God blessed Fallowfield with another great fair week. We made 1,860 pies and grossed $35,516.25. We’d made and frozen 900 pies starting in late July, but we baked all of these during fair week.
Once we pay our bills, we’ll distribute the net profit among roughly 80 local, national, and international charities and missionaries. God has truly anointed this project over the past 63 years.
I had the honor of working with both past and present members of Fallowfield United Methodist. Some left our church 20 or more years ago, yet they still believe in the importance of this mission project, so they help us year after year. Volunteers from several churches, friends, neighbors, and relatives help us pull off this mammoth project.
Our congregation of 70 to 90 people could never do this alone. God, of course, would help us, but without enough willing hands and hearts, our project would die.
When I chair pie bakes, I run the ovens with a man. It’s a different volunteer every day, and we work together as we pull the 30-plus-pound trays of pies out of the ovens and check these to ensure they’re baked properly. We always get to talking as we work. Two conversations from pie bakes stick out in my mind.
They both centered around the absence of people my age working at pie bakes and the trend of young people leaving churches. This is a sensitive topic for me.
In 2008, we had around 125 people in our congregation every Sunday. We had at least 12 young families with at least two children per family. So we’ve lost a big chunk of our congregation over the past ten years, and we’re down to three or four young families now. It breaks my heart. We’re lucky to have two kids in the children’s Sunday school class and six or seven in the youth class.
Our congregation is still vibrant and hard working. We still do the fair project, make and sell chicken pies in February to support mission work, and host Vacation Bible School every year. We try to reach our community’s children. But our congregation is shrinking.
This is true among many churches, particularly denominational churches. My question is, “Why?”
Here’s my theory. It’s because people in my age group (I’m 40), want to hear a strong, encouraging message in church, sing happy songs, and feel good during and after church. As long as they’re not asked to work hard or give a lot of money to the church, they’ll keep coming. But for far too many, all it takes is losing a beloved minister, a friend switching churches, or someone rubbing them the wrong way to take the exit and never return. It leaves Sunday school teachers and youth leaders confused and dejected.
I spent 10 years in therapy for my bipolar illness. People leaving my church came up often. My therapist boiled it down to a clear, and I believe accurate reason why people leave churches. It’s because they are looking for a deeper relationship with God outside the Bible and prayer. Daily, disciplined Bible reading and prayer are the only ways to develop and strengthen our relationship with God. Don’t get me wrong – church is important. Hebrews 10:25 reminds us not to give up meeting together. (NIV, my paraphrase) But that’s only one part of following Jesus.
Spending time alone with Him is the only way to grow in faith. Switching churches won’t help. It’s kind of like desperately wanting to be thin, but refusing to eat healthfully and exercise. Switching from one fad diet to another won’t help. Only disciplined eating and exercising will help you lose and maintain weight loss.
The only biblical reason for leaving a church is if you’re being taught false doctrine. If a teacher tells you it’s okay to cheat on your spouse because you’re unhappy, and cites “Happy are the people whose God is the Lord,” (Psalm 144:15 NKJV) get outta there.
If the minister teaches God wants us all to prosper, and if you’re struggling financially it must be because of some sin that’s blocking you from God’s blessings, leave. Some of the strongest Christians I know struggled horribly with poverty, and it had nothing to do with sin or lack of faith. God saw them through their struggles and they are far better off today.
But if you want to leave your church because the sermons don’t inspire you, because Sunday school topics don’t address your problems, or because there aren’t a lot of people your age there, that’s the wrong motivation to leave.
What you really crave is a deep relationship with God, and your church can’t help you achieve this. You have to set aside time to read your Bible and pray. Period.
How about this for encouragement to do just that: “Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed.” (Mark 1:35 NIV).
Let’s follow our Lord’s example and see how it changes our lives. Blessings!