For a good many years, we attended a UMC church, even though I am Baptist and never joined the Methodist church. My wife was raised a Methodist, and besides, it's not your denomination that will get you into Heaven. One woman tried to run the church, partly because that's how she was, and partly because her ancestors had donated the land on which the church was built.
For years, the church was on a circuit, sharing a pastor with another church. This is a Methodist thing, and has both it's good points and bad ones. Anyway, as church attendance kept dropping, the UMC officials suggested the 2 churches merge, but both churches rejected it. The church we attended was in very good financial shape, with a lot of money in the bank, and a very nice building and other property, while the other church was not in either good financial condition, nor had a nice building.
There was a lot of suspicion on the part of members that the UMC was trying do something in the hopes that one or both of the churches would close, and they could then get the money that would be there as a result. The 2 churches then voted to go their separate ways, and do their own thing. The church we were attending is still shrinking in attendance, while the other is growing. We left that church because of the turmoil and the way certain members were acting, and then after seeing the direction the UMC appears to be heading, we are attending the Southern Baptist church that I have been a member of all my life.
I feel somewhat sorry for the small churches, as they have a tough row to hoe. Church attendance is dropping, and the small ones are hit the hardest. The UMC has not helped matters any by the way they're acting, with what appears to be a split coming at some point in time. The smaller rural churches are the ones who are usually the most conservative, and are most likely the ones in the worst financial condition, and therefore, will probably be the hardest hit. Most of the time, people attend a particular church because they feel in tune with the way the other people in that church feel, both in a spiritual sense, and in a sense of community. I would think it would be very difficult to merge 2 churches into one, and to believe everything would go smoothly. But, it might be practical to do so, as far as keeping the doors of a local church open. I guess the hard part would be in deciding which one closed it's doors, and which one remained open.
I hope things work out well for your church Wabigoon.
