Comments on: As congregations dwindle, brokers struggle to fill empty churches

By: J.W.

J.W. — Fri, 05 Oct 2012 05:26:59 +0000

Know of a church experiencing difficultly because it built a new bldg. in 2006 with few members, 50% are at retirement age, also has a decline in attendance and struggling to attract younger people, similarly it is located in a poverty stricken area. So many of those who do come are seeking assistance and are not putting in the offering tray. Church has Outreach Ministries, but the age of its members make it hard to do mission, many are afraid of their neighbors. However, the greatest challenge of this church is to pay the tremendous debt it acquired in building a new building, and last but not least it can’t even pay the mortgage with consistency. What would you do with this situation?

By: Lee Fehrenbacher

Lee Fehrenbacher — Tue, 31 Jul 2012 17:03:01 +0000

“Thanks for your comments Daniel. I’m glad you enjoyed the story. As to your questions, a synod is an ecclesiastical governing body. The Oregon Synod is a local chapter of the ELCA.”

By: Daniel Gare

Daniel Gare — Tue, 31 Jul 2012 16:23:31 +0000

Good job on this story. I enjoyed the in-depth look at a topic that’s more profound than the nuts and bolts of the business.
If this was part of a series on Lutheranism, pardon me for coming late, but I only got two sentences in before getting confused: What’s a synod? And what’s the Oregon Synod? Of what? I had to go look it up and get more confused. Apparently there is the ELCA you mentioned and the Missouri Synod. Is the Oregon Synod a synod within a synod? And are members of the congregation called “parishioners”? I thought that was a Catholic thing.
Finally, because I’m an old man:
Is there any reason to ever use “gift” as a verb? We have many great verbs available, such as “give” or “donate.”
Is “unchurched” really a word outside of fundamentalist evangelical circles? Maybe it has entered the vocabulary.
But I’m just being nitpicky. This was a well-researched, well-written interesting story.