Diagnosing Church Enshrinement Syndrome

by Mark Tidsworth, Founder and Team Leader

Though I described Church Enshrinement Syndrome with this article first published in August of 2022, we've seen progress in treatment right alongside entrenchment of this virus. We are sharing this article again in hopes that more early diagnosis will help eradicate CES. As usual, we love hearing from you with insights and responses to our articles. 

Enshrine = To preserve or cherish as sacred. --Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary

Now it’s coming together. I’m finally recognizing what’s happening in the churches of some coaching and consulting clients after listening to their stories. It’s like a virus has infected their churches, constraining spiritual energy and missional progress. Some aspect of their collective lives as churches has become enshrined, freezing into place that which shall not be changed. The leadership of these churches recognize something is afoot, that something is holding them back, but they haven’t yet diagnosed what’s blocking their ministries. I think it may have come down with Church Enshrinement Syndrome.

Typically, Church Enshrinement Syndrome (CES) afflicts churches who are on the downward side of their life cycle. We are forever in the debt of Martin F. Saarinen, along with the Alban Institute who published his work on The Life Cycle of a Congregation in 1986, for this developmental approach to understanding congregations. Like human beings, congregations typically move through “stages of life,” over time. Though four stages are growth oriented while the next four are oriented toward decline, there is the opportunity for renewal at every stage. Decline is not inevitable, unless congregations do not recognize their need for renewal, avoiding the spiritual work of renewal.

Saarinen’s description of this Congregational Life Cycle describes the context in which CES is likely to strike. Those churches who crest the Life Cycle, trending toward maturity, aristocracy, and bureaucracy while also consciously or unconsciously avoiding the work of renewal, will often turn toward enshrinement activity to help themselves feel better about their situation. By enshrining something or someone, they maintain a connection to more hopeful times, living off the fumes left by experiences long past. When CES takes hold, treatment first requires recognizing the problem (diagnosis). The following four enshrining activities are typical symptoms of CES, though a church need only have one to warrant a diagnosis. I’m hopeful that describing these symptoms will give us the eyes to see CES is present and active.

Enshrining the Ghosts of Pastors Past

Many churches associate that wonderful season of “success” in their history with the tenure of a particular pastor. They remember the magic in the air, when pastor and church were so synchronized and complementary, leading to growth in every metric. This in itself is not harmful, when churches are able to bring closure to that pastorate. Churches infected with CES though find ways to keep the ghost of that former pastor alive, haunting the ministries of each subsequent pastor. Constant comparisons and disappointment with the current situation often drive subsequent pastors to early departures. Who can live up to enshrined memories? Ultimately, this form of CES, though it is comforting in a dysfunctional way, constrains spiritual energy and missional progress.

Enshrining Rituals (Worship Style) and Structures

It’s funny, and not funny. As churches descend the downward side of the Life Cycle, they tend to latch onto anything that can increase security, a sense of stability. Their approach to worship is a ready place to look for this security.

Those of us who minister in many kinds of churches from various denominations recognize there are many approaches to worship. Sincere Christian people clearly can worship in many ways, experiencing the presence of God. But when CES infects a congregation they grow adamant, fundamentalist one might say, in their belief about what constitutes effective worship. Changing anything about order of service, or adjusting the bulletin in any way, or leaving out certain elements, results in nearly riotous behavior (I kid you not).

Church structure is akin to worship when CES is in play. Committees become power centers, influencing in outsized ways. Maintaining and observing the structure itself, the form of governance, becomes a keen focus of these churches. You may remember the old phrase, “when the tail wags the dog.” This is the classic case of the structure driving the church, rather than the mission driving the church.

Enshrining Church Buildings and Property

This happens slowly over time, but once it’s in place, all you-know-what breaks loose when the shrine is threatened. First, a Sunday School class settles into one room in the building, claiming it as their room. Second, that class is named, attaching a metal engraved name plate beside the door. Third, this named class places pictures on the walls which hold great sentimental value for them. Fourth, this class experiences losses, with some of its members dying while others move away, adding grief to the emotional mix. Fifth, this class drives a metaphorical stake in the ground, defying anyone to suggest it move or adjust in any way as church needs change. Thus, a room in one’s church building is firmly enshrined.

Of course enshrining buildings and property is not limited to Sunday School classes. Choir rooms, sanctuaries, youth rooms, CDCs… Wherever on church property this happens, CES constrains spiritual energy and missional progress.

Enshrining Long-Tenured Clergy and Staff Persons

Everybody knows you don’t criticize this person. This is the pastor or staff person who has served faithfully for years, doggedly showing up, putting in the work. Though often these persons are huge assets for churches, sometimes they remain beyond their effectiveness, regardless of their chronological age (can be young people).

More times than I would like to recall, I’m encountered personnel committees (whatever your denomination calls them), who are unwilling to accurately evaluate enshrined living clergy or staff persons, fearing the blow back. When new pastors come into these situations with enshrined staff persons, they quickly learn where the power lies in this church. Though that staff person is ineffective, the enshrinement allows that person to remain, drifting along. These pastors must either risk their own tenure by confronting this enshrinement in various ways or accept this as a limiting factor on the mission and ministry of this church.

These are only four ways CES takes shape in churches. Did I mention church parlors, libraries, or history rooms? Regardless, join me for the next article which moves from diagnosing CES to treatment. In the meantime, may we follow the Christ who calls the Church courageously forward into missional progress.

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1 Congregational life cycle assessment is based on the work of Martin F. Saarinen, Alice Mann and Gil Rendle who have all published material through the Alban Institute.