{"id":11261,"date":"2012-05-24T11:00:00","date_gmt":"2012-05-24T15:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/?p=11261"},"modified":"2012-05-20T09:11:34","modified_gmt":"2012-05-20T13:11:34","slug":"whats-next-for-your-church","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/whats-next-for-your-church\/","title":{"rendered":"What’s Next for Your Church (Where to go from here)"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"nextFollowing Jesus sometimes seems dangerous. If it doesn’t, you might not be following Him.<\/p>\n

So start slowly.<\/p>\n

Take a simple step.<\/p>\n

If you and your church decide to take some of the suggestions in my book, Close Your Church for Good<\/a>,\u00a0<\/em>and are trying to decide what to do next, let me offer the same advice that is given by Robert Farrar Capon in his book, The Astonished Heart<\/em><\/a>:\"\"<\/p>\n

My program would be this. Whoever was in command over the dying institution\u2026 would take the bull by the horns and kill it: close the church, dissolve the board, sequester its endowments, and sell off its property, putting the proceeds in escrow just in case the corpse ever rises and finds a use for them. Then the managers would explain to the remaining members of those churches that they were free to do anything they could think of (or nothing at all, if they so chose). A suggestion would be made, however, that they might think of holding a kind of wake on the next Sunday, perhaps in one of their homes, or in a restaurant or bowling alley that didn\u2019t open until 1:00 p.m. And if they took that suggestion\u2026.<\/p>\n

Well, they might sit and stare blankly at each other to begin with. But with any luck, some free spirit (young or old) among them would break the ice with the questions they had never before been able to ask\u2014namely: \u201cWho are we?\u201d \u201cWhy on earth are we here?\u201d And, most important of all, \u201cWhat do we think we\u2019d actually like <\/em>to do?\u201d Having no model at all to meet the upkeep on and no known shape to whip themselves into, they would for the first time be open to looking for really new answers\u2014honest answers\u2014that could range anywhere from \u201cWe haven\u2019t the foggiest notion, but let\u2019s get together next Sunday and see if anything\u2019s occurred to us in the meantime,\u201d to \u201cWe\u2019re here to be the church, I suppose\u2014whatever that means,\u201d to \u201cHow about for openers we just try to stick with fellowship, breaking bread, and saying prayers?\u2014maybe God will take care of the rest, if He wants any.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

This is great advice from a clergy member who has followed his own suggestions. I have followed them too, and Close Your Church for Good<\/a>,\u00a0<\/em>is part of the result of asking the sorts of questions Capon invites us to ask.<\/p>\n

[This post is part of a series called “Fixing Our Eyes on Jesus<\/a>”\u00a0which will form a chapter in my forthcoming book,\u00a0Close Your Church for Good<\/a>.\u00a0<\/em>To get a free copy when it comes out,\u00a0subscribe now<\/a>.]<\/h6>\n
\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Following Jesus sometimes seems dangerous. If it doesn’t, you might not be following Him. So take this simple step to find out what is next for your church. If you and your church decide to take some of the suggestions in my book, Close Your Church for Good, and are trying to decide what to do next, let me offer some suggestions…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":11278,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_bbp_topic_count":0,"_bbp_reply_count":0,"_bbp_total_topic_count":0,"_bbp_total_reply_count":0,"_bbp_voice_count":0,"_bbp_anonymous_reply_count":0,"_bbp_topic_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_reply_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_forum_subforum_count":0,"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[15],"class_list":{"0":"post-11261","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"tag-close-your-church-for-good","8":"entry"},"yoast_head":"\nWhat's Next for Your Church (Where to go from here)<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Following Jesus sometimes seems dangerous. 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So take this simple step to find out what is next for your church.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/whats-next-for-your-church\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Redeeming God\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/290798794274804\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/290798794274804\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2012-05-24T15:00:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2012-05-20T13:11:34+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/05\/next-for-the-church.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"500\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"333\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Jeremy Myers\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@redeeminggod\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@redeeminggod\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Jeremy Myers\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/whats-next-for-your-church\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/whats-next-for-your-church\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Jeremy Myers\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/#\/schema\/person\/0df0211c3f7ba3d4c6cfa1f8411f481c\"},\"headline\":\"What’s Next for Your Church (Where to go from here)\",\"datePublished\":\"2012-05-24T15:00:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2012-05-20T13:11:34+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/whats-next-for-your-church\/\"},\"wordCount\":462,\"commentCount\":4,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/#\/schema\/person\/0df0211c3f7ba3d4c6cfa1f8411f481c\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/whats-next-for-your-church\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/05\/next-for-the-church.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Close Your Church for Good\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/whats-next-for-your-church\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/whats-next-for-your-church\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/whats-next-for-your-church\/\",\"name\":\"What's Next for Your Church (Where to go from here)\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/whats-next-for-your-church\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/whats-next-for-your-church\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/05\/next-for-the-church.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2012-05-24T15:00:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2012-05-20T13:11:34+00:00\",\"description\":\"Following Jesus sometimes seems dangerous. 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