Hope for Small Congregations

Interesting post on small congregations.

http://newsmallchurch.com/the-myth-of-inevitable-church-growth/

The OLD paradigm (and still prevalent) said that if you aren't growing (numerically) then you are dying. Numerical church growth has been an awful detractor, and in some cases the instigator or at least contributor, of a false theology that blasphemes the Biblical Lutheran confession, "I believe that I cannot by my own reason or strength believe in Jesus Christ My Savior or come to Him, but the Holy Spirit has called me by the Gospel...." Where there is false doctrine, the Lord's Church will not be found.

The temporal church as an "organization" will exhibit characteristics similar to non-church organizations... no doubt. So, the congregation as a not-for-profit organization in the state of Indiana will be subject to the laws of organizational theory to some degree, not as necessary laws but as a matter of COINCIDENCE. And yet, the holy Christian Church has historically "thrived" and still does "thrive" in times and places where the modern "organizational" model has not and does not exist.

In short, factory -produced widgets and new church members cannot correlate.

Consider this healthy Biblical Lutheran focus for our organization, uh-hum CONGREGATION, that is time-tested and in agreement with the Scriptures.

1. The congregation is united in her confession of Jesus Christ and all the doctrines He has given in His Word. (Think: Lutheran Confessions!)
2. The congregation is united in her practice (worship, acts of mercy, life together). That practice flows from the Scriptures and stands in unity with the Biblical practice of the Christian Church in every age.
Acts 2:42; Matthew 28:19