Decline & Renewal in West Coast Churches of Christ, part 3
"Happy families are all alike; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way" (Leo Tolstoy, from the first line of Anna Karenina ). Perhaps the same could be said about churches. It's not hard to find commonalities in healthy, happy churches. Nor is it hard to step outside the world of practicing believers and find common threads in why unchurched people don't go to church. Together, we could list multiple books written about both subjects. But it's hard to sum up the failings of declining churches. How have we messed up? Let us count the ways! Each church's struggles are unique. Leadership personalities play a role. Sexual sin sometimes plays a role. Changing demographics play a role. Decisions about worship style can play a role. But that's just what we see from the outside. The causes of church decline are often far more trivial. We rarely notice these unique factors, but they often stack up and create layers of disappointment and dysfunctio...