By Mark A. Taylor
Steve Reeves makes an eloquent and convincing case for long ministries. But how can we reconcile positive experience like his with the result of our research showing how church growth slows as a minister”s tenure increases?
That”s the question we posed to church leaders across the country, and their answers this week suggest this is an issue for all of us to consider. Perhaps the truth is not as cut-and-dried as the numbers alone suggest. Perhaps several other factors (church dynamics, community growth and culture and demographics) are in play when church growth slows in a minister”s second or third decade of service.
No one is suggesting that older ministers should be put out to pasture, but it”s natural for them to wonder if that”s what this research suggests.
Our reporter Darrel Rowland told us about four ministers””average age, 58; average years in their current ministry, 23″”who expressed quite a bit of soul searching when confronted with our statistics. Ralph Eichelberger, 63, the development coordinator of Round Lake Christian Camp in north-central Ohio, convened the group and heard them ask questions like these:
“What are we supposed to do? Ministers ages 50 to 65 have given their best years, made sacrifices that the person in the pew would not consider, and now they are a useless tool?”
“It takes about 30 years to mature a person until he has something to say””meaning he has been through the seasons of life. Shall we stick such leaders back in the closet with the other church stuff we don”t know what to do with?”
“Does God really want every congregation to become a megachurch?”
The answer to all these questions is, “Of course not.” And the issue certainly is not for megachurches alone. (This is one reason we devote annual reports to large and medium-sized congregations as well as megachurches.) Megachurch ministers quoted this week point out that even megachurches are looking at more than numbers as they seek to measure their effectiveness. (The comments in Brian Mavis”s “What”s Next” column are especially encouraging.)
But even though our research may not suggest simple solutions to a congregation”s waning growth, it does indicate factors for any congregation to consider:
Are we talking to ourselves more than speaking to the lost?
Have we become comfortable with our attendance instead of compelled by the larger number of non-Christians outside the church?
Are we still depending on ideas, innovations, and strategies first tried a decade””or two, or three””ago?
The wrong answers to those questions will always hinder a congregation”s ministry, regardless of the senior minister”s age or longevity.
STABILITY! What does a long ministry provide for a congregation? STABILITY! I have been struggling over long ministries because presently I serve as Sr. Minister at Jefferson Church of Christ and have been for 31 years. I am 61 years old and constantly try to reflect on how long I should stay in the ministry and what my ministry needs to look like today. On June 7th my Associate Steve Cook celebrated his 25th year with us at Jefferson. Steve has accomplished a long ministry at Jefferson as well.
Where are we as a congregation today? Debt free, 18% of our budget goes to missions and presently give $75,000 a year to church planting. Around 25% of our regular church budget goes to evangelism and missions. Jefferson is not a megachurch but a church of 450 people. In the last 6 years we took 50 people and a staff person to plant another congregation in our area, plus we are partners with 4 other church plants in North Carolina. Being a partner means that we commit $50,000 over 3 years to support and help the church plants. We have hired a Hispanic preacher that meets in our auditorium on Sunday morning and has started another congregation on Saturday night in a sister congregation.
Have all these things happened as a result of my long ministry or the ministry of my associate? No, these things have happened because God has led us to do these things but I still believe that the STABILITY that is brought to a congregation because of a long term ministry allows a church to grow spiritually and numerically.
What is my purpose at 61 years of age and 31 years of ministry at one church? To continue to build a foundation so that when I do step out of the picture Jefferson will do even greater and bigger things to God’s glory. So few people are really Kingdom people. Kingdom people are not concerned about one local congregation but God’s Kingdom worldwide. That is what Jesus preached and that must be what we as the church practice. Do I believe long ministries are important? You betcha! Remember STABILITY!