Church in turmoil

[ohiofarmer 3,265]

  Please bear with me. I see trouble coming on the horizon and possibly will have to leave my church [but not my faith]. If you do not want a long read, just pass this by.  Since You guys are my friends, it is really all I got because we are walking in a place of little trust in our church leaders.

 

 It all started when some on the council and the minister started making noises that membership was going down as our church was aging out. We were already sharing a minister with two other congregations, and it was OK. Also OK was the excellent stewardship we had with keeping the building in repair and no debt. The minister we shared is not of our faith, due to an ecumenical agreement, but more important, their church business relies on a council and the minister while ours is more democratic. When I was a trustee, we could only spend $500 per project without a special meeting of everyone to approve what we were doing. Now it is a little more, but still needing special meetings and votes for larger projects.  We also have an elevator that works well at 30 years of age. Our building is beautiful with traditional stained glass and all that. I do see a future where the old guys will pass away and then the ones that follow will not have the savings or fat retirements that previous generations had to keep things going. Of course when our kids go to college, they move away to better opportunities and no longer are here to support the church 

 

 The solution proposed was to keep one church building and sell the rest. Our building is not modern, but is perhaps the most solid and needing the fewest repairs.,  We kind of pointed that out at the meeting, but were informed that our elevator was out of date for a full blown computerized wheelchair that maybe one in a thousand wheelchair users would have. I can see why some of our people feel that all the rest of them want is our buildings to sell off and our bank account.

 

 Then there is the estate that came in from one of the other churches. instead of saving that money for part of the repairs for a new elevator in the chosen building, the council voted without our input to use that money to hire another youth minister for his first year.  of course, the other churches would have to fund it thereafter.  With all those issues, I am not seeing a way to survive without growing membership and money. Of course I also see this powerhouse minister putting a resume together of how he joined us together and then using that for a resume' enhancer to a bigger congregation...I have heard his sermons about needing strong faith to take chances for God.  The thing is, we have been good stewards in the past [ I remodeled two bathrooms for cost of materials only] and the built up capital for this risk he wants to take comes from being frugal in the past.

 

   Someone brought up the fact that maybe that money for the proposed new minister could be better spent putting an elevator in the building we are moving to, but the minister said that they could just use a lift chair for now.   First he puts down our out of date elevator, and then expects the wheel chair bound to transfer out of their chairs and into a stairway lift?   This is painful to watch.  I feel that something needs to be said at our meeting Sunday, but I am not a good speaker.  My wife and I have been visiting area churches as we feel we may have no choice but to leave. It is hard to renew your soul when you see this chaos every time you go to your own church.

 

 That is only half of the story.  The larger national churches involved have some issues coming at them as well...... Thanks for listening.

[oliver2-44 9,689]

As Christians we may have many denominations, but we all believe in the same Maker.  Sending prayers that the good Lord, our Shepherd will guide his flock through these troubled times.  May he send the strength and divine guidance each of you need to steer your membership so you may always praise him in his house.

 

On the subject of elevators,  Before I recently retired, I was responsible for four 1940-50 elevators in dams that we eventually upgraded "to what was possible within the confines of their concrete shafts".  I am not an elevator expert, and each State is probable a little different.  However I can say this.

1. You existing elevator (and building) is grandfathered to the Life Safety and Handicap codes in place the day it was installed.  When/If you  upgrade it, (in its existing location) there's some variances the state approving agency can allow for you to only make those improvements "feasible within the confines of the existing building and its elevator shaft".  (What this means is they can't make you build a completely new external elevator just because you need to upgrade the existing one.) 

2. If you modify a building by adding a Completely NEW "personal lifting device"  where one did not exist, you have to meet the new code, and....theirs a strong chance (depending on your state) that you may have to bring everything else in that building (steps, bathrooms, electrical  etc) up to the new Life Safety and Handicap codes.  Your church really needs to consult an expert in your state before they just throw a chair Lift in that other building.    

[ohiofarmer 3,265]

 Thank you so much for your thoughtful post. all I will say about the denominations involved is that they are main line with millions of members. Our denomination went through a merger of sorts that caused problems when what was politically correct in its time caused some individual churches to split off when they did not agree with the majority.  Our ecumenical friends are going through the same thing with a likely three way split and our denomination governing  headquarters wants to delay the sharing partnership until they go through the process.

  1. I see the desire to rush on ahead as ill advised as we need the approval of headquarters to make this federation [merger of sorts] between us three] and the process is going to be put on hold.

  2. To your point about the elevator as a NEW project, I think that the people on council do not have the judgment or especially patience to deal with it. I am going to point out the challenges ahead if they just assume a chair lift is permissible. We did have to make a small upgrade to our elevator by closing the gap at the threshold about five years ago.

  3  There has been a real shortage of written information in our special meetings. whether intentional or not, the effect is that the old guard cautious people are looking elsewhere as no one wants to point out that proper meetings run by our constitution have been replaced by TED talks, as it were. I could easily shut down the vote they are taking by demanding that everyone's rights be maintained. The most obvious one of these  is written notification with US postage applied at least ten days before the meeting takes place.

  4. Finally, our church is at 25% membership once merged. With one man one vote, we will have no autonomy at all..   Thanks again, Jim for responding.