I preached in a church to a congregation of 6 people not that long ago. Apparently that’s not unusual for them. 10 would be a bumper day. It feels like it’s done, over, dead.
Should that church be closed?
I know of another church with 6 people. It is far from done. It’s alive, vibrant and hopeful.
Should that church be kept open?
Probably the only thing these two places have in common is a building that is a drain on their very limited resources rather than a space which enables them to be what they need to be.
Should they dispense with the buildings?
Church is complicated. It is difficult. Why? Because it involves people. People who have given up and people who are full of hope.
Why is it difficult- not simply because it involves people but it involves Christians and they are often the most difficult.
Another way to look at it is that as you say church ‘involves’ people, rather than ‘is’ people… should the dispense the buildings. Those buildings might have the potential great asset, opportunity or gift that they could offer their communities, or they might just be something that is dragging them down, holding them back as it is filled with memories and issues and stuff that has never been properly addressed.
But ultimatly how do you give someone the gift of hope- find that out and there’s a bottle of your preferred beverage in it for you.
should they dispense with the building or not?
difficult question, I am in a church with 70 members and I think we should dispense with our building. Life often revolves around it, but around it as a building , not as a group of people meeting to serve each other and God. (i.e. the only thing I have in common is that I go there and so do they)
I don’t think it really matters where one meets, Matthew 18 tells us “For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them.”
If that is at Starbucks, a house, a school, a church, it doesn’t really matter.
If the focus is on following God (loving God), living as ambassadors for for Jesus (loving people), and living gracefully, then that will offer hope.