Why Do Churches Close?

During the winter, I often reside at a missionary house in Tampa, Florida. Not far from there are two churches that recently closed its doors. One of them focused on meeting the needs of the homeless. The pastor vacated the property after the landlord announced the rent was doubling. For now, the pastor and his wife will conduct park outreaches like they’ve done before.

The other was a small Assembly of God church where I sometimes attended services and Bible studies. After being there for over six years, the pastors decided to sell the property to a Hispanic fellowship. While it may have been disappointing for these pastors not to oversee a growing congregation, souls still got saved there. Three months ago during a Bible study, I got to lead an occasional attendee to receive the Baptism of the Holy Spirit. Our labor in the Lord is not in vain (1 Corinthians 15:58).

Four years ago, a megachurch in Minnesota that I visited a few times had temporarily shut down. North Heights Lutheran Church in Arden Hills was founded in 1946 with a 450 seat sanctuary. NHLC had grown to a peak of 3,400 weekly worshippers that met at two locations. Attendance then dwindled down to a few hundred. Various reasons surfaced regarding the church’s brief demise: financial problems, downsizing and congregation members not approving of a woman that temporarily became the senior pastor. 

Jesus said in Matthew 16:18, “…and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.” Churches often close not because of outside persecution but from problems within. One survey cited the number one reason people leave a particular fellowship is conflict and gossip. Some church folk can be hard to love just like certain family members. Nevertheless, John 13:35 says, “By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.”

Then again, I have a friend in North Dakota who pastored a church there for a number of years but then felt led to shut it down and move his family to Oklahoma for a season. Instead of handing the reins over to another minister, this pastor encouraged his congregation to connect with other local fellowships. He later attended one of those himself.

Still, I believe it’s God’s best for all His churches to grow so they have a greater influence in their communities. However, if a church strays from sound doctrine and teaches things contrary to Scripture or don’t allow the gifts of the Spirit to function, then it should close its doors.

“Unless the Lord builds the house, they labor in vain who build it” - Psalm 127:1

Critiquing Confirmation

During the late 1970s, I went through two years of confirmation at the Lutheran Church I attended as a kid. Back then I didn’t have much interest in spiritual things. It didn’t help I was mistreated by some of my classmates. Nevertheless, I learned more about the Bible from reading assignments and listening to tapes. One of the latter was a comedy routine by Bill Cosby about Noah that had me laughing hysterically.

Occasionally I served as an acolyte, which the dictionary defines as “a person assisting the celebrant in a religious service or procession.” My duties were to light candles and put them out at designated times while wearing a long white robe. Another thing confirmands had to do was turn in critiques of the pastor’s sermons. That was an adjustment for me. I was used to letting my mind wander while sitting through unemotional messages containing few (if any) Scriptures.

My confirmation class also went on retreats. We traveled to a campsite in rural North Dakota on a bus that often broke down. Aside from the obligatory lessons, we played volleyball and other games. A couple times the pastor practiced hypnosis on us for fun (I didn’t know at the time that can open up doors to the devil).

Finally in October 1979 I was officially “confirmed” during a Sunday morning service. Hands were laid upon me but I felt nothing significant happened. It was simply a ritual I had to go through. Afterwards I ate lunch with family members and received a few gifts. One of them was a small wall cross a Lutheran business gave to all the confirmands. Included was a note suggesting I write a thank you letter. My parents told me I didn’t have to do that. They suspected it would put us on a mailing list to receive solicitations.

Looking back on all this, I can see why confirmation influenced me to stop going to church for a while. I wasn’t taught how to be born again and live a victorious Christian life. Instead we studied Lutheran doctrine through a catechism booklet. Jesus criticized the Pharisees for “…making the word of God of no effect through your tradition which you have handed down.” (Mark 7:13)

We also made recitations like the Apostles’ Creed, which meant nothing to me since it was said rote like the Pledge of Allegiance. Jesus said in Matthew 6:7, “And when you pray, do not use vain repetitions as the heathen do. For they think that they will be heard for their many words.”

Two decades after going through confirmation, I reconnected with one of my old Sunday school teachers. She was thrilled to hear I became born again and filled with the Holy Spirit. Although my former teacher had remained a member of that Lutheran church (I just found out this morning she passed away ten days ago), I don’t desire to go there again. I’d rather go to fellowships where miracles are happening and God confirms His word through accompanying signs (Mark 16:20).

All churches that have confirmation classes need to teach their students the whole counsel of God. Joining a church or denomination will not get anyone into heaven. Without knowledge of the new birth, confirmation will lead to damnation.

“how shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation, which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed to us by those who heard Him” - Hebrews 2:3