I just spent two days at a national denominational headquarters, trying to figure out the future of Christian education with them. They were very gracious and kind.
Most of the people I hang out with these days are telling me not to waste any energy or effort with the dying mainline. Let someone else bury them. I don't quite agree, although I do see God doing amazing things outside of the traditional arenas.
Will death come with a bang or a whimper? Will anyone know or notice when the last mainliner turns to a flat liner? When I started on the road 12 years ago there were 11,000 churches in my denomination. Now there are 10,000.
Is it time to pull the plug on the denominations and head off to see what God will do next? Here's a fun piece from Cliff at Church Resources that might shed some light:
Subject: A room with a view
It doesn't hurt to take a hard look at yourself from time to time, and this may help get you started... During a visit to a Mental Asylum, a visitor asked the Director what the criterion was which defined whether or not a patient should be institutionalized. "Well," said the Director, "We fill up a bathtub and then we offer a teaspoon, a teacup and a bucket to the patient and ask him or her to empty the bathtub." "Oh, I understand," said the visitor. "A normal person would use the bucket because it's bigger than the spoon or the teacup." "No." said the Director, "A normal person would pull the plug." Do you want a room with or without a view?
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