“To say that the room was tense would be a massive understatement. It was eight years before the death of the church, but few in that room could have predicted the church’s demise. The church had bounced back a bit during the past year. Since most of the members would not allow any {change to the main service at} 11am, some younger adults started their own contemporary service at 8.30. Bible study classes fit between the two services...The new service did provide the first growth in the church in two decades. The previous year attendance had dipped from seventy five to sixty two. But the new service added thirty people in average attendance, so the church was at a five year high of 92 in worship attendance. As the younger adults invited friends to the first service, they kept hearing the same refrain: “we like the service but it would be better for us and our children if the service was later.”
The solution seemed simple. Move the traditional service to 8.30 and the contemporary service to 11.00.
Wrong.
The change required a church vote. At least that’s what some of the members said. No one could find any confirmation. So it was time for the meeting. It was time for the business session from hades.
There were about 150 people present. They included members who had not been to church in five years or more. That included people most others did not know. It was obvious what was taking place. Members had recruited others to come to the meeting to vote not to change.
The exchange of words was harsh. Accusations were made…. One member declared he would let the church die before that change was made.
He would get his way eight years later.
The vote was close. Nothing changed.
Well, that’s not exactly true. The first service ceased five weeks later. Attendance dropped to forty three by the end of the year. And less than eight years later the church closed it’s doors.” (1)
That is one of fourteen stories in a book with the chilling title “autopsy of the deceased church”.
And as the author adds “every on of the fourteen autopsied churches had some level of this problem before they died. A significant number of the members moved the focus from others to themselves. A significant number of the members moved the focus from others to themselves. And when a church moves in that direction, it is headed for decline and then death. The decline may be protracted and the death may be delayed. But it is inevitable. The church will die”
A depressing story to start this morning with. But not an inevitable story. Twenty per cent of Anglican churches in this country are not just not declining but are actually growing. One in five Anglican churches in this country are not just not declining but are actually growing.
So let’s start with our Gospel.
Simon and Andrew and James and John have been out fishing. They have been out all night. It’s not about Simon and Andrew and James and John’s preferences. It’s not when they want to fish. Given the choice would you rather be tucked up in bed at night or out on a cold dark wet lake?
They are out there at night because that’s when the fish are out. If they don’t go out when the fish are there, they will catch nothing and they will starve. And yet this night they caught nothing. And then after borrowing their boats for a quick sermon Jesus challenges them to try something new. , ‘Put out into the deep water and let down your nets for a catch.’
Now Simon could have said “That’s not the way we do things round here. We’ll keep doing things the way we always do them” He had plenty of arguments to back up why change was a bad thing. But he tried. “if you say so, I will let down the nets”. Simon knew that without a catch there would be no food for their family let alone anything to sell. Without trying something new, they would starve. So he trusts Jesus - “and they caught so many fish that their nets were beginning to break. 7So they signalled to their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both boats, so that they began to sink.“
And once they are at shore with this enormous catch, Jesus says to them - ‘Do not be afraid; from now on you will be fishing for people.’ .
That’s what Christianity is about - fishing for people
As Jesus is taken back up into heaven - his final commandment - the Great Commission - “GO! And make disciples of all people baptising them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit”
If we are to be faithful to Jesus, which I know you will all want to be, we will be people who go out and share that faith.
And something in the years ahead that Simon and Andrew and James and John would have taken with them as they sought to tell people about Jesus was that if you want to catch fish you have to do two things 1) go where the fish are with bait the fish will eat and 2) keep trying new things.
There was a Brethren service that had a sign outside their door “Gospel service Sundays 6.30pm”. This was their chance to preach salvation to the heathen. But at six thirty every Sunday …. No heathen came. “Ah” said the Brethren “That’s the heathen’s fault. They are so sinful that they are not responding the invitation to hear salvation”
Simon Peter - being fisherman - would have known that was pathetic excuse. If a real fishermen blames the fish for not getting caught, well he’s going to catch nothing and he’s going to starve.
It’s the same for fishers of people. Why do you think the church exploded into growth in the first few centuries? Because the early Christians went where the fish were.
As pastor Rick Warren put it “We are called to be fishers of people, not keepers of the aquarium” “We are called to be fishers of people, not keepers of the aquarium”.
If we are to be faithful to Jesus, which I know you will all want to be, we will be people who go out and share that faith.
As Jesus is taken back up into heaven - he gave us his final commandment - the Great Commission - “GO! And make disciples of all people baptising them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit”
Sadly in many churches up and down the land the Great Commission had become the Great Omission.
There’s few people to do things - so the first jobs they cut are the ones that reach out to outsiders. Money is short - but you have to pay for the building and you have to shore up the institution - so the first thing that gets cut from the budget is anything that reaches out to other people
The focus becomes inwards. And slowly. Often very slowly, but inevitably - the church dies.
And yet all is not without hope - 20% of church of England churches in this country are not just not declining they are growing. One in five church of England churches are not just not declining, they are growing.
To grow takes a change in attitude from the bottom up.
One story from the Church of the Nativity in Maryland USA - a church that IS now growing but at the time of this story wasn’t.
“One Easter Sunday morning a “faithful” parishioner arrived for the 10.30am mass as was her custom every week, precisely at 10.25. The only problem was that the church was already full. She was invited to the overflow seating adjacent to the church sanctuary, but that was unacceptable to her. Tearing into a tirade at the top of her voice she screamed I’m here every week! This is my church! Who are these people? They never come at any other time of year? Why don’t they leave?” When her arguments failed to win her the seat she demanded, she proceeded to rip up her offering envelope into little pieces and toss it into the air before storming out”(2)
For that woman - as sadly for many people in many churches - the great omission had become the great commission. Instead of looking outwards for how she could be a fisher of people, she looked inwards for how her preferences could be met. This was her club. She had
“Paid her dues” and now she wanted privileges over the great unwashed.
If we are to be faithful to Jesus, which I know you will all want to be, we won’t be like that woman, we will be people who go out and share that faith. “From now on you will be fishers of people”
Church of the Nativity began to change. They held an Alpha Course where you could invite friends to learn about the difference Jesus makes. And they had a competition. Fr Michael announced it. “Which one of you can get the most rejected invitations to come on the Alpha Course? You have got to genuinely ask people, and the one who can get the largest number of people who say “no” is the winner.”
Well it will be no surprise - the person who got the most “no”s was the person who invited the most people - and therefore the person who got the most “yes”s
You lot here are good at inviting people to things. How do I know that? Because I came to the quiz last night. As far as I could tell every single member of St Barnabas who came had at least one friend with them. And that’s only the people who said yes to your invitations. I am sure many of you invited people who said no.
You are great at inviting people to things.
Now a lot of money was raised for the toilets last night. It was a good thing. So don’t get me wrong when I say this - there’s no point having new toilets if there is no one to pee in them. It doesn’t matter how brand spanking new our facilities are - new toilets, new sound system, new screens, all the holes in the roof repaired, all the quinquennial works done - none of that matters if there are not people here to worship Jesus.
It is great if we are inviting people to the quiz, but first and far more importantly we need to be inviting them to church, inviting them to meet Jesus. Inviting them to have their lives changed. Otherwise in a few years time this church will be beautiful… and shut.
That change in attitude by all the members of the church of the Nativity turned it into one of the fastest growing catholic churches in America. I know you are faithful so I know you want to, and if we adopt the same change we can be one of the fastest growing churches here
Jesus’s message “From now on you will be fishers of people”. “Go into all the world and make disciples of all people, baptising them in the name of the Father, the son and the Holy Spirit.
You can’t leave it to someone else - maybe the Vicar or Patty or the Church warden or.. - you can’t leave it to someone else. You have to be the change. You have to be the fisher of people.
Let me show you a physical illustration
Can I have two volunteers to be vicar.
(Vicar A makes one convert. Vicar B makes a disciple whoms she trains to make disciples. In year 2 Vicar A makes one convert. Vicar B and the disciple each make a new disciple whom they train to make new disciples. In year 3 Vicar A makes one convert. In year 3 each of the four disciples from Vicar B’s church maks another disciple
Continue exponentially until whole congegation has been added to one group or another….) (3)
As Pope Francis puts it - “I prefer a church which is bruised, hurting and dirty because it has been out on the streets, rather than a church which is unhealthy from being confined and from clinging to its own security.”
We need to stop hanging around where it’s safe, avoiding change because it is scary, and go out there and share the Gospel.
“From now on you will be fishers of men”
And if we do go out there and share our faith we will see a catch so big that we struggle to bring it to shore, where our nets begin to burst
amen
(1) Autopsy of a Deceased Church by Thom S Rainer
(2) Rebuilt by Fr Michael White and Tom Corcoran
(3) illustration by Dr Alison Morgan from Rooted in Jesus
