Book review: I Refuse to Lead a Dying Church
A year ago our congregation began a self-study. As part of the study, the leadership read and discussed I Refuse to Lead a Dying Church. It is clear from the title of the book that Paul Nixon, a United Methodist minister and church development coach, is not going to pull any punches. He sees that the mainline church is in trouble and wants to make sure that Christians stop pretending that it is not a problem. To accomplish that he begins his introduction with a barrage of facts and figures chronicling how far the mainline has fallen from its former position at the top of American ecclesiastical heap.
He asks a brutal question: Is it possible to be a faithful servant of the Resurrected Christ and serve as pastor within one of the mainline denominations?
His answer to this question was a definite yes, but only if people are willing to make a series of difficult choices. Nixon declares that God invites every church to grow and thrive, but all too often we do not do the hard work necessary for that to happen. Growth is possible, regardless of how theologically conservative or liberal a church is. Unfortunately, the mainline has grown much better at institutional maintenance than developing the entrepreneurial spirit that facilitates evangelism.
The key, he says, is apostolic leadership that has the audacity to faithfully respond to the following six choices:
- Choosing life over death
- Choosing community over isolation
- Choosing fun over drudgery
- Choosing bold over mild
- Choosing frontier over fortress
- Choosing now rather than later
Each of these choices is subject of one of his chapters. He lays out the case for doing things in a different way. He offers examples of congregations that have made each of these choices. Each section includes bullet points and actionable steps. In this way, each chapter can be its own self-contained discussion. For those reading the entire book at one time, it closes with an emphatic call to action and reminder that God is already doing amazing things in some corners of the mainline church. His invitation is for other congregations to become part of that group.
Just reading this book won’t help. Talk about it.
The key to using this book successfully is not simply reading through it and setting it aside. Doing so will accomplish very little. This is a book designed to facilitate conversation. In order to help this happen, Nixon’s consulting group, The Epicenter Group, has produced a free study guide that can be used in either a retreat or weekly small group study format. The study guide shaped our conversations and helped us develop several clear next-steps.
In our congregation the elders read and discussed each chapter at our monthly meetings. At the end of six months we had been through many of the exercises and learned a lot about the congregation. The final step was a planning session where the elders were told to “find a buddy” who was interested in the same choice. The six self-selected groups each put together a course of action that was designed to address that challenge.
Of course, their plans were specific to our community and their particular interests. Some of these actions will lead to lasting change, some will be one time learning experiences. Either way, there was a tangible sense of excitement and energy in the room because people were addressing issues that they were fired up about and they were given the freedom to go in any direction they chose.
Not for the faint-hearted
The biggest challenge of this book is also its greatest gift. Nixon very successfully pushes people out of their comfort zone. Some of our congregation thought he is pushing too hard. Some were initially put off by the title. There is no way around the fact that the introduction can be a fairly hard slog for those who feel he is describing a hopeless situation for most of the churches within the mainline denominations.
Fortunately, he rewards those who are willing to hang in there with him. His six chapters call leaders to make choices. He points out what God is doing in each of those places and reminds us that Christ seeks to use all of us to make a difference for the kingdom of God.
Most importantly, despite his urgent tone, Nixon writes with a profound love for the unique gifts and treasures contained within the mainline tradition. He says clearly that the American religious landscape needs our voice and our perspective. That is precisely why he wants so much every church to fully live into the life Christ has called them to live.
