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 To the mid sized and little churches. |
MoonWalkingWithJesus |
| There is an unspoken victim in the cog that no one brings to light. It is the mistreated pastors of midsize and small churches. It is the ones who pay reports and follows the rules. It is the one who lives their ministry lives with integrity while working 2 sometimes 3 jobs and selling countless things to keep the churches they run afloat. It is the countless people who sacrificed to keep things together for the sake of the cross. these groups of minsters and churches are the most victimized in the cog by the present system . When parents grand parents and great grand parents sacrificed for a church to keep the vision alive. There are stories from others at the receiving end of threatening phone calls and other things that have happened. The biggest eye openings where the what Is called “too big to fail churches.†The ones that are legacy churches that were large but now hanging on with about 100-200 with the bills of a thousand member church. These churches are supported by the denomination and have not contributed in years, possibly decades. They have large staffs and certain privileges because the church would be black eye if it were allowed shut down or operate at a diminished level. One may say, if the denomination focused on the movement of God instead of keeping the monuments of the past open, the present state of the denomination may be different. |
Friendly Face
Posts: 141
5/25/18 4:39 pm
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philunderwood |
Odd that I just read this quote three minutes ago...
"We cannot be afraid to question structures and methods that once caused us to thrive and succeed. Church is a movement not a monument." -Alan Hirsch
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Golf Cart Mafia Underboss
Posts: 3954
5/26/18 10:40 am
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MoonWalkingWithJesus |
| I was talking about this with another person and they brought up the point about the organization owning the property. The cog can’t abandon some places there are to much liability. My question is, how much on the hook is the church of God if a church is forclosed on ? Should we rethink land ownership? I have seen states have properties forclosed on. Also I know that they states that did have forclosures we’re not in the best financial situations . I have seen well off states avoid the foreclosure question att all cost. What is the right answer? |
Friendly Face
Posts: 141
5/26/18 2:32 pm
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Dean Steenburgh |
If a congregation is strong enough & has been in a mature status for a good length of time with at least 75 active adult members I believe the CoG should offer to release the deed.
I know of churches right now where the deed is not in the hands of HQ.
Keeping the deed & not giving the local congregation autonomy is in my opinion backwards thinking & archaic.
The other opinion I would share is in order for the CoG to have a chance to become relevant it would have to become single focused on church planting across all of America as it did 50-100 years ago in the S/E.
I do believe someone reported recently that we're gradually aging out & eventually will not be able to maintain the current admin model we now have in just a few more short years.
Honestly to expect any formidable change is at best insane (as in doing the same thing over & over & expecting diff results).
Keeping the proverbial "head in the sand" will not help matters either.
Dr. Conrad Lowe had us thinking the right way but I think I heard some asking questions related to fearful subjects that caused Dr. Lowe's contract to be cancelled.
The CoG growth/maintenance model is not built on establishing autonomy at the local level.
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Golf Cart Mafia Capo Famiglia
Posts: 4682
5/26/18 6:49 pm
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Chicago27 |
| One way a church deed is not held by headquarters is when a group of members buy a building and lease it to the church. Done. |
Friendly Face
Posts: 253
5/26/18 6:57 pm
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MoonWalkingWithJesus |
But how do we address the fact the some churches can’t support themselves.
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Friendly Face
Posts: 141
6/3/18 3:08 pm
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Redneck |
The answer to this is multifaceted and not an easy one.
First and foremost this is a leadership issue. Not a problem, but an issue in which leadership would be required to lead and make some difficult decisions.
The organization, as a whole, is entirely too political and top heavy. The system, much like our government, is set up for the hierarchy, and the leaders are in a constant state of positioning in order to stay with in their respective roles. Perpetual re-elction. I know we need people to lead, and you need a pool of leaders to pull from, but why does the General AB, need a 1rst, 2nd, and 3rd? Why do we need a Secretary General. How much money in salary is that? In my opinion, there is probably a ton of fat that could be trimmed from within the COG executive offices.
Secondly, it is easier to start a new church as opposed to change one from the inside out. People do not like change, I get that. But so much of the COG is made up of bi-vocational pastors at small churches, we need to reorganize.
The COG already owns all of these properties. As churches dwindle and pastors leave, buildings need to be sold and money needs to be re-distributed into the district. For too long, we have allowed churches to open up with out any real strategy or plan on how to minister and grow. Support churches so that they have the potential to be successful. Much like a company re-organizes it's corporate structure in order to streamline, the COG needs to do the same. Have a plan so that churches can be supported in such a way as to grow. ARC ministries does this and have been very successful at it for years.
We are doing the same thing we have always done, and getting the same results we have always got. The COG is predominantly in the bible belt, look throughout the south east. You have a hand full of churches in each state that are considered "big" churches. This should not be the case. In recent years, some of the larger churches within the COG have pulled out and gone independent. This should be a huge red flag to our denomination. I think our leadership turns a blind eye because they are still getting paid and there are enough minion churches to keep the men of power in their position.
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That haircut of yorn may be citified, but your heart was shaped in a bowl.....................Briscoe Darling |
Acts-celerater
Posts: 664
6/3/18 3:49 pm
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| Grey out |
MoonWalkingWithJesus |
| The cog is Greying/aging out in 10 years the structures are going to crash. We just need to make the jump to less centralized rule. If it stands it stands |
Friendly Face
Posts: 141
6/4/18 1:45 pm
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