Denominational Splintering and Church Vitality

by Mark Tidsworth, Founder and Team Leader

The first church I pastored (interim, first year of seminary), was born out of a split. I was invited to do pulpit supply one Sunday, noticing excessive tension all morning and during worship. Little did I know there was a business meeting scheduled for just after worship (I didn’t get to stay and observe), after which half the congregation walked out. Thus, this new congregation called me to be their first interim pastor… just like that.

I find myself laughing when I reflect on that experience, but I’m not laughing much these days as another major American denomination is actively splintering (UMC). They join a long line of denominations and congregationally-based networks who are breaking apart over a single issue (mostly), human sexuality.

Now, before offering anything more on this emotionally-charged topic, I want you to know that we at Pinnacle Leadership Associates in no way make recommendations to our clients about taking sides. We are not advocates one way or the other. Though we might offer help for navigating the waters when asked, we are not a denominationally-based organization. We have been ecumenically Christian from our beginning, advocating for the Christian Movement, rather than for specific social/moral issues.

With that out of the way, I’ll jump in, respectfully and with compassion, since these experiences can be so painful. There is a common illusion among people in churches who anticipate a denominational or church split – the belief that this single change will vitalize their church, driving up participation, membership, and finances.

There is enough truth embedded in this illusion to make it attractive. “Benefits or gains” reported from churches (if you can call them that), are:

-Greater unity with fewer dissenting voices around particular issues

-Simplified decision-making, since there’s less diversity of thought

-Picking up dissenters from other churches in your community who see the issue like your church – though often these people need to sit and rest a while, grieving the loss of their former churches and dear friends

-Immediate relief this big decision is done

But…..

The benefits are short-term. The energy bump is short-lived. The immediate numerical growth is not sustained. Large numbers of people typically don’t join churches because of a single issue, except in exceptional circumstances. The vast majority of those in our communities who are not into Christianity or church, are not that interested in our decisions.

How do we know this? We have walked alongside Baptists as they splintered in the 1980s, and several other times since. We have walked alongside Episcopal Diocese, Lutheran Synods, and Presbyteries who have all experienced splintering due to their struggle to define their views on human sexuality. We have not observed sustained growth or vitality in any of these – those on the progressive nor traditional sides of this issue. Both sides appear diminished in their denominational connections and capacities in each case (with individual church exceptions). Vitality did not magically appear, regardless of viewpoint. I did not gather statistics from each denomination for this article. Anyone can find those numbers on the national headquarters websites, or from the Pew Research Center or Barna Research. Yet, we recognize that every major denomination in this USA is shrinking. If one-issue splintering were to bring significant revival or renewal, it would have made the news by now.

Here's the bottom line….

All of the above, is preliminary to the following reality in North America: The Christian Movement, embodied in the traditional church paradigm within which most of us live and exist (95% of churches in this USA – contemporary worship is part of the traditional paradigm), is rapidly in decline. Making a decision about a single issue, though necessary, doesn’t create a new paradigm nor church vitality. The work of spiritual and organizational vitality is more substantive than that. This work remains, right on the other side of denominational splitting. It’s not going away with a magic bullet quick fix.

So regardless of what your denomination and particular church do, we as God’s Church, have deeper work to do in order to survive and/or thrive. We must prepare ourselves for adaptive transformation… progressive or traditional, it matters not. The call to adaptive transformation is a noisy gong and clanging cymbal reverberating throughout the American Church. Making a decision on human sexuality is likely necessary, and is a facet of transformation (no small thing). But on the other side, the same deeper, substantive challenges are waiting for us.

May we live into our callings as the body of Christ, alive in the adventure of Jesus.