A hole in your soul that you pour money into

[VinnyParticipant]

Before my wife went on quasi-permanent family leave from her pastoring gig, I worked for the state denominational foundation, running an unregulated mutual fund for churches and helping put on stewardship seminars for local churches (individual money management and church stewardship).  We tried to help churches see that they were losing relevance for a new generation of givers because people wanted accountability and to feel like they were changing people’s lives with their donations.  Meanwhile, as a family, we put our money where our mouth was, giving well in excess of 10% of our income to the church where my wife was serving.

All the time, though, my own already low Christology kept creeping lower and lower, and by the time we moved to another city and starting attending a new church, I really didn’t believe what I was telling people in the money management seminars about tithing and putting church giving before anything else.  But we kept on giving, even though our new church, like many other declining mainline churches in big cities, was facing increasing maintenance costs (from a building that was largely unused), increasing salary and denominational support costs, and declining membership.  I even allowed myself to be talked into co-chairing an ill-advised capital campaign and then running the stewardship/finance team after the former chair resigned.  Meanwhile, the new church wasn’t feeling like a coherent and supportive community, just little self-interested groups of people that didn’t have a clear vision of where they wanted the church to go.  Clearly, our hearts were not living where our treasure was going.  Perhaps the title of this thread should be “A hole in your head that you pour money into.”

I think we finally decided to pull the plug at the end of the sunday school year, since our son seemed to be enjoying himself.  We had automatic giving set up through the end of the calendar year, and I am looking forward to not wasting money on a dying institution.

I have thought for the past several years that the institution of church in America was slowly moving toward extinction, or at the very least into a new era of greatly diminished influence as secularization and “cultural Christianity” increase.  But I wonder whether the entrenched religion of America will give up without a long, bloody fight.

• This topic was modified 1 year, 11 months ago by  David Hayward.

[AngParticipant]

I don’t think the church will disappear because of the revolving door of those who are desperately grasping for something ‘better’ and are easily brainwashed, as I was.  I thought I was taking a break from church attendance and would one day be back in that revolving door searching for yet another church.   Then I realized how wonderful FREEDOM from the institution is.  I have quite a ways to go for the healing of my damaged soul.  But FREEDOM from the institution of church is exhilarating.

[David HaywardKeymaster]

It will never be extinct as long as their is fear in the human heart.

[R2Participant]

I’m at a similar point as Ang.  David is definitely right.  I still have some fear to work on myself. After almost 50 years, it’s a big change.

I was just reminded of a CS Lewis metaphor I read when I was in my 20’s about trying to walk on grass to get into Heaven (Mere Christianity maybe? I don’t remember).  At first the grass feels like iron spikes, but the more you walk the easier it gets; the key is to keep going.   That always stuck with me.

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