Looking for the Elevator

      This past Saturday our elders informed the congregation that Brainerd Church of Christ will shortly be out of funds. The Saturday previous, they let my husband, Bruce, know that we will not be paid after December. Utility bills and upkeep on the building, plus the demise, relocation or defection of our members has done us in.
     This congregation has been in existence for over eighty-five years. Martha Eichelberger and Fran McPherson, nearly-ninety-year-old ladies who work with the inner-city bus ministry, are first generation descendents of founding members. The current building was built in pieces beginning in 1947(?) with the current auditorium added in 1963.
     There is much irony in our situation.
     First of all, due to recent hail damage, we are getting a new $100,000 roof, paid for by insurance. (Our main roof is three stories above ground and three stories high with, I would guess, a 70 degree pitch. I think the roofers are Nepalise Sherpas.)
     Secondly, our Hispanic congregation continues to grow. Although strong in number and faith, there is no way they could support our white elephant any more than we can.
Thirdly, this church has established a number of congregations, e.g. East Brainerd Church of Christ, which are thriving.
      And fourthly, we are a very generous congregation that has seen to the financial needs of members and nonmembers alike. We have been supporters of domestic and foreign missions and currently provide worship space for one of the largest Hispanic congregations in the area.
      But, over the years, our current elders (all loving, caring, giving men) have failed to make other, necessary decisions or to communicate with or listen to the members of the congregation. They have tried, but their efforts have been sporadic and ineffectual. They tried for several years to invite predominantly black congregations who were considering building to join us, instead. The problem being that, by the elders’ choice, our worship services are about as active as a thirty-year-old collie. (This particular collie is friendly, loving and full of faith, just sedentary.)
      As secretary, I was privy to the issues that were never brought before the congregation or addressed by the elders. I finally had to resign to keep from driving my poor husband nuts. (You may not know that, as Churches of Christ interpret scripture, the preacher is not, unless appointed to be so, an elder or pastor. In many cases decisions and leadership are ipso facto left to the preacher, but Bruce has always deferred to the elders.)
      I have made pleas for decisions to be made, especially about our worship. Other people have tried over the years only to be told that “someone may object.” We have never had a praise team or a solo singer. We do not vary our communion service and rarely rearrange our order of worship. Drama in worship is very rare, always disguised as something else, and only performed by men. My last effort to jazz things up was a heart-felt, scripture-laden supplication ( I will post this tomorrow.) for the elders to incorporate women in any worship capacity. That, I believe, would have attracted a number of Christian families whose female members have felt excluded and marginalized. It would at least have put Brainerd Church of Christ on the radar.
      Meanwhile, I have been in touch with a solar panel company that tells me that a third party donor with $200,000 could put an array on our roof that would cover our utility bills, pay for itself in a few years, and generate income and tax incentives for the donor. This would need to be initiated by the end of October to get in on current tax law. Know anybody? And, if we could get someone to replace our now missing steeple with a look-alike cell tower, it would bring the church about $5000/ month. Again, know anybody?
Please pray for Bruce and me as we make this abrupt transition sans golden parachute. What color is God’s parachute? I would prefer an elevator.