The Mission Church in Townsend, DE will dissolve next year.  Lots of factors led to this fate: pastoral mistakes, cultural headwinds, and more.  I will discuss these soon, but not yet.  It is more important we love people well.

  • God is Love.
  • Love of God and Neighbor (friend & foe) fulfills the Law.

We, Elders and Members, have been wrestling with this from the beginning.

The Mission churched was born out of BFC Newark, DE in June 2012.  Fourteen people (9 adults, 5 kids) began worshipping in an old storefront outside Townsend, DE.  We called it our tabernacle because it was one, open space we divided with painters’ tarps hung from the ceiling.

  • We sang music from recorded tracks.
  • When a baby was crying, everyone knew it.
  • Our Offering Box was a shoebox wrapped with Christmas paper.
  • If you wanted a cup of coffee or a bottle of water, you did not have to leave the “sanctuary” to get it. It was along the wall to your left.

My favorite part was gathering as a Core Team before church on Sunday to discuss and pray about what we might do next.  Someone would be assigned to pray with their eyes open and interrupt us as soon as a visitor pulled in the parking lot.  It was a fun and exciting time.

My least favorite part was setting mouse traps on Saturday then arriving early Sunday to clean up.

We grew steadily for the next seven years, then came a plateau.  We lost momentum.  I will say more another time, but for now it is enough to know two things:

  1. We did not disciple families well. We consistently lost families with teenage kids.
  2. We tried to act bigger than our people and resources could sustain.

Fast forward to 2023 and our plateau had become a marked decline.

We made the difficult decision after Easter 2023 to move out of our rented space and into church member homes.  We’d become a house church or home fellowship group.  This would address being spread too thin but would not necessarily disciple families.  Since we were not starting a Youth Group in the foreseeable future, our house gatherings would be on Friday nights, not Sunday mornings.

We did this for the benefit of these families.  We wanted to love them well even if that meant getting their kids involved in another Youth Group. 

We have now met for a year with a committed group of people.  We meet for Bible Study, prayer and fellowship.  Together we celebrate Communion and serve in the community.  We are doing the things churches do, except everyone missed the Sunday gathering.  All who faithfully come on Friday also attend another church in Sunday.  This was important confirmation The Mission Church would not seek a return to Sunday services.

The right thing to do was encourage everyone to build a closer connection with another church even if that meant The Mission Church had run its course. 

I do not think we (me) have always loved people well for the last 12 years, but I do think we (Elders) have for the last 12 months.  We have followed Jesus’ command, “So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.”

I admit I am sad, but I am also optimistic.  There is much to learn and much to celebrate.  Praise the name of Jesus.