The liturgy lasted about five minutes, and then hundreds of years of congregational life came to an end. The church was declared officially closed. The action was largely symbolic-the important decisions had already been made. Within a few months the building would be sold.
Each year about 4,000 churches are shuttered in the United States. It's not just a mainline Protestant phenomenon, either. This week, the Detroit Free Press reported plans to close 20 urban and up to 30 suburban Roman Catholic parishes.
It's frustrating, and painful. Change is difficult, and almost always messy.
This coming Sunday is Transfiguration Sunday, a day when Christians recall Jesus' transfiguration. It is a critical time-a time when Jesus' ministry takes on a new dimension. Jesus' glory is revealed to the disciples as a blaze of light. Soon, he is seen talking with Elijah and Moses, his appearance radically changed. God's voice booms across the mountain. The disciples watch the moment unfold. Clearly this is a moment of change.
Similarly, this is a time of change for many congregations. It is a critical time for churches that no longer feel viable. Dwindling membership, changing demographics, skyrocketing building costs overwhelm older congregations. Some parishes simply lack the energy to continue.
The impact of dying churches is especially hard when local landmarks become targets for demolition. Yet congregations must be more than museums. A church must be something other than a repository of relics or an archive of memories. If congregations no longer function as centers of dynamic worship and engaging mission, then maybe it truly is time to find a new use for the building.
Every once and a while, I watch the television show "Hoarders." Mostly, I watch it as a reminder to keep my desk clutter in control. This A&E reality show follows the lives of people whose lives have been upended by hoarding. Consumed by the debris of their lives, the hoarders often become distanced from the people they care about most. Their lives are a wreck.
This week, as I have pondered the scriptures for Transfiguration Sunday, I have begun to wonder if churches can become hoarders. Up on the mountain, Jesus is prepared for the next stage of his ministry. In the face of the spiritual pyrotechnics, the disciples do not know what to do. Ever impulsive, Peter snaps to attention. "Lord, it is good for us to be here. Let's make dwellings for you, Moses, and Elijah." In other words, let's organize a building committee. Let's preserve this experience. Let's make sure nothing changes.
But as the moment passes, God speaks and invites the disciples to discern a greater purpose in the transfiguration. Jesus' transformation clears away the clutter, so to speak, enabling the disciples to more fully understand God's purpose. All of it is prelude to his coming Passion.
It makes me wonder if congregational hoarding keeps us from discovering the ministries God intends for us. Have our ministries have become so cluttered with programs that no longer work, ideas that are obsolete, and ways of being in touch with our community that do not meet real needs? Where do we need to change?
Test my theory by looking at a church bulletin board-how much is on there that is more than 90 days old? Don't even get me started on stacks of molding Sunday school curriculum, or boxes of 1970s filmstrips.
The transfiguration reminds us that God is on the move, and that God calls our congregations to be vital centers of invitation and change. Author Peter Block has written extensively about the power of invitation, which he says is "the call to create an alternative future." Christians have been doing this ever since Jesus called the fishermen to drop their nets and follow him-why have we suddenly forgotten the importance of invitation?
Invitation creates transforming experiences of community. Jesus invites Peter and James and John to climb the mountain with him, inviting them to see a glimpse of his glory. The power of invitation is openness to transformation and change. Perhaps that is why God speaks to the disciples on the mountain top, telling them, "Listen to my Son." Pay attention to the details, and be transformed. Take up the challenge to become a communities of invitation.
By becoming places of invitation, our congregations cam be changed. The future that seemed limited can expand and change. It is not easy, and it may not always work. But by exploring the power of invitation we might move from decay into new life, transformed for ministry in a new time. Coming down the mountain, our ears would be ever attuned to the one who says to us, "Whoever wants to be first must be last of all and servant of all."
