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From the Pastor's Desk: "The Anatomy of a Dying Growing Church" Greetings Family of God! I am back from vacation and am glad to be back in church. Doug and I traveled to see some of our friends and family in some of our northern states. While we were in New England, we discovered we could camp in our travel trailer for free in several church parking lots. We watched the activity of what goes on in church parking lots when the church is closed. If you are curious as to what we saw going on, it was literally nothing! In one of our camping spots the host was gracious enough to give us keys to the church building so we could use the facilities since we were boondocking (camping without electricity or water). This Methodist church was in a state of decline. They did not have a permanent pastor, and no longer met for worship on Sundays. But at least they were still open unlike all of the other churches in the neighborhood that had long closed. This particular church did manage to have a handful of remnant people who had a mid-week Bible Study and Prayer group which we gratefully attended. After everyone went home we had the church all to ourselves for the night. I had the opportunity to walk through the three story building and pray over the empty pews, Sunday School spaces, and nursery. The sanctuary was no longer in use and had become a storage area for old sound and music equipment. In the children’s Sunday School class, I noticed a flannel board and some curriculum that looked like it was written around the 1990’s. One side of the basement fellowship hall had ceiling tiles hanging down and the smell of old scout supplies. It was like stepping back into a time capsule. There were still jumbled papers, broken crayons and faded papers left on the shelves. I wondered when the last time was that this church hosted any children. I wish I could say that was only one church we experienced but on our travel north, but we saw many churches that had closed or had weeds overtaking their parking lots. It hasn’t been that long ago when our upstairs “children’s world” at Mt. Carmel experienced the same emptiness! So I don’t take for granted the blessing of seeing new children and youth in our classrooms, and babies in our nursery once again. A few years ago Thom Rainer wrote an insightful book called “Autopsy of a Dying Church.” He listed 12 things that he found common to most dying churches: 1. They lived for a long time with the past accomplishments as their hero. (Luke 9:62) 2. They were not hanging on to Biblical truths, morality, or fighting for primary doctrines. (Jude 3) 3. They focused on their own needs instead of the needs of others. (Phil. 2:4) 4. They refused to look like their communities, and were unwilling to trust newcomers with leader ship in the church. (Luke 10:29-37) 5. They became a fortress. Outsider people did not feel welcome in the church. 6. They stopped reaching out to their community. (Matthew 25:43) 7. Their budgets moved inwardly to preserving the buildings & staff rather than missions. (Matthew 6:19-21) 8. They stopped inviting unchurched friends and relatives to be a part of a life changing and life giving church. (Romans 10:14) 9. They forgot their main purpose— the Great Commission – and forgot how to make disciples. (Matthew 28:19-20) 10. They no longer took the power of prayer seriously. (James 5:16) 11. They had no clear purpose. (Proverbs 29:18) 12. They were unwilling to put in the effort - “to losing their lives” - for the sake of the Gospel. (Matthew 16:25) I know this has not started out as an encouraging article, but I do hope these words will open our eyes to want to be a living Church – a body of believers that Christ can use to build His kingdom in this world. So what is the solution? Well we can pray for forgiveness and ask the Lord Jesus to help us reverse items 1-12 to be a congregation that is devoted to following Christ. We can pray for the Holy Spirit to pour out the same power in us that happened in the early church. Acts 2:42-47 gives us a picture of what the anatomy of what a living church looks like: 42 “ They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer . 43 Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles. 44 All the believers were together and had everything in common . 45 They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need . 46 Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, 47 praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.” God is turning things around here at Mt. Carmel. Our doors are opened almost everyday of the week to the community. God is blessing us with children, youth, and young adults once again. Will you join me in being a fully devoted follower of Jesus Christ here at Mt. Carmel? If so, the first step is to pray for Jesus to renew your passion to serve Him. We are already praying Ephesians 3:20 at 3:20pm. Why not pray at 2:42pm to become an Acts 2:42 Church? The second step is to make a decision to be a present and vital part of the church. Right now we have a small number of members holding up the ministries of the church until God calls someone like you to step up and help. That person could be you! Our leadership nominations team will be meeting this month. Pray that the Holy Spirit will reveal what ministry area you would like to serve and then let me know. The third step is to faithfully support the ministries of this church as you are able with your tithes and offerings. God blesses what we give and also blesses us when we give joyfully. Look in this newsletter for the wonderful opportunities you can serve and support life changing ministries that are happening here. I hope AND pray I see you in church this Sunday!  Depending on Christ , Pastor Mary