How To Close A Church: 7 Steps To A Grace-Filled & Thoughtful Closing
No one instinctively knows how to close a church. There aren’t great Christian authors, speakers, and influencers talking about how to close a church building, to shut the doors for the very last time. While there are plenty of books, articles, podcasts, videos, and church management software tools geared toward starting new churches... the list of resources on closing a church is thin.
In my early twenties, I was a pastoral intern for one summer. I quickly realized that the church was in rough shape. Sure enough, several months after my internship concluded, the board of directors voted to close the church. (If you're wondering, I'm 95% sure the timing of those two things are unrelated.)
In this article, we'll explore the practical requirements of closing a church, focusing on managerial and legal processes. in the difficult arena of closing a church. I'll identify the managerial and legal processes for closing a church and gather insights from real experiences on how to close a church.
What Does It Mean To Close A Church?
Before diving in and discussing some of the logistics of closing a church, we have to define what we mean by “closing.” There are two main ways to define closing a church:
- Disbanding: closing the church as a legal entity as well as ceasing to function as a ministry within a denomination or other governing authority. This is the most common choice made by church leaders when considering how to close a church.
- Disorganize: to close a church as a legal entity while still maintaining a presence as a ministry within a larger denomination or other organization. This typically happens when a church is closing and merging with another church or is becoming more of a bible study, small group, or house church.
Depending on which you choose, some of the steps in this article may not apply to your situation. However, closing a local church will always include dissolving the church as a legal entity.
Something else to consider when defining how to close a church, depending on denominations or church networks, is that there may be bylaws and procedures in place already.
Make sure you discuss with your church leadership if you are in one of those larger organizations before closing your church.
Why Might You Have To Close Your Church?
There are a few main driving factors that, over time, create circumstances where church closure should be considered:
When the church operates for too long without a mission...
Church leaders in this phase spin their wheels, trying solution after solution to keep the organization afloat. In this situation, the Great Commission is no longer being followed. If this happens for too long, the church can suffer from enormous damage.
When members are apathetic about those 'outside'...
If a church is apathetic toward those outside its four walls, there is a systemic culture problem. Such an inward-focused perspective is incredibly difficult to correct. Unless the leadership has an appetite to fight many battles to fix the problem, closure may be the simplest option.
When the church refuses to adapt...
Churches that can’t grow, adapt, and evolve will eventually need to close their doors. As dying churches cling to outdated outreach programs and ignore how the Holy Spirit can work in new ways, closure becomes nearly inevitable. In these situations, church leaders must be courageous, embracing faith over the fear of failure.
When the church uses resources poorly...
Sometimes, resources and people are mismanaged, whether maliciously or accidentally. When church leadership abuses or misuses church resources (such as church finances) or individuals, then sometimes the only thing left to do is close your doors and start fresh.
What Is The Process For Closing A Church?
The process for closing a church is going to look slightly different for each congregation, but there will be important milestones every church will need to address along the way. This section will break down a general process for how to close a church with some quotes from those who have walked through the process thrown in.
An important note: due to the sensitive nature of the reasons for some church closings and not wanting to affect the new congregations these pastors and church leaders are serving, quotes in this section will remain anonymous.
1. Carefully consider the timing.
Communicate the decision to close your church early on in the process. The longer you wait to break the news, the worse it will be if that information leaks before any official announcements.”
pastor from columbus, ohio
While you want to make sure you have all of your ducks in a row before you announce the official closure of your church, consider announcing the decision to close the church as soon as possible. You may not have all the answers yet, but letting it sit will lead to information leaking out before you want it to.
Be careful with your timing. However you choose to break the news of your church closure to your congregation, ensure that it doesn’t minimize the rest of the worship service. Making the announcement at the top of the liturgy can be difficult for the congregation to continue to worship, but intermingling the announcement with the rest of the service can be equally disruptive.
2. Expect to mourn the closing of your church.
Most evangelical seminaries do not prepare you for how to close a church. Your congregation aren’t just subscribers to your business, your emails, and your YouTube channels. They are people who are part of a family, and may need to be mourned like family.
Depending on the length of time before your church shuts down permanently, you may have weeks, months, or years to mourn. So take all the time you need and let yourself, your church leaders, and your congregation mourn appropriately with the time they have left.
No one tells you that mourning a church feels like mourning a family member. The grieving process over our closed church rivalled the grief I experienced when a close friend passed away.
pastor of a nazarene church
3. Evaluate your church assets.
After you have made sure to mourn appropriately, it’s time to start figuring out what is going to happen to things like the building, the chairs/pews, the discipleship groups, the worship equipment, and on and on. Once you are able to set aside your emotions, you have to start thinking of the closing of a church as a business transaction.
This is where many church leaders know the hard work has to begin, but this is also where many get lost in the process. While evaluating and assessing all of the church’s remaining assets is important, it can’t stop there.
The hardest part of closing was figuring out what to do with 50+ years of the accumulated things - and the memories that go along with them.
pastor from Newport, michigan
4. Organize and review your legal documents.
Look thoroughly for any documents for any dissolution clauses for guidance or proper steps in the process of closing your church. Look at your state articles of incorporation as well as anything that might be relevant from your state’s Attorney General. While most church leaders are going to be unfamiliar with these, a lawyer will know exactly where to point you next.
During the process of closing, a church might not have the funds to hire a lawyer. There are many lawyers who will often work a number of pro bono hours, especially working with tax-exempt nonprofits. So don’t be afraid to share your situation and see if you can find someone to help walk you through this process.
Consult a lawyer as soon as you have made the decision. There are hundreds of questions that will pop up and having a lawyer will help you smooth out what can be a pretty painful process.
Pastor in California
5. Use a tax/IRS professional to close our your funds and accounts
Churches have a tendency to take on lots of funds and accounts for different ministries or organizations. Sitting down with a tax or IRS professional to sift through all the necessary documents will go a long way to smoothing this process out.
Something else to pay close attention to is exactly who has the authority to sign off and close or re-distribute accounts and funds. In my own personal experience, we had leaders who no longer lived in the country who were the only individuals able to make adjustments to a seldom-used account. Take extra care to close any and all associated accounts.
Not every church leader or lead pastor is great at church administration. If your church is closing down, chances are high something, somewhere has been overlooked. Get someone who is able to look carefully through all of the transactions and accounts over the course of your organization’s existence.
Pastor in Prairieville, Louisiana
6. Carefully plan to sell the church property.
You can sell furniture and equipment but still not be prepared for the moment when you realize that the church property still has to be sold. Selling to another non-profit organization or church is ideal, but sometimes that isn’t necessarily feasible either. If your church has debts it simply has to pay, you may have to sell to someone who can help you pay or absorb those debts.
One of the most painful moments was trying to figure out what to do with the church building we owned. There so much life and ministry had happened over several decades. Heart wrenching.
pastor in MontPelier, Vermont
The most important thing you can do is lean on prayer and scripture among your church leaders here. Selling or donating the church property is an important decision that will require a consensus, legal consultation, and sitting down with realtors. Drench it with prayerful consideration.
7. Find a church that will accept any remaining members.
When church leadership doesn’t leave well, there are a lot of people left wondering where to go next. In the worst cases, they turn their back on the church altogether.
It’s better to leave well and find places where you feel comfortable sending your remaining flock than it is to let them fend for themselves. Work with other churches and nonprofits to find safe places for your congregation to attend and serve next.
pastor in columbus, ohio
Working closely with other churches throughout the closure process will ensure that there are good connections and good places for people to continue to worship and grow and be discipled.
What Legal Requirements Are There For Closing A Church?
The legal requirements for disbanding or disorganizing a church will vary from region to region. The tips below are general legal requirements that apply to various areas.
Remember: consult with a lawyer before making any major decisions about dissolving your incorporated church.
- When you finally close the church as a business, you will also need to find a way to resolve all debts as a business.
- When closing accounts, pay close attention to who exactly has the authority to sign off and close accounts and funds (you may find that someone has to sign who is no longer involved in the ministry, in the country, or even alive).
- During the closing process, a church might not have the funds to hire a lawyer, but many lawyers will often work pro bono hours, especially with tax-exempt nonprofits.
- No one is allowed to “profit” from a non-profit's dissolution, so plan your financial closings accordingly.
- Generally, the board of directions must issue a written resolution to close a church.
- The church isn’t considered “dissolved” until your articles of dissolution have been filed with the appropriate authorities.
A Final Promise:
Scripture (while having lots of verses about giving, worship, prayer, relationships, etc.) doesn't say much about closing a church. You ever wonder why?
Because God sees church differently than we often do. We see the beginning and end of a legal entity. We see the start and close of a church... but Jesus said,
"I will build MY church, and the gates of hell will not prevail against it."
The church as the Body of Christ will never fade away; it will never be defeated! Does that mean that our local expression of the body of Christ, our legal organizations, will never close? Sadly, no. BUT:
It IS comforting to know that the ultimate responsibility for the growth of the Kingdom of God, His Church, rests on Jesus.
And in that, we have great Hope.
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