When a church shuts, what are we to think?
Some months ago, the church I served as pastor for over 15 years worshipped together for the last time.
Planted 25 years previously, she had her ups and downs: a constant trickle of conversions, some of whom fell away, others remaining firmly rooted. We worked hard at local evangelism and when the church closed, ironically we had more unconverted contacts (adult and children) than ever. We sent couples and singles into gospel work on a regular basis, yet the church was always tiny, and in a suburban area, our annual inflow/outflow was usually 15-20%.