The Death of the Small Black Church (And How God Plans to Bring It Back to Life

This is the written version of a word the Lord has had stirring in my spirit for a while now.

When I launched Apostolic Insight as a weekly teaching, I made one intentional decision:
I stopped looking at how many people were watching live.

Why?

Because I went through a season where I was going live, pouring out my heart, and nobody was showing up, not because people didn’t care, but because all my posts had been switched to private without me knowing. I was preaching to myself.

That season taught me something:
If God told you to release a word, you release it, whether 2 or 200 see it in the moment.

This blog comes from that same place of obedience.

Today, I want to talk about a phrase that sounds harsh, but it’s real:

“The death of the small Black church.”

Not because God has abandoned us.
Not because His Spirit has left.
But because our systems, structures, and strategies are not holding up under the weight of the times we’re living in.

And yet… There is hope.

Because what’s dying is not the Church Jesus promised.
What’s dying is the version we’ve built around comfort, tradition, and survival.

And God is shaking it.

A Biblical Picture of This Moment: The Shaking

The scripture that’s been ringing in my spirit is Hebrews 12:25 29.

“Once again I will shake not only the earth but the heavens also.”
This means that all of creation will be shaken and removed, so that only unshakable things will remain. (v. 26–27)

That word shaken is exactly where we are.

God is shaking systems, structures, models, and assumptions
not to destroy His church,
but to reveal what is truly unshakable.

The shaking is happening in real time, and you can see it in the data:

1. Attendance is Plummeting

• Black Protestant church attendance dropped from 61% to 46% in just four years.

• People are coming back to church, but Black congregations are recovering more slowly than others.

2. Finances Are Drying Up

• Since 2018, about 1 in 3 churches say they’re financially worse off.

• Many small Black churches are living in survival mode, not vision mode.

3. Leadership Pipelines Are Broken

• Only 11% of Black pastors have a succession plan.

• That means in 10 churches, nine have no plan if the pastor dies, falls, or needs to step away.

4. Young People Are Disengaged

• Nearly 50% of Gen Z and Millennials in the Black community rarely ever attend church.

• In many cities, you’ll find just a few “hub” churches full of young adults, while dozens of small churches age and fade.

5. Pastors Are Exhausted

• Around 82% of pastors are bivocational, working a full-time job and then “doing church” on top of it.

• Many are in what I call functional depression: still preaching, still serving, but their creativity, courage, and risk-taking are on life support.

These are not just numbers.
They’re alarm bells.

But Hebrews says something powerful:

“…so that only unshakable things will remain.” (Hebrews 12:27)

That means this shaking is not just judgment, it’s mercy.
God is shaking off everything that was built on culture, ego, and habit, so that what’s built on Christ can remain and rise.

If the Small Black Church Is Dying… What Needs to Change?

I don’t believe the Black church is dead.
I believe we are in a crisis moment that demands courageous change.

If we’re going to push back against this slow death and step into revival, there are four major shifts we’ve got to make.

Write these down. Talk them through with your team. Pray over them.

Shift #1 - From Programs to People

“Crowds come to watch. Communities come to work.”

For too long, we’ve measured success by how many people are in the room, not how many are being discipled.

We’re in a crisis partly because we’ve trained people to be attendees, not apprentices of Jesus.

Your real church is not who you see on Sunday.
Your real church is who shows up to grow, serve, and be transformed.

Like my college pastor told me years ago:

“Your church is not what you see on Sunday.
Your church is who you see at Bible study.”

What This Shift Looks Like

• Less obsession with events, more focus on disciple-making rhythms.
  Not just “how many showed up?” but “who is actually changing?”

• Stop canceling discipleship because the crowd shrank.
  If only five people come to Bible study, disciple those five.
  You can’t disciple who you wish you had. You can only disciple those whom you actually have.

• Build community, not just a room full of strangers.
  People need smaller circles where they are known, challenged, and sent.

And here’s the prophetic part:

You are one Lazarus away from a breakthrough in your church.

When Jesus raised Lazarus, Scripture says people came not only to see Jesus but to see Lazarus—the evidence.

If you will fully disciple one person, one Lazarus,
Their transformation will preach louder than your sermon.
Their life will become a walking billboard for the power of God in your house.

We’re in an experience-first, learn-later culture now.
People want to see God move before they sit down for a lecture.

Let them experience God.
Then teach them what they just experienced.

Shift #2 - From Ego to Equipping

“Let the ego go.”

If we’re honest, too many of our churches are built around the personality of the pastor, not the equipping of the saints.

We don’t have team problems.
We have equipping problems.

We’ve built teams for the church we were, not the church we’re becoming.

What This Shift Requires From You

If you want a growing, healthy church, change is going to start with you.

You cannot keep doing what you’ve always done and expect different results.

You have to:

• Build teams for where God is taking you, not just where you’ve been.

• Be willing to come down from the stage and get close again.

• Stop hiding behind “mystery” and distance… and share your life.

“We loved you so much, we were delighted to share with you not only the gospel of God but our lives as well…”
1 Thessalonians 2:8

Jesus didn’t eat at a separate table from the 12.
He didn’t “protect the office” by avoiding his disciples.

He walked with them. He knew them. He let them see Him.

We have to do the same with our leaders.

Four Ways You Need to Invest in Your Leaders

1. Spiritually

Stop assuming your closest leaders are okay spiritually just because they serve.

They’re often under more attack, not less.

• Ask: How are you really doing spiritually?

• Pray with them regularly.

• Don’t let your leaders grow bitter watching you minister to everyone except them.

2. Relationally

If the only time your people hear from you is when you need something…
That’s not pastoring. That’s using people.

• Walk the room on Sundays. Call them by name.

• Ask about their kids, their health, and their struggles.

• Spend time where there is no agenda except relationship.

3. Financially

I’m not saying you can pay everybody. But you can honor people.

• Feed them sometimes. Host them in your home.

• Cover conference registrations when you can.

• Most importantly: Give them the tools they need to do the job you’re asking.

Don’t ask someone to run a children’s ministry and then make them pay for their own printer ink and snacks.

Sometimes the miracle is not more money—it’s you picking up the phone and asking another church,
“Hey, do y’all have an extra drum set, projector, or chairs you’re not using?”

4. Intellectually

Stop getting frustrated that your leaders “don’t get it” when you’re the only one reading, learning, and stretching.

• Give them books, articles, and videos you’re learning from.

• Walk through a resource as a team and discuss it.

• Don’t hoard revelation—multiply it.

Shift #3 - From Monuments to Mission

“A building is a tool, not a trophy.”

Let me say this plainly:

Owning a building does not mean what it used to mean.

I talk to too many pastors with:

• 15-25 people

• A big building

• And a bigger mortgage that’s choking the life out of their ministry.

For some of you, the building is not a blessing. It’s a handicap.

Here’s the reality:

• Your ministry can thrive in a school, library, gym, community center, movie theater, or shared space.

• If you can rent a space for a few hundred dollars a week or month, with no maintenance, utilities, or repairs… that is a gift in this season.

If I ever planted another church, I’d start in my living room.

• I wouldn’t go public until I had 25–30 committed people—not visitors… leaders.

• I’d cross-train all 30 in every system.

• By the time we stepped into a bigger space, we’d have the capacity to sustain it.

Please hear me:

Don’t sign a note your vision can’t carry yet.

Grow into a building.
Don’t force yourself into one because of pride, optics, or pressure.

Again:
A building is a tool, not a trophy.

Shift #4 - From Silence to Solutions

“Through the blessing of the upright a city is exalted…”
Proverbs 11:11

Historically, the Black church has been:

• A voice for justice

• A center for education

• A place of healing and organizing

Somewhere along the way, many of us shifted from mission to maintenance.

If you want to revive your church, you must reconnect to a compassionate cause.

Why This Matters Financially and Spiritually

Most small Black churches are underfunded, not just because people won’t give,
But because we’re only asking members to fund “having church.”

The city, foundations, and organizations are not going to fund your Sunday service.

But they will fund solutions to civil problems you are uniquely called to address with spiritual wisdom.

When you pick up a real cause, you unlock two things at once:

1. Favor - because you’re reflecting the heart of God for the broken.

2. Funding - because you’re solving problems the community and the city care about.

Possible Compassionate Causes Your Church Could Own

Just a few examples:

• Homelessness & Housing Insecurity

• Re-entry for Returning Citizens (formerly incarcerated)

• Human Trafficking & Prostitution Intervention

• Literacy & After-School Support

• Mental Health & Emotional Wellness

• Community Violence Prevention

• Food Insecurity / Community Pantry

• Youth Development & Mentoring

You don’t need to do all of these.
You need to prayerfully ask:

“Lord, what problem is our church meant to be a solution to?”

Then talk to your city:

• Call the mayor’s office or a city council member.

• Ask: “What’s one problem in our part of town that a church like ours could help solve?”

You’ll be surprised how quickly doors open when you come as a partner, not a beggar.

So… Is the Small Black Church Really Dying?

Here’s my honest answer:

Some local churches will close.
Some models will die.
Some structures will not survive this shaking.

But the Black Church as a move of God?
No. She’s not dead.

She’s being refined.

“This means that all of creation will be shaken and removed, so that only unshakable things will remain.”
Hebrews 12:27

What’s built on Christ, aligned with His mission, and empowered by His Spirit will last.

So don’t be afraid to let what was die,
so you can build what’s next.

What To Do Next (Pastor & Leader Action Steps)

Take this out of “good word” mode and into movement:

This Week

• Pick one area:

  • Programs - People

  • Ego - Equipping

  • Monuments - Mission

  • Silence - Solutions

…and have an honest conversation with your leadership team about where you really are.

This Month

• Start or restart one discipleship environment (Bible study, small group, or leadership huddle) and commit to it, even if only a handful show up.

• Schedule one relational touchpoint with your core leaders: coffee, a meal, or a simple check-in call with no agenda.

In the Next 60-90 Days

• Re-evaluate your space. Are you in the right place for this season, or is your building eating your future?

• Choose one community problem your church will lean into and start researching partnerships or grants around it.

A Prayer for You

Father,
Thank You that nothing happening in our churches or our culture has caught You by surprise.
Thank you for the shaking, because it reveals what’s unshakable.

I pray for every pastor and leader reading this.

Settle, establish, and strengthen them:

• in their finances,

• in their marriages and families,

• in their physical health,

• and in their courage.

Show them where they need to shift—from programs to people, from ego to equipping, from monuments to mission, from silence to solutions.

Give them boldness to let go of what needs to die
and faith to build what You’re breathing on now.

Let the small Black church not be a story of decline,
but a testimony of resurrection.

In Jesus’ name,
Amen.

If this spoke to you, don’t just save it, share it with your leaders. Print it, bring it to your next meeting, and start the conversation.

You’re not crazy.
You’re not alone.
And you’re not stuck.

You’re being invited into what’s next.