closing churches

Few articles that The Christian Chronicle published over the last year got more comments and more buzz than a report that the Mayfair Church of Christ in Oklahoma City is becoming part of Crossings Community Church, a 9,000-member multisite congregation with roots in the non-Pentecostal Church of God. Mayfair Church of Christ was once one of the "flagship" congregations in Oklahoma City, until it dwindled down to about 100 members and had to make a choice about its future. The story about Mayfair's decision to join Crossings Community Church stirred strong opinions from Christian Chronicle readers. In this episode, we interview the story's author, Cheryl Mann Bacon. We also hear from Jared Chambers, minister to the Mayfair Church of Christ, and Pastor Marty Grubbs of Crossings Community Church. And Mike O'Neal and Doug Peters of the Heritage 21 Foundation join us to talk about what congregations might do when they find themselves in circumstances similar to those of Mayfair Church of Christ.   
Segment One: Reporting the Mayfair Church of Christ story (Cheryl Mann Bacon) 

Link to Cheryl Mann Bacon’s Christian Chronicle report on the Mayfair Church of Christ becoming part of Crossings Community Church

Segment Two: The story in their own words (Jared Chambers, Mayfair Church of Christ; Pastor Marty Grubbs, Crossings Community Church)

Link to Crossings Community Church

Link to Mayfair Church of Christ (new Crossings Community Church Mayfair)

Segment Three: What to do when your congregation faces endings and new beginnings (Mike O’Neal and Doug Peters, Heritage 21 Foundation)

Link to Heritage 21 Foundation

Contact Heritage 21 Foundation executive director Doug Peters at doug@heritage21.org

Link to Siburt Institute for Church Ministry at Abilene Christian University

Link to Hope Network Ministries

Link to At the Blue Hole: Elegy for a Church on the Edge by Jack Reese 

View the full archive of stories at christianchronicle.org

Donate to The Christian Chronicle at christianchronicle.org/donate

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TAGS

Mayfair Church of Christ, Crossings Community Church, Crossings Community Church Mayfair, dying churches, shrinking churches, membership decline, church building, church merger, Church of God, Wesleyan, doctrine, church sale, closing churches, discernment, neighborhood, vision, outreach, evangelism, community, service, neighbors, Heritage 21 Foundation, Siburt Institute, Abilene Christian University, Hope Network Ministries, At the Blue Hole, Jack Reese, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, Jared Chambers, Marty Grubbs, Doug Peters, Mike O’Neal, Cheryl Mann Bacon, Bobby Ross, Jr., BT Irwin

In this week's conversation between Dr. James Emery White and co-host Alexis Drye, they discuss a very difficult topic: when, how, and who decides whether to close a church? It doesn't matter if it's a church that's been around for decades, or a church plant only a couple years into their journey, it's never an easy decision to grapple with. But between the great resignation of pastors, the widespread denominational decline and the rapid closing of churches across the country, it's a decision that many churches are having to face.

Episode Links

If you're new to the podcast, you may want to check out some past episodes where the conversation has touched on some of the background issues that led to today's discussion. These are: CCP4: On Pastors and Moral Failings, CCP15: On Denominational Decline, and CCP30: On Quiet Quitting and the Church.

As Dr. White said during the conversation, the heart of the people making up the church has much to do with whether the decision should be made to save a dying church. Two blogs that he wrote illustrate what it looks like to have a church community who are all-in - “Anything for the Mission” - versus one where they're completely turned inward - “Our Spiritual Pandemic of Narcissism.”

Many listeners may be interested in finding out more about the decision that Mecklenburg Community Church made to close three of its Charlotte-area campuses in order to make a more strategic missional investment in its Online Campus. To read all about that story and more be sure to check out Dr. White's latest book Hybrid Church: Rethinking the Church for a Post-Christian Digital Age.

At the end of today's conversation, Dr. White mentioned a blog that is released annually by the Church & Culture team that serves as an encouragement to pastors who may be struggling with a church that is either dying or failing to thrive. You can read the blog “The Monday After Easter” here.

For those of you who are new to Church & Culture, we'd love to invite you to subscribe (for free of course) to the twice-weekly Church & Culture blog and check out the Daily Headline News - a collection of headlines from around the globe each weekday.