You're describing a guild/religion that doesn't deserve to stick around. Sorry, but if the players can't be arsed to keep the stuff they built going, then there's really no hope for it.
I disagree. Many guilds and religions tend to have periods where things go rather poorly, to eventually be able to spring back up. A bad phase doesn't mean it's unworthy. And if it's truly unworthy, then it's unworthy of kicking the elders out to allow lower-ranking nobles to claim the upper ranks.
And sometimes, there are people willing to become priests, but just unable at the time they are needed. It takes very little time for a religion to fall to rubbles after the last priest is gone, it usually doesn't give enough time for others to switch classes. If the best candidates are in foreign lands, or if there is no temple in their realm yet, they can't switch class, especially not in time for it to matter.
The harshness of these uncommon occurrences is not justified by the nearly null impact of paused characters hogging guild ranks, and could be easily avoided by either switching the timer to a month (instead of auto-pause) or by simply demoting elders to a full-member rank instead of kicking out completely of the guilds. There is absolutely no objective that this harsh measure aims for that could not be achieved through softer means.