When Churches Want Hospice but Need Physical Therapy
There is a pattern I see over and over in declining churches, and it usually shows up during a pastor search. The church says it wants help. It says it wants to be healthier. It says it wants to reach people again. But the kind of leader it gravitates toward often tells a different story.
What many of these churches are really looking for is a hospice pastor. They would never use that language. They say they want someone stable, traditional, and caring. They talk about someone who will love them where they are and not push too hard. What they are really describing is someone who will keep them comfortable.
Hospice care is not wrong. It exists for a reason. Hospice assumes the goal is comfort, not recovery. It manages pain. It reduces stress. It helps people feel safe while decline continues.
The problem is that many declining churches have the option to not die. They are weak. They are tired. They are out of shape. They have lost habits that once kept them healthy. But they are still very much alive.
They don’t need hospice; they need physical therapy.
Physical therapy is honest. It starts with an assessment that is not flattering. It identifies what is not working. It pushes muscles that have not been used in a long time. It creates discomfort on purpose, because discomfort is how strength returns.
No one enjoys physical therapy at first. It hurts. It feels slow. It feels unnecessary. People often want to quit right before it starts working. That moment is familiar to a lot of churches right now.
They know something is wrong. Attendance is down. Volunteers are burned out. Giving is flat or declining. Energy is gone. But knowing something is wrong is easier than committing to real change, because change disrupts comfort.
A physical therapist does not pretend everything is fine. They do not affirm patterns that caused the injury. They do not lower expectations to keep the patient happy. They care too much about recovery to do that.
Hospice pastors minimize tension. Physical therapist pastors introduce productive tension. Hospice pastors protect the status quo. Physical therapist pastors challenge it. Hospice pastors help churches feel good. Physical therapist pastors help churches get better.
This is where many churches get stuck. They say they want revitalization, but they choose leaders who promise comfort. They say they want to reach new people, but resist changes that might unsettle current ones. They say they want growth, but reward leaders who keep expectations low and conflict minimal.
Over time, comfort becomes the goal. Faithfulness gets confused with familiarity. Peace becomes the absence of disagreement instead of the presence of health. The church slowly loses strength.
Here is the hard truth. The leader who can help a church get healthier is often the leader the church initially resists. Not because that leader is harsh or reckless, but because growth always exposes weakness before it builds strength.
Physical therapy is not forever. It has a purpose. It moves toward renewed function and independence. But it only works if the patient commits to the process and accepts short term discomfort for long term health.
Churches have to decide what they really want. If the goal is to stay comfortable while decline continues, hospice will do the job. If the goal is renewed strength, clarity, and mission, then physical therapy is the right call.
Comfort feels loving because it soothes symptoms for today. Health feels demanding because it restores strength for the future. The stakes are too high to settle for comfort.