Church members often expect a silver bullet. I’ve learned over the years that church members can see a consultation to be like taking a car to be serviced and repaired. Once a few issues are handled, the car (or the church) is like new, and they can get back to business as usual. Church members are ready to accept change until the change affects them. When church members hear the caution that a consultant will likely recommend changes for the church, they often accept that they are fine with it. And they are fine with it until it affects them personally. 

I did my first church consultation in 1988. Since then, I have been involved in hundreds of consultations of different ilk and varying depth.
I am not the brightest person, but I can lead a church consultation with ease. I am glad, because we had more consultation requests in 2023 than I have ever seen in my experience in this ministry. The ease by which I consult is not due to my intellect, but to the fact that I have done so many. Patterns develop. Solutions become obvious. Objections can be anticipated.
When a church leader contacts us to discuss a consultation, that leader often asks us about our “success rate.” For most church leaders, they define success as a numerical turnaround. Others have a specific problem they want us to solve. For them, the consultation is a success if the problem goes away.
So, how do we answer the question? What is our success rate? If you define success like church leaders did in the previous paragraph, our consultation success rate is only about one-half.
In case you did not read closely, I want to say it again. We only succeed in our consultations in one out of two cases. That is 50%. That is abysmal.
But on the positive side, we’ve learned the one major factor that most often determines success in church consultations. Let’s look at that one key factor. You might be surprised.
The Main Factor
I love my primary physician. He is not only a great doctor, he’s a very good friend. Though I don’t frequent his office that much (I am thankful for good health), I do enjoy (most of) the visits. Recently, we got into a discussion about his “success rate.” He is considered one of the best diagnostic physicians in the business.
Though my doctor did not give me a quantitative success rate, he did tell me that it is lower than he wishes. Of course, I asked him why.
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Give your pastor a good and honest reason why you are doing so. Don’t leave in a huff of silence. Don’t give a reason that is not the true reason. Your pastor has been your shepherd. Your pastor likely has made sacrifices for you of which you are not aware. It would be cruel and unbiblical to walk out with no explanation or a bad explanation.

You’ve been with your church for a while now. Something is now urging you to leave the church. We will not get into evaluating your reasons. Let’s just say you have made the decision, or you are close to making that decision.
Let’s assume you are not moving to another location. You are leaving your church because you think you should make this exit.
While I do not want to judge you or argue with you, would you consider reading the rest of this article? Would you look at the following seven considerations before you make the decision final?
1. Make certain you have prayed about the decision. It is not a move to be taken lightly. Ask God to check your heart to see if the prompting is His or your own.
2. Ask yourself if you are making the decision because of personal preferences. Perhaps the sermon seemed too long. Maybe the music is not the perfect blend that you like. Still yet, maybe you have decided “you are not being fed” spiritually. That is a common reason given by exiting members. Please know, though, the next church you attend will not meet all of your preferences and desires either. Church membership in its truest biblical form is self-sacrificing and forgiving (see 1 Corinthians 12 and 13).
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The decision-making microstresses. Pastors must make countless decisions every week. One pastor told me his greatest challenge was “decision fatigue.” The decisions can range from making a small church expenditure to counseling a terminally ill patient on important decisions. Some seem insignificant. But they all add up quickly. The critical-comments microstresses. For most people, pastors included, criticisms sting. Many pastors are subject to a regular litany of criticisms. It wears on them, makes them question their own leadership, and can lead to depression.

December 15, 1967 was a major moment in American history.
I bet few of you know what happened on that day. I sure didn’t until I began studying the world of microstresses.
Let me explain.
On that fateful day in 1967, the Silver Bridge collapsed, and 46 people died. The bridge connected Point Pleasant, West Virginia to Gallipolis, Ohio over the Ohio River. The collapse was attributed to microstresses, small and almost imperceptible factors that cumulatively caused the catastrophe.
A small fracture formed in a part of the bridge that was one of many components that held the bridge deck in place. The fracture, too small by itself to cause damage, was the result of a design flaw. The flaw allowed salt and water to seep in the component. The salt and water led to corrosion and cracking. Because that one component was not working, the load shifted to similar parts of the bridge. The cumulative shifting led to overload on the working parts of the bridge. That overload led to the ultimate tragedy.
So, December 15, 1967, became a pivotal day where inspection of bridges became commonplace, and where quality standards of new bridges hit a higher and safer level.
One little stress ultimately led to a total collapse.
Pastors are not alone in having stressful jobs. I don’t want to imply that their work is more difficult than other jobs. But pastors are unique in the cumulative number of microstresses in their lives. And, left alone without care, these microstresses can lead to a total collapse.
Here are nine of the most common microstresses pastors experience by the very nature of their jobs and calling.
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We offer a self-diagnostic tool called Know Your Church.™ Church members answer 160 multiple choice questions that provide a self-perception of the church. Some leaders decide not to use it because they don’t really want to know the hard truths. Other leaders move forward with the tool but do nothing after they receive the results. But a few churches complete the survey and accept the results, both good and bad. They become determined in God’s power to make the necessary changes to become a Great Commission church. 

It’s a tale of two churches.
Our team at Church Answers just delivered each church the written consultation report from our research and analysis of the congregations. Both churches have some significant deficiencies. We had cautioned the leaders of both churches that it is very common for the members to reject the findings of the consultation with both anger and denial. Leaders at both churches assured us they would gladly receive the report regardless of the challenges it might present.
Church A did indeed receive the report positively. While they had to swallow hard at some of the analyses and recommendations, they were ready to move forward. They brought our team on as consultants so they could make positive changes where they are needed.
But many of the members of Church B reacted angrily to the report. They were in denial about many of our findings. The leaders were hesitant to move forward because of some intense opposition toward the gist of the report. “That’s not our church,” one member said with unusually intense anger. “Those consultants did not know what they were doing.”
Church A represents the responses of about 15 percent of our consultations. In almost every case, we are happy to report these churches have made tremendous positive strides.
Church B unfortunately represents the other 85 percent of the churches. They are typically angry and in total denial about any deficiencies in their churches. They spend most of their energy defensively instead of taking the same energy to make needed changes. Church B congregations continue to decline. Many of them die.
We see more Church B churches today than we have in our decades of consultations. Why are churches in denial more today than ever? We identified seven reasons.
1. They are waiting for pre-COVID normalcy to return.
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