Since I have accepted the position of Transition Pastor at Summit Fellowship in Decatur, I have been happily surprised to learn that our church – while small and struggling – is a real church made up of real Christian people who really love the LORD!

I am thankful beyond words to have the opportunity to serve this faithful group of believes on the northwest side of Decatur!

When I came back to serve Central Baptist Association in 2020, I was surprised to learn how severely many of our member churches were suffering following years of decline that had been made much worse by impact of the Covid pandemic.

Nearly 60% of our 19 member churches averaged 30 or fewer people in morning worship for the 2020 – 2021 Associational year. Almost all of these churches have fewer people attending and the average age of those who do attend is higher that in the 2019 – 2020 Associational year.

Many of our Churches are continually getting both smaller and older. It was easy for me to be troubled by these statistics as I should have been!

Of course, the reasons for this decline vary from church to church, but in a more general sense our stories are very similar. If I am typical of our members, and demographically I am, I know that the older I get the more resistant I am to change and the more intolerant I become of things I do not like.

These attitudes are deadly for a church!

As decline continues, the funds needed for care and improvement of our facilities are less and less available and the physical ability of our members to do the necessary work to properly care for our facilities also declines.

At Summit Fellowship, we are engaged in a multi-year revitalization plan that we trust God will bless and end this season of decline and set the stage for future growth!

May it be so for all of our LORD’s faithful churches!