From 1928, the Highland Church of Christ in Memphis, TN grew from a suburban church plant of 24 to a large urban congregation with four Sunday AM services, two Sunday Schools, five church plants, and all-time high records in 2001 in Sunday School (1419), Sunday AM worship (1855), and membership (1806). With the building capacity maxed out and the property landlocked, in 2001 leaders privately investigated an alternate property for the purpose of relocation. By 2003, the relocation discussion went public and the congregation voted to move. Nine years after the initial investigations, the Highland Church of Christ re-launched in a new facility on forty acres in a suburban location.
Almost everything that could go wrong during a church relocation did go wrong with ours. Yet, many things also went right. In this series of posts, I’ll explore that which went wrong–the things we regret about our relocation journey. In the next series, I’ll explore what went right–the things we rejoice in about our relocation journey.
#3 – It revealed our quickness to complain.
The difficulty of the journey revealed the selfish side of us which was quick to complain when things didn’t go our way. Complaining within the congregation spiked three times: upon publicly announcing the decision to relocate, during our transition from our permanent building to temporary facilities, and during the transition into the new facility. We were like the Israelites in the desert groaning that we should have stayed in Egypt. Even when we proposed changing our schedule by 30 minutes to better accommodate guests, complaints poured in. It’s just like when my family has moved from one house to another–we get cranky and snap at each other even where there’s no real reason.
#4 – It revealed our pride.
Some of us had taken pride in Highland being the largest, fastest growing, most contemporary, and most city-minded Church of Christ in Memphis. Within months of announcing our relocation, however, we were no longer the largest, but became the fastest declining Church of Christ in the area. We were accused by other churches of abandoning the city. And other Churches of Christ began to surpass us in innovation.
#5 – It wore down some of our most reliable leaders.
After an initial wave left because they did not wish to relocate, we had a large, strong, and enthusiastic core ready to relocate. But even some of them could not endure nine years of transition. Over the years, some of our most talented, spiritual, and supportive volunteers and leaders slipped away. The length and instability of the journey was just too much.
#6 – It highlighted weaknesses in our ability to communicate vision.
There was never a time when communicating vision was more important. It was critical to give the congregation a clear and compelling picture of the future to which we believe God was calling us. We learned, however, that we lacked some needed skills in doing just that. And we learned that what we thought was enough communication was not enough. Vision was something that had to be communicated at every single opportunity–from hallway conversations, to sermons, to announcements, to answering emails and phone calls.
#7 – We realized that some of us had misplaced our faith.
Especially from 1986 through 2001, Highland had grown so quickly and consistently that some of us were tempted to believe that we could now, using our knowledge and resources, navigate this transition. We had gained a false sense of security in our abilities and wisdom. We believed we were above average leaders, superior communicators, and servants who excelled in decisions that led to church growth. A few months in our our relocation journey, however, we were slapped in the face with reality. The faith we had placed in ourselves was misplaced. There were situations and circumstances that baffled us and we didn’t know what to do.
#8 – The presence of the Evil One.
Few of us had ever experienced the arrogant and explicit attack of Satan on a congregation like we did during this journey. Just as there were clear “God moments” when God did something only God could do, there were also clear “Satan moments” when Satan did something only Satan could do. He used every opportunity to discourage, divide, and distract.
#9 – Our mishandling of conflict.
For decades, Highland had been relatively conflict-free. We took great comfort in the reality that Highland had never experienced a split. Because of this, most of us were novices in conflict resolution. Suddenly members and leaders were thrust into the most conflict we had ever experienced. The situations called for expertise and wisdom we simply did not have. At times, our attempt to fix the conflict just inflamed it. At times we resorted to finger-pointing and blaming.
#10 – Not doing enough to facilitate connection.
There were some who slipped away from Highland during the journey primarily because they did not have enough relational connection to the body. Their tie to a small group, a Sunday School class, a ministry, or to a leader was not strong enough to sustain the turbulence. We wished we had done more to ensure that every person at Highland was tightly connected prior to the journey, and that these connections were better nurtured during the journey.
#11 – Our lack of prayerfulness.
We had come to think of ourselves as prayerful people and of our congregation as a prayerful congregation. But in reality, the “success” of our past had cultivated a sense of self-sufficiency when it came to ministry and growth in the kingdom. For a long season of the congregation’s life, things were going so well, there just wasn’t a lot to petition God for. But once the road got rocky, we had to re-learn what it means to fall on our face and hit our knees and beg God for intervention.
—-to be continued (that’s the end of the bad and ugly; next–the good (and there’s a lot of it!))
