I read a heartbreaking column in the Deseret News on Friday. It was by a pastor named Ryan Burge. It was titled, “My church is closing, and I don’t know what comes next — for me, or America.” In the column, Burge tells how his congregation, First Baptist Church of Mount Vernon, Illinois, recently shuttered its doors for good. At one point, Burge questions whether he was ever fit to lead a church. That speaks highly of him since no pastor should ever look himself in the mirror and say, “Well done, good and faithful servant.” He also struggles with the fact that while his profile as a Christian academic grew, his congregation continued to age out and shrink.
While my online platform was rising and I was being offered a variety of opportunities to speak and write, things were continuing to decline at my little church. I would come from home from…
