This strife can have many causes. Suburban churches wrestle with the pressures of rapid growth, or sometimes resist that growth. Rural churches face a similar influx of persons with different ideas and histories that threaten cherished notions of the church.
Congregational unrest can also reflect the changing internal dynamics of the congregation.
Other times it is the result of over-nostalgic members who are determined to resist any form of change, hoping instead to preserve things the way they once were. In the twelfth chapter of his letter to the Romans, St. Paul sets out some very simple rules for or marks of effective Christian communities. Instead, the Apostle holds up community that helps people to be enthusiastic for the ministry of their congregation. Above all, Paul says that a Christian congregation needs to be a community of hope, a bulwark against temptation and despair, and a place of prayer, of sharing, and of genuine hospitality. Friends, when we lose sight of these biblical principles, when they are not part of our objectives and goals, we are in trouble.