Church at the Crossroads

"But I do not think I am in the least inferior to those 'super apostles.' I may not be a trained speaker, but I do have knowledge. We have made this clear to you in every way." 2 Corinthians 11:5-6.

Have you ever read through the book of 2 Corinthians? There's a tone of instruction and discipleship in I Corinthians much like the other church epistles that Paul writes. 2 Corinthians is more edgy as Paul becomes much more emphatic, driving to very dramatic language and expression to make his case, almost desperation in the tone as it is apparent some individuals have slipped into the church for the purpose of leading it astray, even to the point of attacking Paul's ministry.

"For some say, 'His letters are weighty and forceful, but in person he is unimpressive and his speaking amounts to nothing. Such people should realize that what we are in our letters when we are absent we will be in our actions when we are present." 2 Corinthians 10:10-11

Wow. Those last few chapters are pretty tough. Paul defends his minstry, and at the same time expresses his great concern for the Corinthian church and his tremendous love for them. They are in trouble as a result of false teaching that has crept in with some individuals who have led them astray and Paul is writing not only to set the record straight, but to try to keep the church together, and get it moving on the right track until he can get there and take care of things. They were a church at a crossroads in their existence, and Paul saw which turn in the road was full of dangerous pitfalls. He knew that their situation was delicate, and that they faced some crucial decisions that could affect their continued existence.

Garden Oaks Baptist Church is at a crossroads. After 68 years of existence, the demographic and social factors that contributed to the church reaching membership in excess of 1,000 people and attendance of over 900 have changed, and the result has been a long, slow, steady decline that has on occasion been reversed for a relatively short period of time, but the downward trend has continued. Our previous pastor once told me that he could identify four separate periods of change and approach to ministry during his 16 year tenure at the church. The period we are in now has brought us to the point where we are numerically smaller than we have been since the church first began meeting in what is now the youth building, back in the 1940's.

We once sat in the middle of a suburban neighborhood filled with young families, many of them responsive to the gospel we preach, and open to the idea that they needed it. Ironically, in 2009, after years of transition and change in the demographics around us, we find ourselves once again in a neighborhood where property values are soaring, and where people in their late 30's, 40's and early 50's are buying up both the historic older homes and lots to build new homes. But the social environment has changed. Once, a Southern Baptist church sitting in this neighborhood would have attracted interest from the residents, many of whom would be looking for a church from the very day they moved in, attracted by the programs and ministries it offered, by a young, dynamic pastor with solid preaching skills, an enthusiastic music minister and Sunday School classes that provided both discipleship and fellowship. Now, many of the people moving in are unchurched, and not inclined to be attracted to one. They are busy, their work consumes a lot of time, and their children's activities consume more. The preaching skills and age of the pastor of the church matter little, since they have no exposure or interest, and the music isn't an attraction either because they can listen to whatever they want on their ipod. Few people understand the denominational labels on churches, and among those that do, identification as Southern Baptist is likely to create a negative perception.

And so we have arrived at a crossroads. Our continued existence depends on the turn we decide to take, and which direction we go. We have several choices. The inner city area of most cities, Houston included, has become a church graveyard in the last couple of decades as demographic changes have affected churches and many have not survived. In our own area of the city, as the property values have soared, and an affluent population continues to pour in, our sister Southern Baptist churches in the area continued to decline. Several have either disbanded or merged with another church in the last five years, and most, like us, are more than 30 years down the road from the "glory days." We cannot continue the cycle of calling a pastor to preach and minister on the attraction model, seeing a few years of growth take place by transfer from other churches, watch the bloom fade from the rose and then come out on the other end smaller and less effective than we were before. At some point, we are going to reach a point of no return, where our membership will no longer be viable enough to "attract". That is not where we want to go.

I believe God still has work for us to do. The opportunities to build relationships in our community, relationships from which we can share our faith and testify to the grace of Jesus in our lives, are unlimited.