Making a Good Transition
Hope in a No-Growth Town
Charles Yarborough
Growth in this little church seemed impossible. The First Christian Church in Albany, Kentucky, was started by sixteen people in 1834. Descendants from two of the original families are still members. The original church building was destroyed by fire on March 20, 1926. The congregation, broke and in despair, made their own bricks, built a new church, and moved in it November 6, 1927. Today that same building is in use.
The church suffered a split in the late 1950s. By the late 1980s, attendance had dropped to an average of twenty. The Sunday school was in the low teens. The youth program had two members (a 12-year-old girl and a 5-week-old boy). Most members were retired.
This small church is located in a non-growth town. Albany (pop.: 2,500) is in south central Kentucky. While the scenery is breathtakingly beautiful, there is little industry in the county, and unemployment runs high. The nearest medium-size city is fifty-five miles away. Almost all our young people leave town ...
Church AttendanceChurch GrowthRural MinistrySmall Church
From Issue:Summer 1996: Friendship & AccountabilityJuly 1, 1996
Leadership|Outreach
Rethinking the Sunday Night Service
Len Kageler Long Hill Chapel Chatham, New Jersey
The Cosmos Is More Crowded Than You Think
How an old prayer and a newborn baby changed my perspective on angels.
Tish Harrison Warren
This article is from the Summer 1996 print issue of Leadership Journal. Subscribe to continue reading.