I hope and pray that all are well. I am writing on the
subject dealing with the title's question because of a news article I just read
about a church that closed down yesterday. The church was supposed to have closed 12 years ago. The parishioners fought to keep it open; however, they
lost the long fought battle to do so. Why did the church close? The
following excerpt from the article provides a good idea as to why it happened.
"...the parishioners tapped
into a deep well of mistrust after the archdiocese, rocked by a sexual abuse
scandal, moved to close dozens of parishes in 2004 — citing a decline in
priests and congregants (nytimes.com)."
The full article is at the link below.
After 12 Years of Defiance, a Massachusetts Congregation Goes in Peace - The New York Times
Well, now we know more about the reasons why the church
closed; however, that fact does not answer the question asked in the title: should
a church close down? In Mathew 28:19, Jesus said:"Go therefore and make
disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the
Son and of the Holy Spirit (RSV Bible)...." The foregoing is known as The
Great Commission. In the early days of the church, Saint Paul planted many
churches, and spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ based on those very
instructions by Jesus. And, this is well documented in Paul's Epistle writings, as
well as in the Book of the Acts of the Apostles. I recently I heard someone say
that it is called The Book of Acts instead of the Book of Thoughts because the
apostles, Saint Paul included, were doing something (spreading the Gospel).
They were not just sitting around thinking. Saint Paul, also said more than
once in his writings, “be imitators of me.” Why were they doing something?
Basically, because of their faith in Jesus Christ, and faith is not just
simply believing in something, it apparently requires action. James 2:20 basically
covers this idea by saying that “faith without works is dead.” I think we
should be able to get the idea based on these previous verses. A church is
supposed to be doing what Jesus instructed in The Great Commission or it
perhaps should close down. To close and also try to be brief, it appears to me that
the church in the article was still doing what a church is supposed
to do. I would love to hear your thoughts on this. Blessings!
References:
RSV Bible