What is a dying church?

This post is from the defunct blog "Dying Church"

From an MSN Messenger chat. I'd be interested in your thoughts on what it means to be a dying church. LT: Question for you, if you have the time. Are you leading a dying church? DashHouse: Hmm, not sure. Somedays yes, at least at the leadership level. I'm still part of this experiment to see if a formerly traditional, building-bound church can become a dying one. Because I don't have a take-it-or-leave it style, I tend to be too patient sometimes. Overall, I'd say we're a dying church on our good days or at least on our way to being one. (Clear as mud). LT: When you say dying church what do you mean? DashHouse: I think I mean a church that's lost interest in its survival. It might or might not have a building and structure, but if it has either, it doesn't care about them as much as staying on mission. In most churches, I've found that the first instinct is self-preservation and self-advancement. I think in a dying church, these are hardly even factors. LT: I think I might have had the wrong impression. When I read "dying churches" I thought leading a church in to decline and finally closing the doors in hopes of a death to renewal cycle. DashHouse: I should probably clarify that. I guess I think in parallels to what it means for us as to die to ourselves - not that we physically die (although some do in following Christ), but that we die to living for ourselves. LT: ok, I get it now