{"id":699506,"date":"2020-02-26T02:00:29","date_gmt":"2020-02-26T08:00:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thomrainer.com\/?p=696398"},"modified":"2020-05-19T12:53:50","modified_gmt":"2020-05-19T16:53:50","slug":"12-markers-of-churches-on-the-downslope","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/blog\/12-markers-of-churches-on-the-downslope\/","title":{"rendered":"12 Markers of Churches on the Downslope"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Chuck Lawless<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

Church growth writers talk about the bell-shaped curve that characterizes the growth of many churches. The left side of the bell curve is exciting (vision, outreach, growth, etc.), but the right side is challenging (nostalgia, decline, division, etc.).<\/span><\/p>\n

Based on my years of church consulting, here are some markers of churches on the downslope. Every church should be aware of these markers, just in case they\u2019re unknowingly moving in the wrong direction.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

    \n
  1. A visionless leader<\/b> \u2013 Often, the primary leader in the church \u2013 the pastor \u2013 has lost vision for the future.<\/span><\/li>\n
  2. Unspoken conflict <\/b>\u2013 The conflict may not have yet risen to a raging fire, but the embers of division are beginning to flame quietly.<\/span><\/li>\n
  3. A \u201cback door\u201d problem<\/b> \u2013 People are leaving the church more rapidly than they\u2019re joining. Sometimes, the difference between the two is stark.<\/span><\/li>\n
  4. Few converts<\/b> \u2013 Congregations in this state seldom do much evangelism.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n
  5. Non-returning guests<\/b> \u2013 It\u2019s not that first-time guests aren\u2019t coming to the church; it\u2019s that they never come back after the first time.<\/span><\/li>\n
  6. Stagnant, if not declining, finances<\/b> \u2013 Long-term members may be keeping the financial ship afloat, but nothing suggests coming growth in giving.<\/span><\/li>\n
  7. Fractured leadership<\/b> \u2013 Ongoing conflict among staff or lay leaders is not uncommon in churches going in the wrong direction.<\/span><\/li>\n
  8. Decreasing funds for ministry<\/b> \u2013 This problem is often the result of maintaining a larger-church staff as the church itself gets smaller. Salaries dominate the expenses as the church struggles.<\/span><\/li>\n
  9. \u201cYesterday\u201d conversations more than \u201ctoday or tomorrow\u201d hopes<\/b> \u2013 \u201cI remember when\u201d statements become much more common than \u201cI\u2019m so excited about what God\u2019s doing.\u201d<\/span><\/li>\n
  10. Longer-term leaders just \u201changing on\u201d<\/b> \u2013 Even the strongest, most faithful members begin to think about leaving when a church is on the wrong side of the curve.<\/span><\/li>\n
  11. Increasingly a one-generation congregation<\/b> \u2013 Typically, younger families leave rather than wait out any needed changes.<\/span><\/li>\n
  12. Entrenched hopelessness<\/b> \u2013 Those who remain begin to lose hope, but they remain unwilling to change.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    What other characteristics have you seen?\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"By Chuck Lawless Church growth writers talk about the bell-shaped curve that characterizes the growth of many churches. The left side of the bell curve is exciting (vision, outreach, growth, etc.), but the right side is challenging (nostalgia, decline, division, etc.). Based on my years of church consulting, here are some markers of churches on…","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":699459,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"publish_to_discourse":"","publish_post_category":"","wpdc_auto_publish_overridden":"","wpdc_topic_tags":"","wpdc_pin_topic":"","wpdc_pin_until":"","discourse_post_id":"","discourse_permalink":"","wpdc_publishing_response":"","wpdc_publishing_error":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1,175,178],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-699506","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-church-answers","category-grow","category-membership-and-assimilation"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n12 Markers of Churches on the Downslope | Church Answers<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Church growth writers talk about the bell-shaped curve that characterizes the growth of many churches. 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