By Ken Howard, FaithX Founder and President

Questions Nobody’s Asking (But Should Be):
A Monthly Series

This week’s post begins an ongoing monthly series that we are calling “Questions Nobody’s Asking (But Should Be).” About once a month, we will raise a question that the congregations, judicatories, and faith-based nonprofits we work with often leave unasked (and thus unanswered) to their peril… and that we, in our work with them, must bring into their awareness.

This month: “Why should you exist?”

Why should we even exist?

Few faith communities ever pose this question to themselves quite this bluntly. Indeed, some never do.

Why?

In my experience working with congregations, judicatories, or faith-based nonprofit organizations, the reason they don’t ask is one or more of the following:

• They don’t want to know (fear of change).
• They would rather leave it unclear (fear of conflict, people leaving).
• They want the answer to be self-evident (fear of non-existence).

Frankly, I don’t know which is worse. They all boil down to fear, which, as we know, is antithetical to faith… and love, too, for that matter (1 John 4:18).

What I do know is that it is an important question to ask. Perhaps even the most important.

The writer of Proverbs 29:18 said it best:

“Without a vision, the people perish.”

So I often find myself laying before the leadership of faith communities the existential question, “Why do you exist? What is your raison d’être?”

There are many ways to ask (and answer) that question:

Straightforward: “If your congregation closed tomorrow, would your neighborhood notice?”

Sardonically: “If you would rather die than change, God will allow that.”

Humorously: “Are you a Zombie congregation?” (i.e., The Walking Dead? Eating up resources without making any contribution to the life of your community?)

Whatever it takes. However you ask the question, you must ask it.

And if the answer is “No,” face the issue head-on. God is already at work in your community. Ask yourselves what God is up to outside your building. Learn about your neighbors: Who are they? What are they like? What are their hopes and dreams? Ask yourselves about your congregation’s own strengths and weaknesses. How do they coincide with what you’ve learned about your neighbors? How do they coincide with your own and your congregation’s hopes and dreams? And what does this say about what God is calling you to be and to do? What is your Why of Whys?

FaithX can help you navigate this discernment process. In what we call a Missional Assessment, we bring our uniquely collaborative consulting process, vitality and sustainability assessment tools for congregations (CVA) and judicatories (JVA), and resources like our MissionMaps demographic platform and Neighborhood Insights Reports infographic tool.

So, are you leading a Zombie congregation? Take the quiz to find out!