How long can we, St. Mark’s Lutheran Church, hold out? How long until we grow? How long until we have to close our doors forever and walk away? How long? What kind of a question is that? 

St. Mark’s financial situation is precarious.  Attendance is in a decline.  You can count on the fingers of both hands the number of seats that will be filled on Sunday mornings. 

“How long?” is probably a valid question, and it’s one that we frankly do not have an answer for. St. Mark’s financial situation is precarious.  Attendance is in a decline.  You can count on the fingers of both hands the number of seats that will be filled on Sunday mornings. 

We don’t know our future, but God does. What we have to do is not count days until we close our doors, but proceed prayerfully, in faith that God will show us what He intends for us to do.  St. Mark’s has always answered God’s call in the past. We will continue to do that, serving His people, as long as we can… until we can’t any more. 

A lot of noise is made about “growth.” Get more people to join. Get people to come back. We can’t change people’s hearts. People who don’t attend make that choice for reasons of their own. Those reasons are between them and God. It is not in our human hands. We can continue to hold those people in prayer, and let God work on their hearts. 

We’re not alone in that struggle. Mainline congregations all over the country are in decline in this post-pandemic world. The pandemic changed people. It altered habits, patterns of behavior, perspectives. Work or school from home became the norms. 

Now, some people don’t attend weekly services because of work schedules. That’s not new. And we get that. People have to make a living. But couldn’t we, like some other congregations, answer that need by reaching out to those folks, steaming our services on the web? Making them feel like a part of the congregation even if they can’t be here? There’s been some conversation about that, and frankly a lot of resistance which I don’t understand. 

Wouldn’t it be great if we could climb out of our box and try some new ideas and ways to worship? Ways that would appeal to younger Christians, to people who want a chance to serve in tangible ways in their community? 

Wouldn’t it be great if we stopped worrying about how long we have, or don’t have, and started looking for ways to matter to our community in the present? How can we be God’s hands in the world NOW? 

Wouldn’t it be great if we stopped worrying about the end and focused on the middle?  On the people we have now, who are faithful to God and serve Him with prayerful, hopeful hearts? What if we just serve God NOW? 

Wouldn’t it be great if we trusted God’s plan? 

Do we have the faith to do that? Together? 

We may all have to show up more. We may have to give more. We might have to do things we’re not comfortable doing. But isn’t that what the disciples did when Jesus said to them, “Hey guys, drop it all and come with me. I have something really cool to show you”? 

God made a way for the disciples. 

God will make a way for St. Mark’s. 

He always makes a way for His people. 

Trust his direction. 

The NC Synod Bishop's

Monthly Reflections

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