Churches Age

    Aging is a slow process, most of us don't remember the process, but
what we remember is not being able to do things we once did. Aging
isn't fun but it is a part of life. For people there is no regenerating process,
but the church is supposed to regenerate.
    As churches age, they are supposed to regenerate with new Christians.
The cruel fact is if a church isn't growing, it is dyeing. Churches age
just like people. If you have a church with fewer and fewer young
couples coming, your church will age and die a slow death. Because
if there is one thing older people do, is die.
    I have seen this process acted out in a church I used to attend. The
church decided they were big enough, and quit doing all the work to
bring new people into the church. Once you become complacent with
church growth, it is hard to get that ball rolling again. In fact, it is easier
to start a new congregation than to get a dying one growing again.
    The work is never ending, in church growth. It takes a lot of people
working together for one cause, Jesus Christ, to grow congregations.
In a normal church, about 10% of the people are workers, the other
90% rely on the 10% to keep everything functioning. When that 10%
starts to age, younger people need to be there to take over the working
in the church.
    If we let the average age in the church approach 45 to 50, the church
will, without an influx of younger couples, slowly age out and die.
    Church regeneration has to be a continuing process of planting seeds
and harvesting the growth that God provides. It is up to us,"The Church"
to keep working for The Master until He takes us home.