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Lean Church Model Stands Up to the Recession
ORANGE COUNTY, Calif., May 12 /Christian Newswire/ -- Churches around the country are cutting staff, eliminating programs and halting building projects to address a decrease in overall giving to churches. But, one church is challenging other churches to do more than just 'trim the fat.'
In the final quarter of 2008, Barna Research Group estimates churches received between $3 billion and $5 billion less than in previous years, which led the group's founder, George Barna, to call this "a time for church leaders to demonstrate restraint and wisdom in their financial decisions."
Ken Eastburn, pastor of The Well, takes that one step further. "As devastating as it can be to lose staff and cut programs, this is a time for churches to get back to their primary purpose -- making disciples. Many churches have gotten so bloated with buildings, staff and programs that they have lost sight of that."
Eastburn speaks from experience. When he first became pastor of the church now called The Well, it was a traditional church with a budget almost entirely consumed by rent and salaries. But, then the church body decided to do something radical -- leave its building and become a community of house churches.
"We don't meet in houses because we can't afford a building," asserts Eastburn. "We meet in houses because we are committed to limiting overhead and maximizing our impact on the Kingdom."
Even if other churches aren't ready to move to houses, Eastburn challenges them to find new ways to operate lean. "I'd like to challenge churches not to view this as a temporary belt tightening until the economy turns around, but rather as permanent diet -- an intentional return to the basics of making disciples."
The Well is serious about its message and encourages churches and individual Christians on its blog, www.leavethebuildingblog.com, not only to "trim the fat" in economic downtimes, but also to consider how to permanently lower overhead to maximize their impact on the Kingdom.
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