From the Pastor –  June 2008

Last month, I mentioned that Bishop Weaver strongly recommends that each pastor read a book entitled “I refuse to lead a dying church,” and that our district office has distributed copies of the book to every pastor in our district.

As part of his book, the author (Rev. Paul Nixon) says that every church has to make six choices if they are to thrive.

·    Choosing life over death

·    Choosing community over isolation

·    Choosing fun over drudgery

·    Choosing bold over mild

·    Choosing frontier over fortress

·    Choosing now rather than later

At first glance, these seem like simple choices (after all, for example, who wouldn’t choose life over death?), but they are far from simple.  For example, in his chapter on “choosing life over death,” he asserts, “in stagnant and dying churches, the members turn inward and become a bit selfish in what they expect of the church; decisions are made based upon what is more convenient and comfortable for the church members rather than what is expedient in effectively serving the community.”

Becoming more outwardly focused is obviously not an easy choice, but it is a choice that must be made if a church (ours or any other) is going to thrive.