’ preferences than accomplishing the biblical mission of the church.2. No intentional, robust process of making disciples. No clear communication of who the disciples are and what mature disciples do.
3. No sense of urgency about the lostness of people outside of Christ as demonstrated by no strategy for, training of, or expectation of their members to share their faith.
4. The church does not engage its community with the gospel and becomes insulated from the community around it, often blaming it for not responding to their presence and ministry. Often, this is due to the members not living in the community around the church and merely attending that church out of connection with other members and historic loyalty to that church. It becomes our social outlet for meeting our relational needs, which is fine, unless we neglect to be on mission as described above. The gospel and mission must be of utmost priority ahead of our comfort and preferences.
5. The failure of church leadership/pastors to lead the church to prioritize, communicate, and equip their members to be on mission as disciple-making disciples. I am aware of how difficult pastoring and church leadership are in this era where everyone has many opinions, but few deeply held convictions; when the younger generation’s default is to mistrust leadership, to question and defy authority. How do we lead in such an atmosphere? How do we lead necessary changes so as not to split the church or lose our jobs? Consider an excerpt from a previous article I wrote: Often, the Proverb is quoted that “without a vision the people perish.” Today, in most churches, the issue isn’t lack of vision, but too many visions; every person who walks into your church has an opinion about how things should be done (Ed Stetzer). Each person who walks into your church is a part of a media-saturated society, with a thoroughly secularized worldview. Calvin Miller says in his book Preaching, “The average church member who comes to your church holds to a contradictory hodge-podge of beliefs formed mostly in their emotions from a guest on Oprah or Dr. Phil, because it felt so right. They have very few strong convictions, but they never run out of opinions. Because every home along every country road has a satellite dish, people are being secularized at
a greater speed than we can ever “orthodize” them in one hour each week at church.” A church must have a clear vision of its purpose and values and be willing to let people go who won’t embrace their mission. The church can’t do every ministry that every person in your congregation suggests. A laser cuts better than a floodlight. Focus is the only difference between these two forms of light. Churches must “do less to do more and do it better” (Rick Warren).

Next month, I will share some of the strategies and resources that are available to you to counter each of the above challenges, which hinder health and growth in your church.
The Association exists to help you fulfill the ministry of the gospel which the Lord called you to. You weren’t meant to do it alone. You shouldn’t feel that everything is an uphill battle that exhausts you. It ought to be joy! We desire to come alongside you and your church and to help you lead effectively, fruitfully, and joyfully. We have resources, people, and encouragement to offer you. Please, reach out!