ORLANDO — The question about what to do with small or dying churches is a difficult one, especially when closing a church is a very real possibility. In dealing with that issue the conference’s Orlando District has taken a proactive approach by hiring Linda Mobley, minister of discipleship to churches in transition, to tackle the challenge of helping dying churches revitalize their ministries and find new life.

Mobley has been in Orlando since last January working with 13 churches, several of which have been considered for closure. One has been struggling for several decades and now has only 37 members. The “United Methodist Book of Discipline” says churches should…study the possibility of redevelopment, merger or closing when membership declines to 50.

Mobley disagrees with the stance that smaller churches ought to or deserve to be discontinued. “As long as we have unchurched people out there, we don’t have enough churches,” she said.

Many of the 13 churches have been in decline since the 1960s, but have only begun to feel the effects in the past decade. When church members realize the situation they’re in, Mobley says they often decide the obvious end is the death of the congregation, so they put their money, energy and resources into merely surviving, placing the congregation under tremendous emotional strain. “When they’ve been in survival mode for a long time it’s like a slow burning panic,” she said.

Mobley says it’s imperative for a church to stop focusing on itself and look at the community. She encourages churches to spend some of their money on ministry and share their facilities with community projects or other ministries.

“It takes a lot to let go of the struggle and let God take over,” she said. “And it takes a lot to let go of the things that are holding them back.”

Grant Chapel United Methodist Church in Winter Park is letting go. It’s located on the line “between white and black…rich and poor…commercial and residential,” according to Mobley.

Families that have lived in the neighborhood for generations are being bought out by developers. The church itself is in the center of a controversy over whether to hold on or sell its property. Mobley said many people are looking at the small, one-room church building that sits on about one-half acre of land and asking, “How can they worship there?”

But the congregation decided to make a financial sacrifice and hired an outreach worker who grew up in the area to go door-to-door offering people help in accessing services already available in the community. The church also started a community food pantry, and many members, now in their 80s, are volunteering to pack and distribute the food.

Mobley says other churches are reaching out, as well. Six of the Orlando-area churches are cooperating to establish after-school tutoring programs for their communities. Together they are hiring a single director who will oversee the program, and each church is hiring a part-time site director to manage daily operations at its location.

Located in a historic district that is experiencing renewal, Broadway United Methodist Church is working with the local neighborhood association and nearby schools to create a meditation garden on its property that will give joggers and passersby a scenic place to rest.

From helping churches heal from past hurts to assisting them in the process of defining their vision and identity, Mobley says she has one purpose: “My ministry is to give hope.”

(This ministry is supported through Advance Special #899 of the Orlando District office.)