Church Revitalizer Magazine July / August 2017 by Renovate Resources

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July/August 2017 Vol 3 Issue 4

Revitalizer

“A Revitalization Retreat in Every Issue”

Regaining Church Momentum

Coming Out of the Summer!

“The only magazine dedicated to Church Revitalization.” ~ Tom Cheyney

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Karl Vaters Micah Fries Gary McIntosh Jennifer Bennett David Murrow Tom Cheyney Paul Smith Terry Rials Ron Smith Steve Smith Jason Cooper

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Revitalizer FEATURES

May/June | Vol 3, No 4

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Do You See What I See?

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Planning to Preach to Push Forward after the Summer Slump By Joel R. Breidenbaugh

Your Vision 32 Leveraging Statement to Achieve Focus

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Sailing Past Summer Ministry Doldrums By Chad McCarthy

INSIDE THIS ISSUE

Church Music Renewal (Again!) By Tim Kaufman

Before You Start Something New

Keys to planning a family friendly fall By Bill Hegedus

By Bill Tenny-Brittian

Harvest Time

12 28

By Ron Smith

THE LEADERSHIP LINK… Gaining Momentum in Revitalization

By Michael Atherton

The Imploding Church: What to Do When It’s All Falling Apart By Terry Rials HELP! How Do I Get The “Big Mo” Mentum Back in My Church? By Darwin Meighan Ways to Revitalize Church Social Media this Fall By Mark MacDonald Un-Slumping: Regaining Church Momentum Coming Out of The Summer! By Rob Myers

18 Understanding Your Ministry with Your Spouse By Drew Cheyney 35 Show and Tell – Which makes more of an Impression? Making the “Fall” a Journey Together! By Tracy W. Jaggers 44

Turning Around a Generic Church By Bob Whitesel

5 Steps to Keeping Your Sunday School Growing During the Summer By Fred Boone

Developing a Gospel Saturation Strategy for Your City By Mark Weible

Early and Latter Rains By Jim Grant

The Obedience Answer By Kenneth Priest

Soaring With Summer Momentum By Greg Kappas

Tapping Into the Power By Steve Sells

“The only magazine dedicated to Church Revitalization.”

revitalizer

LIBRARY BOOK REVIEWS

The Church Revitalizer Book Reviewer: Rob Hurtgen 57 Tony Morgan’s The Unstuck Church: Equipping Churches to Experi

ence and Sustain Health (Thomas Nelson, 2017).

57 David Murray’s Reset: Living a Grace-Paced Life in a Burnout

Rob Hurtgen is the Pastor of First Baptist Church Chillicothe, Missouri. He holds an M.Div from the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary and is currently pursuing a Doctor of Ministry degree in Church Revitalization from Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. He has been married to Shawn since 1995, and they have five children.

Culture. (Nashville, Thomas Nelson, 2017).

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Revitalizer Volume 3, No. 4

The Church Revitalizer Is published bi-monthly by Renovate Publishing Group 1906 West Lee Road Orlando, FL 32810 Email: ChurchRevitalizer.guru

PUBLISHER Dr. Tom Cheyney Associate Publisher Mark Weible Associate Publisher Circulation & Marketing Tom King Executive Editor & Brand Manager Tom Cheyney Magazine Designer & Format Editor Gerald Brown Director of Advertising Renovate Staff Web Ad Traffic Director Mark Weible Digital Media Associate Rob Caraballo For subscription information contact this office at: www.churchrevitalizer.guru/subscriptions. Subscriptions donations are $30.00 per year for six issues, $52.00 for two years (12 issues). Outside the U.S. add $10.00 per year prepaid.

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By Tom Cheyney

Welcome to the Church Revitalizer Magazine: A Church Revitalization Retreat in Every Issue! I am excited to welcome several new writers to the Church Revitalizer Magazine this issue! We have also added eight new writers pages and four more ad pages to the mgazine. I want to take a moment to thank each individual writer for the commitment they are making to the world of revitalization and renewal. There is not another publication out there that impacts as many churhes and church leaders in the field of revitaliztion. Last Tuesday morning, my latest book came out on Amazon. It is: Slaying the Dragons of Church Revitalization: Dealing with the Critical Issues that are Hurting Your Church! This book has taken me all over North America meeting with declining churches seeking to understand each set of issues which these churches were dealing. I narrowed it down to my top eighteen, but wish I could have added a few more. But at the end of the day these are the top eighteen and I am glad it is out in print. I took the month of May off for a study sabbatical for which I interviewed 350 rural pastors of declining, had been declining, and now growing churches in five states. Early next year John Kimball and I will be releasing a book on rural church revitalization as a result of this month-long study and interviews. It is hard to believe that the Renovate Group and Renovate Resources are beginning the third year of the Church Revitalizer Magazine! Please continue to let us know areas which need to be addressed and specific topics you and your church leaders would benefit. This edition of The Church Revitalizer focuses on Regaining Momentum Coming Out of the Summer! Stay connected, more is coming and it is continuing to be a great year. Have you registered for the 2017 Renovate National Church Revitalization Conference yet? if not why not do it today by going to renvatconference.org/register.

Dr. Tom Cheyney is the Founder and Directional Leader of Renovate National Church Revitalization Conference and Executive Editor of the Church Revitalizer.

Church Music Renewal (Again!) It happened just recently. I was talking with someone I consider to be one of the most talented, seasoned, mature, and passionate worship leaders on the planet. But because he was fifty-five-ish, church consultants were encouraging the senior pastor to bring in a younger individual to replace him. Never mind that he led worship from the keyboard in a contemporary service in addition to leading a traditional service with a full choir and orchestra and his team was multi-generational. In fact if there is one thing that stands out in this particular church, it’s the worship music; because the leader is a worshiper of God. But…in the opinion of the leadership…he’s not young enough, not hip enough. About a year ago another church added a contemporary service to their “menu” because “we have to reach the young people.” The band is good. Really good. But after initially filling an auditorium of almost 400, the attendance has dropped to around 120. The band is still… really good. Of course, the traditional service attendees are still paying 88% of the church budget. But, I digress… Church music. (Cue: roll eyes and sigh). While most are waving white flags of surrender in the battle of the worship wars, the disillusionment and disappointment of differing philosophies still divides congregations and generations. What to do? In 2004, at the height of the church music schisms, I was asked to help a congregation of 1,100 make the transition from a traditional style of music to a blended style. And in this case we’re talking traditional with a capital “T” as in organ, piano, a choir

in robes and everyone singing from the Baptist Hymnal. They had installed two screens, primarily for the sermons and announcements, but when the words to the songs came on the screen, there was pushback. I knew I was going to have to proceed strategically with caution because the pastor’s leadership reputation was at stake. And frankly the unity of the congregation was at stake as well. These realities took precedence over any personal preference or agenda I may have had. This wasn’t about me. It was about Jesus, His Church and His under-shepherd. In fact that’s what it’s always about. As I began to pray, envision, and plan, I recalled something a friend of mine was fond of saying: “There are two ways of doing things…doing it right, or doing it over!” Only, in this case with church music transition and revitalization, you usually don’t get a do-over. So how do we go about “doing it right”? FIRST STEPS STEP ONE – ASK QUESTIONS We take a cue from Nehemiah who said, “I didn’t tell anyone what God had laid on my heart to do…”. Before we charge ahead with our vision we need to ask ourselves and close key people (senior pastor, one or two staff or key volunteers) questions like: • Why? Why do we want to make a change in our music style? What are the REAL reasons…? • Where? Is the pastor regarding music, philosophically? Regarding worship? Is the staff regarding music, philosophically? Regarding worship? Is the church body regarding music,

By Tim Kaufman philosophically? Regarding worship? • What? If we make a change, then] To what style? Blended? Contemporary? If going to two services can we simultaneously revitalize our traditional service? Do we commit to a blended style incorporating a broad mix since the Church is, in truth, blended itself? If Contemporary then what format? Electric? Acoustic? A mix? To what end? What is our goal or purpose for making the change(s)? • Who? Do we have the personnel who can play well? Do we have the personnel who can sing well? Do I have a tech team that has the skills for lighting, mixing, troubleshooting, repairing, and is committed to excellence in preparation rather than having a Sunday morning hobby? Do we have spiritually minded, authentic worshipers to lead? • When? When do we hold auditions? When would we like to launch? And if I am a congregation of 75-90 worshipers, how do we arrive at excellence in our services musically? STEP TWO – ASSESS By discovering answers to the above Continuied on page 64

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Each and every week, the RENOVATE National Church Revitalization Podcast publishes a free audio training covering various aspects of church revitalization and renewal. Hosted by Tom Cheyney, each podcast features content for this week’s edition of his Church Revitalization and Renewal training. Included in this series of equipping tools are interviews with key Church Revitalizers and in-depth commentary and analysis from pastors, revitalization coaches, laity, and practitioners in the field of church revitalization and renewal. RenovateConference.org/podcast

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“A Revitalization Retreat in Every Issue” RenovateConference.org/magazine 11

Before You Start Something New It’s time to gear up for back from summer vacation, back to school, and back to church Sundays. If your church is like most, you’re already looking at how you can leverage the annual return of the migrating church members and perhaps even pick up a few extra first-time visitors who are new to the community. Every television and radio station, every newspaper and direct mail piece will be reminding families in your community that now! is the time to get back into the swing of things. And it’s a time when many churches put together new programs, ministries, and events in an effort to attract the elusive unchurched Mike and Mary. But before you start anything new, consider this: most churches in decline are doing too much and they’re doing most of it badly. Most churches have a handful of good, faithful people who have been on the frontlines of ministry serving in a half-dozen positions and they’re tired. Worse, they’re mostly serving outside of their personal passion. Though they’re filling a slot, they’re not able to give any ministry their full energy or attention, and so mediocrity is what you get. So, before you start anything new, right now is the perfect time to stop and take an inventory of all the ministries, programs, missions, and events the church is engaged in. And once you do, it’s exactly the right time to lay to rest as many of them as you possibly can. 12

I hear your trepidation, that sharp intake of breath, and the not-soslow rise in your blood pressure. You wonder what I’m talking about. Surely, I don’t mean that you should pull the plug on the annual Christmas Bazaar, the Thanksgiving Quilt-a-thon, or the Men’s iHop Breakfast Bash? I’m not sure … every church is different. But if you’re a church on a plateau or in decline, I can almost guarantee there are some things the church needs to stop doing before it takes on one more thing. I’m talking about putting an end to those ministries that probably got started years and years ago but have failed to bear sufficient fruit (but that keep on going and going and going anyway). I call these ministries, programs, and events the church’s Zombie Ministries. They’re already dead, but they just keep on walking and as they do, they suck the life out of nearly everyone who participates. The Zombie Ministries in your church could be: • The children’s moment that’s still in the bulletin even though there hasn’t been a kid in church in four years. • The Saturday evening worship service that has an average worship attendance of six people. • The Vacation Bible School that hasn’t brought a single new family through the doors of the church in a decade.

By Bill Tenny-Brittian

• The Pennies from Heaven program that raised 47¢ last month. • The all-church small group ministry that has an average attendance of three: the pastor, the pastor’s spouse, and Widow Baumgartner. Many churches are so “busy” with Zombie Ministries that their leaders are in danger of becoming zombies themselves. And once your leaders move past being tired, past being burned out, they are in danger of sliding into cynicism: “Yeah, we tried that once, but it didn’t work.” Now, there are a ton of reasons why churches continue to support Zombie Ministries, even though it’s killing them. But here are five of the most common: • The church has decreased in size over the years, but never stopped any of the ministries it did when it was large. • The church’s leadership has a hard time saying “No” to people who want to get their personal pet ministries started. • The church’s leadership doesn’t have the chutzpah to pull the plug on a fruitless ministry because it’s somebody’s pet project and they won’t risk conflict. • The church’s leadership believes it has to be engaged in all these ministries in order to be a faithful church. • The church’s leadership has set

no benchmarks for what is or isn’t success, and thus has no criteria for bringing a ministry to a close. Make no mistake: Zombie Ministries plague most churches, and they suck down church resources faster than (WARNING: Metaphor Switch) a vampire under a full moon. But not only do Zombie Ministries suck resources from a church, by their very existence they keep other vital and life-giving ministries from starting. And if by chance a new ministry starts anyway, it has almost no chance of succeeding because the leaders heading up the new effort are

already busy with a dozen other ministries> The new ministry may get a little extra energy to get it launched, but that energy will quickly wane and shortly thereafter, the new ministry will become just another less-than-successful ministry that no one has the heart to kill. Another Zombie Ministry that someone, someday, will have to pull the plug on … unless, of course, the church dies first. It’s never easy killing off an existing ministry, but it’s absolutely necessary to prune off branches that aren’t bearing adequate

fruit (the story of Jesus and the fig tree in Matthew 21 comes to mind). Here are five ways to help you put an end to some of your Zombie Ministries: 1. Measure everything you’re doing against your congregation’s mission and vision. Any ministry that isn’t fully supporting them must come to an end. 2. Set measurable benchmarks for success and then measure each ministry against those benchmarks. Stop the ones that don’t measure up. Continued on Page 22

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Keys to Planning a Family-Frendly Fall By Bill Hegedus

Fall is such a great time of the year for children’s ministry. It is also one of the busiest times. There are promotion weekends, when kids move up to their new grade classes for the first time. Plus, new volunteers are coming on board that require training. Throw in Fall Festivals, and other activities and you can see why children’s ministry directors tend to have bloodshot eyes by November. There is no underestimating the importance of having a great plan in place for fall. This is the time when families are coming back from vacations and are setting up a more routine schedule. For many, school classes are restarting and the heat of the summer starts to fade. Fall is also the best time to reach and gain new families in your church. That’s one of the reasons why fall planning is so important. The other reason is that by simply planning ahead and being strategic, it will save your children’s pastor/director from burning out. There are so many ways you can plan a great fall for your church. Over the years I have taken the best practices I have found and combined them into how we plan our fall. These are ways we have found helpful. They may not be for everyone, but hopefully, you can use them as a starting point for developing your own fantastic fall. Now this may seem obvious, but I need to say it anyway. Planning ahead means planning WAY ahead, not two to three weeks out. You should never make strategic plans nor expect to progress by planning week to week. I suggest starting no less than 3 months ahead. So, if you are planning for September events, that needs to happen in June or at the latest early July in gathering your ideas, brainstorming with the workers on how you will make these events happen. When you plan, make it for September all the way through December. You don’t need to have all the details mapped out, but you should have a basic skeleton. A key component to have in place, before you start planning, is a team. You should never plan on your own. A good team should consist of three to six people. You don’t want to have too many people on the team because it tends to make it harder to reach agreement on decisions and ideas. You absolutely

don’t need to plan alone nor should you plan alone. You need other team members to allow you to see things from diferent points of view. You should also make sure you have both men and women on the team. The team members should also be representative of your children’s ministry as a whole. You should have moms and dads with kids in the age group of the ministry for which you are planning. They know what their kids like and what connects with them. The next factor you should have in place is a well-prepared meeting space, so you can make the most of your planning sessions with your team. A table with a few light snacks and drinks allows those in the meeting to stay focused and yet relaxed. Have large poster boards or easel paper on hand to be hung on the walls as you plan. (i.e.one piece per month for ideas, one for questions to get answered, and one for assigning tasks for each member of the team). I would highly recommend printing your local school calendar as a reference for days off or events that could potentially be competing. When starting to plan, I like to start by asking three basic questions: The First question is, what is the vision of the senior pastor for the direction he has in mind on behalf of the entire church? This is very important! You always want to make sure that what you are planning in the children’s ministry matches up with the entire church in the direction the senior pastor is leading. You run the risk of creating your own direction that could be out of alignment with the overall church if you don’t ask this first. The second question is, what do we feel the Lord wants to accomplish in the lives of the children this fall? What truths and Biblical sessions, along with application, would we like to see happen during this time period? This is something you and your team should be praying through and the answer the team reaches is then discussed with your senior pastor. It is always a good practice to keep the senior pastor informed of these things. More often than not, I have found this helps the senior pastor get excited about it and he tends to champion the ministry even more because of his deeper understanding of what the church is doing to help children grow in their faith, their love of God and in their church The third question is, what can we do as a church to

Continued on Page 26 16

Understanding Youth Ministry with Your Spouse July is almost over which means our summers are almost gone! For most Youth Pastors that means planning for the school year is in full bloom. Conferences, vacations, events, and upcoming series have hopefully been planned. You have probably met with potential leaders you are hoping will be a part of your team this year. If you are bold enough, you might have even had a budget conversation asking for a few more resources than last year. And seeing as how you have been working on ALL OF THAT STUFF FOR MINISTRY, you probably even have a plan in place to make sure your wife & family are not put on the backburner right? WRONG! If we were all to be honest, chances are only a portion of us have any kind of plan in place for making sure our families do not feel neglected. WARNING: for those of you who are reading this and are saying, “well I’m not married yet,” this may not be something you are dealing with right now, but if you can apply wisdom now, you will save yourself PAIN in the future. Here is why all this matters for married or single Youth Pastors; check these stats out in Youth Ministry: - 90% of married couples are in crisis. - 5% are in the process of getting married. - 5% have healthy marriages. These are alarming realities about where most of us find ourselves in ministry. You and I have been commanded to love our wives as Christ loved the church. Last time I checked Jesus died for the church, and yet if you were to check our priorities in life, would that reality be reflective? To take this a step further, what happens out of your relationships with your spouse reflects in every area of your ministry. Matter of fact, if your are barren and distant from your spouse, chances are there

is going to be some parallels in your ministry. And the painful truth is that your goal in life is not to build a big church or big youth ministry, your calling is about building a big you and the biggest legacy you leave is not in a building, it’s in your own home, but is that really what is happening in your leadership? Here is a harder question; if your lead pastor or supervisor was to ask your wife / husband if you are cheating on your family or him/ her with ministry what would their response be? OUCH! I once heard a saying that Marriage & Ministry can either work hand in hand or they can mix like oil and water. This article hopefully starts conversations that not only will save your ministry, but hopefully save your family now or in the future. Here are 4 healthy spiritual habits that will help you understand Youth Ministry with your spouse: 1. Practice, Not Just Remember Your Commitement Whether you are married currently or not, we will all remember the day we said “I DO.” When that day comes, the very last thing anyone will be thinking about is a task list of work they need to do. No one will be thinking about the leaders they need to recruit. But on that day you will commit something extremely intimate to your spouse. Over the years, something I have noticed is that the longer we are in ministry and married, the further away we get away from our commitement and instead focus on the commitement we made to the area of ministry we are serving instead. If you want tension in your life, turn your promise to your wife to a daily compromise at home. Most likely, this is an area of compromise for many of us so take this tip to heart: Tip: Refuse to live intimidated, you can always find a new job, but you can’t always work past years

By Drew Cheyney

of bitterness and resentment in the home. 2. Have Open Communication About Boundaries It is amazing how so few couples in ministry talk about what boundaries look like in the areas of calendar, opposite gender relationships, phone interactions, and so much more. Instead what most of us do is in the middle of our frustrations and anger that is when we take jabs and start to poke at what is not being done. Now imagine what it would look like if before getting to bitterness, anger, and frustration we discussed and had conversations when the temperature of the dispute was at a 3 or 4. For example, my wife and I just had a baby and I knew that my schedule was going to need to change a little in this season so we could care for our daughter as a team. So I asked a question a lot of us tend to avoid and it was this: “what would be ideal right now in life as a couple in this season.” My wife responded by letting me know that me being home by 5:15pm to care for our daughter would help her greatly. She let me know that it would be ideal if I could not have meetings in the evenings for a couple months. These are just a few examples in our season, but if there is no communication between us, this could have become an explosion of bitterness when levels hit a 10 instead of what we did which was communicate about them at a 3. Tip: Do not take on anything else on in your schedule without getting rid of something else or getting your wife’s okay. 3. Love God Above Everything Else This for most people in ministry is such a cliché, but the longer we are married and the more children we have, the more we make up excuses in this area. We forget that Jesus

Continued on page 36 18

Does God really set people free? Or are we just talking? Transformational Discipleship was developed to train leaders how to guide both brand-new and longtime believers towards deep spiritual change. This training is foundational for every believer. It guides people who are stuck on their faith journey due to unresolved, often hidden issues in their lives towards true spiritual, emotional and mental freedom through intimacy with God.

“It’s not like anything I have been through before.”

Pastor John Wright, Titusville, FL “This is life transforming. I’m going to teach the socks off this thing.”

Dr. Phil Phillips, Ft. Myers, FL

Do You See What I See? If you have spent any time reading any book on leadership, you have read the following parable. Once upon a time, five blind men came upon an elephant. “What is this?” asked the first one, who had run head first into its side. “It’s an elephant.” said the elephant’s keeper, who was sitting on a stool, cleaning the elephant’s harness. “Wow, so this is an Elephant! I’ve always wondered what Elephants are like.” said the man, running his hands as far as he could reach up and down the elephant’s side. “Why, it’s just like a wall, a large, warm wall!” “What do you mean, a wall?” said the second man, wrapping his arms around the elephant’s leg. “This is nothing like a wall. You can’t reach around a wall! This is more like a pillar. Yeah, that’s it, an elephant is exactly like a pillar!” “A pillar? Strange kind of pillar!” said the third man, stroking the elephant’s trunk. “It’s too thin, for one thing, and it’s too flexible for another. If you think this is a pillar, I don’t want to go to your house! This is more like a snake. See, it’s wrapping around my arm. An elephant is just like a snake!” “Snakes don’t have hair!” said the fourth man in disgust, pulling the elephant’s tail. “You are closer than the others, but I’m surprised that you missed the hair. This isn’t a snake, it’s a rope. Elephants are exactly like ropes.” “I don’t know what you guys are on!” the fifth man cried, waving the elephant’s ear back and forth. “It’s as large as a wall, all right, but thin as a leaf, and no more flexible than any piece of cloth this size should be. I don’t know what’s wrong with all of you, but no one except a complete idiot could mistake an elephant for anything except a sail!” And as the elephant moved on, they stumbled along down the road, arguing more vehemently as they went, each sure that he, and he alone, was right and all the others were wrong. Whereas the truth is that an elephant is… an elephant. In the work of revitalization, you need to be able to bring the church in decline to a proper perspective of their situation. Pastors are shepherds who lead, and great leadership brings people with different perspectives together to achieve a set of goals. Within the church, that primary goal is to glorify God by making disciples of Jesus Christ. Momentum wains in the long work of revitalization, especially at the end of the summer time. These guys went on their way convinced they were right and arguing all the way home but neither of them had the correct perspective. There are some churches who are so busy, like these guys arguing over an elephant, they don’t have perspective, and won’t gain perspective until they slow and see the truth. The summer months can be one of the seasons when the church is busy with camps, VBS, mission trips, or other special events which leads to a drain on momentum as the summer draws to a close. Then and there you need to check your perspective.

By Chris Irving Let me turn your attention to the perspective Paul writes about in Romans 12:1-2: “Therefore, brothers and sisters, in view of the mercies of God, I urge you to present your bodies as a living sacrifice holy and pleasing to God; this is your true worship. 2 Do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may discern what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God.” 1 Gaining Perspective of God’s Mercy Paul has just finished what is perhaps the greatest theological work of the entire Bible. The pattern of Romans begins with eleven chapters of theology, then turns to four verses of doxology, and then four chapters of practice. Before we can practice, Paul points us to perspective. The first word, “Therefore”…what is it there for? It opens our eyes to the first eleven chapters Paul just finished. All of the theology and doctrine is needed for gaining a proper perspective on ministry and maintaining momentum. The greater our comprehension of what God has done for us, the greater our commitment should be. A big vision of God’s plan births a big commitment to the plan and the ability to keep moving forward. What is the reason for obedience? Because we are justified by grace alone through faith alone because of Christ alone. Next Paul urges, or appeals to the church in view of the mercies of God. The mercies of God brought in to Christ by His grace. For Paul, the only sufficient motivation for obedience is based on the mercies of God. Momentum is certainly slowed because of disobedience. One reason we are disobedient is due to an improper perspective. So what are you doing to maintain perspective? Stand at the top of the mountain of Romans 12:1, and look back over the valley of theology Paul laid out in Romans 1-11, and gain perspective. That perspective will help you maintain momentum when drained from summer activity. Perspective Births the Offering of Your Life When you gain perspective through viewing God’s mercies, the next logical step is the offering of your life to God as a living sacrifice. This is Paul’s first appeal. We are embodied people. If you lose your body, you cannot talk, eat, see, touch, or walk. Our bodies, as Paul says in 1 Corinthians, are the temple of the Holy Spirit. We are not

1 Christian Standard Bible (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2017), Ro 12:1–2.

called to offer just a lame segment of our life to Him, but our whole being. Practice does not happen without proper perspective. Offering your life to God as a living sacrifice does not happen without proper perspective. This offering is an offering of consecration. There was a time in Israel’s history when they were not offering the purest of animals. Malachi 1:6-14 tells the story. They were offering sick and lame animals. They had improper perspective of God’s mercies, and they had certainly lost momentum. Don’t be that pastor! Keep your eye on the mercies of God. Offering Your Life is Pleasing to God Paul says that we are to make this offering pleasing to God. It is only rational this offering is made in view of God’s mercy. Friend, the proper perspective of the Gospel is one which radically reorients your aim in life. We no longer live for ourselves, but rather to please God. 1 Thessalonians 2:4 says, “We are not trying to please men but God, who tests our hearts.” The Gospel also motivates and frees us to live lives that please God. We aim to please God because He has saved, by grace through faith, those who are in Christ. We please God as an act of worship, which is rational. If you’ve lost momentum, and you are not offering all of yourselves to the Lord as a living sacrifice, that is irrational and you need to regain perspective. The daily offering of oneself as a living sacrifice is a guard against loss of momentum. Take up your cross daily and follow Jesus!

Paul is calling all men and women who’ve been saved by the grace of God through faith in Jesus Christ, those who stand justified by His grace, Give Him All You’ve Got!

Chris Irving is the Lead Pastor of the First Baptist Church of Gonzales, TX. Chris has served in ministry for 15 years in Texas. He led a small rural church to revitalization and is currently involved in the revitalization process of First Baptist Gonzales. Dr. Irving aims to help pastors equip the lay leadership of the church to serve in ministry. He and his wife, Amber have been married for 14 years and have six children.

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Overcome the Loss of Momentum How do you or your church overcome the loss of momentum? First, view or review the mercies of God. Friend… take a moment and look at the cross. This is our why. This is our what. This is our how. This is our when. There is absolutely no way to sustain momentum in church revitalization without stoking the fire of our hearts by deep meditation and focus on God’s mercy and grace. When I say motivation, I mean PRAY! Look at the cross and seek the One who gave His life for you on the cross. Second, remind yourself the only rational response to the cross of Christ is the giving of yourself to Him. In the famous Star Trek series, one of my favorite characters is Montgomery Scott, aka, Scottie. There often comes a time in the movie series where Scottie is asked to provide more power, or to make a hasty repair to the Enterprise as the crew is in grave danger. He usually says something like, “I’ve given her all she’s got captain, an I canna give’er no more.” Now, read that again in your best Scottish accent and have fun with it.

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A Train Called Summer Continued....

3. Practice Sakichi Toyoda’s “Five Whys.” For every ministry, ask “Why are we doing this?” and then question each answer with “Why?” until you have a clear understanding about why the church is engaging the ministry. Often you’ll discover the reason a zombie ministry still exists is because “We’ve always done it.” And doing something just because you’ve always done it isn’t a success-based benchmark. 4. Be sure every outreach ministry does three things: blesses those who serve, blesses those being served, and creates visibility for the church. It’s the last one that should be the criterion for killing many outreach ministries (See Matthew 5:16 for Jesus’ visibility mandate). If a ministry doesn’t create visibility for the church, it must come to an end. 5. Finally, don’t start any new ministries without pre-determining the expected results. Set a go/ no go date so the ministry team is fully aware that if the results fall short by that date, there will be no surprises when the plug gets pulled and the ministry is ended. It can be painful putting an end to a beloved tradition, but any Zombie Ministry that’s allowed to continue will continue to be a distraction and a drain on the church’s resources. Better to risk the ire of one of the saints than to feed a zombie and kill your church’s future. Bill Tenny-Brittian is the managing partner of The Effective Church Group. For over thirty years, The Effective Church Group has been equipping churches and church leaders so they can be successful in reaching their mission. We provide consulting and coaching using the time-tested Complete Ministry Audit to help churches reach maximum effectiveness. Learn more at EffectiveChurch.com. 22

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Planning to Preach to Push Forward after the Summer Slump By Joel R. Breidenbaugh, PhD If your church is like most churches, you deal with a summer slump in attendance, budget and general ministry. To compensate for this slump, many churches build most of their ministries around the school year, especially with ministries related to children, youth and music. At the same time, however, as the new school year begins, everything can go back into full swing. If you aren’t prepared for it, you can miss out on hitting the ground running. While sharing the gospel with unbelievers each week certainly matters, purposeful and better preaching can cause your active members to want to hear what comes next and they are more willing to invite their un-churched friends to hear your messages. Let me share some recommendations to accomplish this task. Set Aside Time to Pray and Plan It should go without saying, but you should seek the Lord about what He wants you to address. I believe the most biblical preaching is expository preaching through a book, or section of a book of the Bible. After all, God gave His Word to us in individual books, not in separate verses and sayings tied together by our best human ingenuity. A steady diet of expositional preaching will both explain and apply the text. A clear, thought out plan of preaching will approach biblical texts the struggling church needs to hear. I suggest planning 6-12 months in advance. I usually take a few days in July and late December when things slow down at my church to plan and revise what I believe the Lord is leading me to preach. Consider Your Church As you keep one eye on the Lord and His Word, keep your other eye on the people He has entrusted to your care. Yes, the Lord Himself called you into ministry, but He has called you to serve a particular group of people, your church. Think about the church’s struggles. Do they need to deal with issues of repentance or forgiveness or acceptance? After serving one church for a few years, I mentioned in a sermon how we would never move for24

ward if they kept distrusting me without reason just because they learned to distrust their former pastor. A few people responded, telling me they needed to hear that, because they had not been following my lead out of fear they were going to be hurt again. A timely address can help wounds heal and allow members to unite together in their mission.

During my church’s down times, I plan what people want to hear, so they are more likely to show up rather than take the weekend getaway. Furthermore, when looking at your people, consider what they have heard recently. If you are brandnew as their pastor but the interim just finished a six-month study of the Sermon on the Mount, then you don’t need to cover that text for a few years. Give thought to what they need to hear. Issues like evangelism, discipleship, stewardship, prayer and ministry line the pages of the New Testament and will often come out in preaching. Those areas of the Christian life may be so common precisely because they are the easiest for us to neglect. Divide and Conquer The Apostle Paul was quite possibly the best model for faithful preaching in the local church. He spent a good deal of time in Corinth and Ephesus in shepherding those newly planted churches. As a missionary to unreached peoples, Paul never stayed more than a few years in any single place, but he taught the Scriptures daily and declared “the whole counsel of God” (Acts 20:27). Such preaching includes both the Old and New Testaments. Too many preachers forsake the Old Testament today, even though it is foundational to the New Testament.

While I would argue for preachers to major on the New Testament (after all, we are Christian preachers), we ought to preach several times each year from the Old Testament. Without it, we cannot declare the whole counsel of God. In preaching from both testaments, let me make something clear: I’m not arguing for preaching through a whole book most of the time, unless it’s a short book. Because most Western-world thinkers only think a few weeks ahead, I suggest planning sermon series in 4-8 week increments. Thus, instead of preaching straight through Matthew, I recommend dividing it into major sections/themes (chapters 1-4, 5-7, 8-10, 11-16:20, etc.). If you decide to preach straight through a long book, dividing it into different series will give it a sense of freshness so that the audience doesn’t think, “How long are we going to be in Matthew?” Don’t get me wrong: Matthew is a great book. Most churches in need of revitalization, however, don’t need more understanding of Christ’s identity but more of the gospel applied through the letters to the churches. Plan Strategically As you plan your preaching, look at key dates. In my place of service, we have more people regularly attend the weeks in mid-August when school starts back as well as the Sunday after Labor Day, when there are no more 3-day weekends for another getaway. Launching new, growth-focused sermon series at these times is practical and wise. If I want to preach a fourpart series on stewardship (2 Corinthians 8-9) or several weeks on the family (Ephesians 5:21-6:4), it makes more sense to plan these sermons to help as many people as possible and strengthen the overall health of the church. Because of the popularity of superheroes in recent years, one year I planned a series through Judges entitled “Heroes” just as the school year was beginning. We filmed different staff members and lay leaders in superhero roles as sermon introductions each week. The congregation could hardly wait to see what staff member was going to be the next superhero. We also encouraged our congregants to say thanks to a

local hero (fire & rescue, medical field, police officers, government officials, military, etc.), give them a small gift, take a picture and post it to social media. That boosted morale for our various community workers. During my church’s down times, I plan what people want to hear, so they are more likely to show up rather than take the weekend getaway. For example, when I preached portions of Revelation in the summer, our slowest time of the year, we actually had a bit of a boost. Of course, with thousands of sermons available online now, some people don’t care if they miss a sermon, because they will listen later. Many people, however, still understand the impact of hearing it live and will want to be present for something that piques their interest. Conclusion I hope these suggestions are helpful to you. I pray God uses His Word in your life and ministry to rekindle the fire in your church so the people grow together spiritually and reach others, especially as you come through the summer slump. May God bless your preaching and the plans and hopes you set in place for His glory and the good of His people.

If your church is like most churches, you deal with a summer slump in attendance, budget and general ministry. To compensate for this slump, many churches build most of their ministries around the school year, especially with ministries related to children, youth and music.

Joel Breidenbaugh is the lead pastor of FBC Sweetwater where he has led the church in revitalization and renewal. He is a contributing author to a new Christian Theology book due out early next year.

Keys to Planning a Family-Frendly Fall Continued...

By Bill Hegedus reach our community around us and demonstrate the value the church places on helping grow great families? Armed with the answers to these questions you can make an amazing and impactful fall plan. Use the answers as a lens to filter your ideas. For example, this year our pastor knew he would be doing a message series based on the family for five weeks this fall. Because we knew this in advance, it allowed us to partner with what was already going to be happening in the adult service. We thought it would be really great if the teachings were across the board in every ministry. For both our students and our children, we would match our lessons with the bottom line the pastor was teaching for that week. That means on week two for the series when he is addressing the importance of sticking with it and not giving up on your marriage, we will be teaching the students and children the importance of perseverance and why we shouldn’t give up when things get hard, lean into God for encouragement. Just by doing this simple adjustment, we have created the opportunity for discussion to happen further at home, because everyone was taught the same overall message. Anytime you can line up across ministry areas that is a win in my book. It lines up with answers from all three of the preplanning questions. Not every event or plan will line up with all three answers, but is should line up with at least two of them. Here is another example. From talking to my Pastor, I knew he wanted to do a few things this fall to reach out to families in our community who normally don’t attend church. The team went to work and came up with the idea of doing something called “Family FX, a shared family experience”. This is a simple fall festival of sorts. We didn’t want to do a full-blown fall festival; our goal was something that fostered fellowship and a sense of community for all who attend. So, we basically combined the energy of a fall festival with the fellowship of a church picnic. Something for everyone, kids, students and adults was our goal. Games, food, and fun all ending with a movie on the lawn for the entire family. We also specifically planned this on a Friday night, because people who normally don’t attend church are more likely to attend an event for the

first time rather than a service. It was also a great way for unchurched families to get to know the church for who the church really is, the people, not the Sunday service. We have found this approach to produce amazing results with many new families going to the church and coming to know Christ. Now these are just two small examples of strategic fall planning. These guidelines are in no way me telling you what to do, but to help you understand the importance of planning and to encourage you to plan ahead. This is meant to help you plan with a purpose that puts feet to the things your church wants to accomplish this fall. Finally, and most importantly, remember to pray. Plans without prayer tend to be about what we do, instead of what God can do through us. God is the one we should look to glorify and honor no matter what we do. Have a great fall season.

Bill Hegedus is the Family Pastor at Bethlehem Church in Atlanta. Bill has over 15 years experience ministering to kids and families and currently serves as the Family Pastor of Bethlehem Church. His heart and passion is to help kids understand and live out a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. Often described as a big kid himself, Bill uses laughter and innovation to do ministry in an exciting and memorable way kids enjoy.

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Harvest Time By Ron Smith There is something refreshing about the fall. There is also something universally true during the fall and that is the idea of the harvest. Fall harvest is a huge part of the season. Almost every region in the United States welcomes a harvest. Many families decorate their houses and yards in anticipation for the fall season. For the church, this is a great time to get on board with a natural season. Of course many churches offer fall themed events but I am adding to this. Don’t make the mistake of only hosting a Fall Festival, Trunk or Treat or Judgment House. Include this event but think deeper, bigger and longer. Just as the fall season brings its own culture, you as a church leader can also think culture. Think beyond an event and think about preparing your church for a season of harvest. No matter what region of the US you live in your area stores will be full of fall decorations; straw bales, scarecrows, pumpkin, apples, and sunflowers. It’s an anticipated time of change. This is huge for the church. Let me explain how to think harvest. Just months removed from the fall are three big holidays, Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas. And just months away from Christmas is Easter. How we plan now in the summer for the fall willcarry us to Easter. This is when we can expect a harvest. Don’t miss that. Of course you can expect and plan for a literal harvest in the fall, and you should think this way. But it is the fall season that carries us to Easter. It takes months for people to hear our message, establish a rapport, and feel directed to “attend” or even join our community of faith. It also takes months, if not years, for some churches to prepare for a harvest. So how do you plan for the harvest? Think church wide campaign – think both in-reach and outreach. Use the fall harvest season to usher in a 28

new season of thinking, connecting, worshipping, serving and being. Here is what I mean; plan a themed approach for the months of September and October that has events built into it for church members and for the community that you are trying to reach. Let me give you some examples that will help you see the plan. 1) SMILE Smile was an 8-week campaign where I taught through the book of Philippians. The goal was to put a smile on someone’s face. It’s that simple. We partnered with the Florida Baptist Children’s Home sponsoring kids and going on missions. We held large-scale events for the community but we also held little events within our church for the church. The design behind this was to teach the joy of Christ, the beauty of belonging to a church and the importance of being authentic and real. For our church it was a reminder of how simple and powerful a smile is. A smile opens many doors. 2) Us Together Us Together is a campaign designed to “celebrate community.” Again this is both in-reach and outreach. The in-reach side of things is built upon events with the church like Children’s, Students and Life Groups. The outreach component is then capitalizing on these internal events asking our people to invite friends. For example, our Children’s ministry is collecting boxes large enough for a small child to sit in. These kids take a box, decorate it, and bring it back for family movie night. The kids are encouraged to take extra boxes, invite friends, have their friends decorate and join them for movie night at the church. On the first Sunday of the campaign, we hand out large puzzle pieces and encourage each family to decorate their piece. And then on the last Sunday of the campaign we place our numbered pieces on a wall. This wall gives us a look at Us Together but it also has missing pieces along the edges, symbolizing we still need others to join Us.

The whole point of a fall campaign is to introduce a movement of mission, change and trajectory. Take advantage of the built fall season by utilizing the natural season as a catalyst for growth and needed change. Theming your fall does not have to be costly. Through creativity you can simply place emphasis where needed for your church to be on mission. Theming a season for your church is also a great time to develop needed areas of ministry. In the above scenarios we used the theme to emphasize missions. Smile was a fun way to get people engaged while at the same time teaching on a great book of the Bible. In both fall themes we as a staff and church leaders were able to address areas of development within our body. We needed leaders in key areas of our ministry and we needed them trained before Easter. Overall, in both campaigns it was a very soft way to keep them on mission and keep them engaged in ministry. The more we can keep our church engaged in ministry the more often they will see the need and recall the churches mission. Like every church we also needed to keep a constant presence in the community. Finding ways to hand out Smile cards and hold Smile events really kept us in the community where the community existed; malls, parks, schools, and ball fields. Us Together also called on the diversity of the body to reach the diversity of the community. It challenged us to make sure we were a church for the community. Within the campaigns we as church leaders had to think through mindsets and ministries that either helped the cause of hurt the cause. We re-evaluated our church membership process, our marketing process, our social media presence and our own language we used with our church leaders. One of the hazards in serving as a volunteer in the church is we forget what it felt like to be un-

churched. Seasonal campaigns remind us that not everyone speaks church language and not everyone makes Sunday a priority. This type of thinking kept us planning for those we were not reaching instead of planning to keep who have. Let’s recap. Capitalize on the natural harvest season of the fall by… 1. Theming this season with an in-reach and outreach campaign 2. Use this season to look at weak areas of your churches mission and structure. 3. Design the campaign to address these issues but in a fun, friendly way not in a lecture style, “we need to change” statement. 4. Take the strengths you have, put creativity to it, call out the areas you need help, list out the possibilities, recruit/equip/send and have fun living life on mission. The goal for this theme is to reap a harvest. Your harvest may be the church getting off the sidelines and serving. Your harvest may be physical growth or it could be a presence in the community that leads to open doors and harvest 6 months later come Easter. Either outcome is a harvest. Try it this fall. See what change comes with this season.

Ron Smith is the lead pastor of Waterstone a church working towards revitalization and renewal. He leads the National Coaching Network for the Renovate Group as its lead coach. Ron is a husband to Rana, father to three girls. Ron is the author of Churches Gone Wild. You can follow Ron and receive free resources at RonBSmithJr.com. Ron serves as CO-Leader of Renovate Pod-casts as well as serving on staff of the Renovate Coaching Network.

Gaining Momentum in Revitalization Leading revitalization efforts will require you to use a plethora of tools in the revitalization toolbox; Biblical preaching, communication, sound cultural exegesis, faith, and ability to lead change to name a few. But, there may be few disciplines as important as your ability to be a visionary. Can you receive God’s vision? Can you cast/communicate God’s vision? Can you organize to accomplish God’s vision? Can you celebrate God’s vision when it is accomplished? Vision likely becomes one of the most important weapons at fighting mediocrity and laziness in the church. Gaining momentum in your revitalization efforts will certainly not be limited to your ability to be a visionary, but it will include your ability to be a visionary leader. A simple Internet search of the phrase “vision statement” will point you to over fifteen million websites dealing with vision. Admittedly, not every one of those sites is going to prove beneficial for the church. Nevertheless, this exercise validates how important vision is in our world. Most every church, school, and business functions with some type of vision in place. Yet, the discussion of vision is not new to this generation, but rather was introduced by Solomon many years ago. Proverbs 29:18 reads, “Where there is no revelation (or vision), the people cast off restraint.” Solomon understood that vision is a critical point, as it give focus, purpose, direction and clarity to people. Beyond that, why else is vision so important? Vision is inspiring Here is a very clear distinction that is important for you to understand: your vision is not inspiring! Lest you think that I am just rude, I will say the same about myself. My vision is not inspiring! Yet, so many churches and church programs are being fueled by man-made dreams and visions. Are there some great ideas out there? No doubt! Are there creative people out there? Absolutely! The problem lies in the reality that we, as compared to God, have such a limited view and scope of the future. What can be more exciting and inspiring

By Michael Atherton

than carrying out the vision that God has for your church? You see, it is very possible that God has a vision for your church that is not going to be found in a book or on the Internet. In fact, He is only going to reveal it when you are ready to stop and listen to Him. But I can assure you that when you hear from a bush that does not burn up, you will be inspired. When you sit in the belly of a fish for three days, you will be inspired. When the chains loosen and the walls shake at the sounds of praising God, you will be inspired. The only fuel that will sustain the ministry of your church over the long haul is a dedication to receive and follow a God-given vision! Vision develops your faith Once you receive a vision from God, the next logical step is where faith comes into the equation. Lord, how are we going to do this? It is at this point that you run down the mental inventory of resources that you have available. You begin to take into account the people (their gifts, talents, and abilities), timetables, finances, and materials to see if the task ahead is humanly possible. Then you remember that God never said His vision was humanly possible. In fact, that is often not the case. God wants to do something in you and through you that can glorify His name. Vision motivates sacrifice When the people of the church begin to give out of their desire to see God’s purposes accomplished, great things happen. When vision takes root in the life of a church, people will begin to give sacrificially and joyfully. People will give their time. People will give of their finances. People will give up their classrooms. People will give up their pride. People will give up their positions. People will give up their building. People will give up their preferences. People will sacrifice whatever stands between them and the vision that God has laid upon their hearts. As a result, you will be left with a church that is not afraid

of sacrifice because they have seen what God can do through those who are willing to make difficult sacrifices. Vision sustains ministry One of my most frustrating experiences, while I was attending seminary, was going to class every Monday and listening to one of my counterparts complain about the ministry situation that God had placed them in. There is no sense in denying that ministry has its ups and downs. Ministry is tough. Ministry can hurt. Ministry challenges you in ways in which we do not often want to be challenged. However, vision is what helps you wake up on Monday ready to keep at it. Vision sustains ministry. Vision produces loyalty A shared vision has the ability to unite people in a way that very few other things can. Far too many churches today are being held together by personalities, programs, or buildings. But, when a church has the opportunity to share a vision, the glue that keeps the church strong will come as a result of God’s hand at work. Vision requires change Vision eventually becomes the antithesis of the status quo, and change is the conduit that brings a vision into existence. Even though the outcome is often celebrated, the means by which a church experiences the blessings of God’s handiwork is often accompanied with a great deal of fear and anxiety. Recognizing the difficulties of change and walking delicately through the waves of change will help a church gain the necessary confidence to press on despite the cloudy view ahead. A concluding thought… Following God’s vision is always the right choice, but it is not always an easy trek. It will cost you physically, mentally, socially, financially, and spiritually. A number of years ago, I heard a sermon by Adrian Rogers, wherein he made the comment:

“The bitterness of poor quality lingers long after the sweetness of cheap price has been forgotten.” He was making the point, if you pay a price for something, it is something that you will value and you will soon forget the price because it was well worth it. Such is the case for following God’s vision in the life of the church. It is going to cost you something, but it will be well worth the cost!

Vision likely becomes one of the most important weapons at fighting mediocrity and laziness in the church. Gaining momentum in your revitalization efforts will certainly not be limited to your ability to be a visionary, but it will include your ability to be a visionary leader.

Dr. Michael Atherton, Senior Pastor First Baptist Church of O’Fallon, O’Fallon, Missouri. Mike has served as a Senior Pastor for 15 years. Leading a church in a church merger, he has learned firsthand the challenges of a revitalizer. Mike is the author of The Revitalized Church. Mike leads a Mentored Master of Divinity program at Golden Gate Baptist Theological Seminary and is past President of the Colorado Baptist Convention. 31

As we think about sustaining church revitalization in the local church, consider that in these declining churches most members have not been members there fr fifteen years. A pastor of a dying church recently said, “If you can keep them for 15 years, you must be doing something right.” Did you know that the average membership length of time for an evangelical church is only nine years and charismatic churches burn people out in a little less than six years. To revitalize a church one must be focused on doing real disciple-making. So if we drop a person’s tenure to something like ten years, then we would need to incorporate 30 new people each year. A church with an average Sunday attendance (ASA) of 100 would need to incorporate 20 people. Sustainability can be achieved but it does not happen without a plan to connect and reach with ones community. - Tom Cheyney

Leveraging Your Vision Statement to Achieve Focus By Lee Kricher Amplify Church, located in the eastern suburbs of Pittsburgh, embarked on a revitalization journey in late 2003. After years of declining attendance, the church was on the verge of closing its doors. Over the coming months and years, we prayerfully put into place a number of change strategies with the hope of turning things around. Thankfully, the church became healthy again. Not only has attendance increased from under 200 people to over 2000 people, the average age of those attending Amplify Church has decreased from 50 to 35 years old. Every generation is well represented for the first time in many years.

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If you had a vision statement for your life, what would it look like? God has a specific purpose and plan for your life and for how you will make a difference in this world. I recently wrote down what I believe is God’s vision for my life.

To be the earth’s most customer-centric company, where customers can find and discover anything they might want to buy online.

To spend eternity in heaven after building… - a lifelong, successful marriage - close, loving relationships with my children and grandchildren

a thriving church that has a high impact for generations to come the effectiveness of countless leaders

Paul was encouraging the Colossians to live focused lives when he wrote, “Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.” (Colossians 3:2) Unfocused people seldom live up to their potential. A personal vision statement helps to focus time, energy and resources in a specific direction. The same is true for an organizational vision statement. Read the vision statement below and see if you can tell which organization it is from:

It is the vision of Amazon. It is clear and concise and progress toward this vision can be observed every day. If a vision statement is meant to channel time, energy and resources in a specific direction, it is obvious-

ly wise for each local church to have a vision statement around which people can rally. It provides a much-needed anchor – especially during times of revitalization and change. After researching organizations that had a long and steady track record of success, Jim Collins documents his conclusions in the book Built to Last. He writes, “Contrary to popular wisdom, the proper first response to a changing world is not to ask, ‘How should we change?’ but rather to ask, ‘What do we stand for and why do we exist?’ This should never change. And then feel free to change everything else.” When I became the Senior Pastor of Amplify Church in 2003, it was clear that we had somehow lost sight of why we existed as a church. We had become a church that was primarily about trying to keep the dwindling number of people who were still attending rather than trying to reach people in our community who were not attending our church or any other church - including the next generation. Things had to change dramatically if the church was to become the church that God created us to be. I felt that a clear and compelling vision statement could be a powerful tool for directing and redirecting the way we were spending our time, energy, and resources at Amplify Church. I knew that an effective vision statement typically has four characteristics. 1. It is Clear. No one wonders what it means. 2. It is Concise. It is short enough to fit on a T-shirt. 3. It is Inspiring. It resonates deeply with people in the organization. 4. It is Useful. It is worded in a way that helps to provide direction and shape decision-making. Our church’s vision was not clear. It was not concise. It was so long that it would not have fit on a size XXL T-shirt. Since almost no one in the church knew what it was, it could not be inspiring or useful. So in 2003, we adopted a new vision statement at Amplify Church: To lead as many people as possible into a growing relationship with Jesus Christ.

We felt a need to include the words “as many people as possible” because somehow a number of people in our church had embraced a statement that is popular with declining churches: “God is more concerned with quality than quantity.” This led to complacency despite our rapidly declining attendance. The thinking was that even though we were losing people, at least those who remained were “high-quality” people. Of course this attitude automatically categorized those who had left the church as low-quality people. It also categorized those who had never attended the church as low-quality people. One of the people who took exception to the new vision statement said, “Those of us who are still left need to focus on our own spiritual growth and depth before we try to reach others.” While I understood this person’s point of view, I knew this way of thinking would mean that the church would never reach out because we would never become “deep” enough. Contrast this way of thinking with the apostle Paul who was sharing his faith within days of his conversion. Personal growth and reaching out to others must both be priorities for every Christian. They are parallel priorities that are not in competition with one another. Our new vision statement was quoted at every weekend service. Actually, we still quote it at every service. I spoke often in weekend messages during the first two years after assuming the role of senior pastor about our new vision statement and its implications. It was discussed in every staff and leadership meeting. It also appeared on every key church communication. Before long, anyone who attended the church for any period of time had it memorized. Soon people started to let go of their excuses for not sharing their faith or inviting others to church. No longer did I hear, “I don’t know enough Bible verses to share my faith” or “I need to have my act better together before inviting someone else to church.” Instead, each person began to believe that he or she was perfectly positioned in someone’s life to impact that person for Jesus Christ. We began the much-needed change from being internally focused to externally focused. Our church once again became a place where people far from

God could find the hope and purpose that can only be found in Jesus Christ. Instead of just hoping that our church would survive, we began to take on an increasing urgency to be used by God to change the world. The wording of our vision statement was not what helped to spark our church transformation. It was what the words represented. Our clear vision allowed us to make the difficult decisions about which programs, ministries, and practices were absolutely essential to start reaching people again – and which could and should be let go. By leveraging our vision statement, we achieved the focus and direction we needed to begin to become the church God created us to be. How can you leverage your church’s vision statement to better focus people on reaching those who are far from God – including the next generation?

When I became the Senior Pastor of Amplify Church in 2003, it was clear that we had somehow lost sight of why we existed as a church. We had become a church that was primarily about trying to keep the dwindling number of people who were still attending rather than trying to reach people in our community who were not attending our church or any other church.

Lee Kricher, Senior Pastor of Amplify Church Author of For a New Generation: A Practical Guide for Revitalizing Your Church foranewgeneration.com

Show and Tell – Which makes more of an Impression? Making the “Fall” a Journey Together! Remember the days of Show and Tell at school (I hope I’m not dating myself too severely)? I was most impressed when one of my classmates would bring some object that fully displayed their story. My most vivid memory was a show and tell by Danny, one of my good buddies. He brought a fish tank (actually his dad brought the tank). In it were three piranhas. He explained that these fish were not aggressive flesh-eaters as many had proclaimed and to prove his point, he placed his hand in the tank and swirled it around the fish. The room full of elementary students gasped with fear, but to our surprise, Danny got to keep his fingers and there was not even one nick on his digits. Telling got us to listen, but seeing the demonstration made us believers. As an Associational Director of Missions, I have been alarmed by the number of pastors who share with me that they are oblivious why their church is at a standstill, or worse, declining. All too often, I hear, “I keep telling them over and over again that they need to do or be such and such…. (you can fill in the blank with just about any ministry activity or spiritual attitude you can imagine) and they just don’t listen or they just won’t do it.” It appears they believe if they say something from the pulpit long enough and loud enough that their congregation should just get it and accomplish the thing or adjust their attitudes like little automaton droids! Within hours of starting this article, I received a fresh illustration via an encounter with a pastor. He stated, “They just don’t get what I’m telling them to do!” The problem unpacked in the conversation was the pastor wasn’t willing to do the ministry with them! He expected them to take the ball and run with it without being the coach who was modeling which goal post to run toward. We must practice a new strategy that can get us off

By Tracy W. Jaggers

the ground and running solidly into the new church year. This strategy must answer the following two questions: Who has God called us to be in this world? And, what has God called us to accomplish for the expansion of His Kingdom here on planet earth? It appears that personal discipleship and coaching is too time consuming to be worthy of many of today’s pastors. Yes, family time is vital and there should be safeguards to ensure that family needs are met, but the church body is a part of our eternal family and as such, should have quality time as well. So how do we ensure that both family groups are being cared for and trained with equal vigor? I propose to you that we must change our systems, giving balanced time to both the presentation of the Word of God and the preparation of gifted entrepreneurs who can use their business, their reputation and their passion for the training of new leaders. For this to happen, we must model the type of coaching that is required for this new system to succeed. We need LESS TELLERS and MORE SHOW-ERS! Jesus modeled ministry before His apostles and the masses that followed. He didn’t tell them how to fish for men, He modeled “human fishing.” Second, He sent them out with a partner to do what He had already modeled, and asked for a report on the ministry’s effectiveness. Finally, He sent them on their way, to continue mirroring the discipling-lifestyle. They were to be the witness He commanded and trained them to be, for the continued growth and health of the Kingdom of God (Matthew 28:18-20; Acts 1:7-8). We can no more expect a believer to live out the Great Commission, the Great Commandment and His final command to witness to the world any more than we can expect a newborn to dress themselves. We must take the time and effort to train, teach and model the process to Kingdom health. I will do my best in the balance of this article to give you some tools to help make this strategy a reality so we can “fall” into a healthy new church year. --Continued on page 62

Understanding Youth Ministry withYour Spouse Continued’

By Drew Cheyney

being the center of everything impacts every single thing that we do. When my wife and I cheat on our quiet time it shows in our marriage. When our prayer lives are hollow we are less patient. When I am barren in my worship it shows in my leadership in every category, both home and ministry. This has to be a priority because everything that happens in your relationship with God flows into everything else you do and even more so, loving God in your life individually impacts your married life.

work and working more, that is a sure fire way to lead your marriage straight to the courthouse of separation and divorce.

Tip: Everything you do flows out of this… EVERYTHING!

You will be a leader and pastor to many, but you will only be husband and dad to a few.

4. Have Fun

Keep that in mind. Looking forward to unpacking this at greater length during the Renovate Conference this November.

It is amazing how many couples are so busy that they do not have time to have fun with their spouse. They have all the time in the day to work, but not enough time to go on a date… Really? You can handle that student’s distress call, but not make a reservation. Seriously! The problem is that if you do not make this part of your life, you remove the closeness your relationship should have. And when you remove that closeness, what happens is that when bad things happen (which they will), there is nothing to look forward to.

No matter what fancy title you will receive, no matter how big your youth ministry will one day be, no matter how much clout you’re given for your success, who you are has more to do with what is going on at home then it will ever have to do with what is going on in ministry. So here is the final tip of the article:

Drew Cheyney is the Associate Youth Pastor at Element Church in Wentzville, MO and is a frequent writer on Revitalization of Churches through student

Tip: If fun for you is coming home after a day of

“Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst

of wolves; therefore be shrewd

as serpents, and

innocent as doves…Anyone who welcomes you welcomes me, and

anyone who welcomes me

welcomes the one who sent me” Matthew 10:16 & 40

RenovateConference.org/church-partners

Would you consider partnering with Renovate to help us revitalize churches across North America? You can do so by including us into your church’s Annual Church Budget. Your Monthly or Annual Support will help us continue to scholarship pastors and leaders of declining churches to the annual Church Revitalization Conference. Here are three ways you can become a Church Alliance Partner with Renovate National Church Revitalization Conference, in return for your partnership we will give you: RESTORER RE-INVENTOR LEVEL LEVEL Monthly or Annual Support

RENOVATOR LEVEL

$25 / $250

$50 / $500

$100 / $1,000

FREE Passes to Renovate

Digital Access to Downloadable Resources

Unlimited

Virtual Coaching Network Membership

√

$1,100 Value

$4,900 Value

Personal Coaching From Tom Cheyney & Renovate Staff $500 Value

How to Become A Church Alliance Partner Please register online to begin your alliance partnership with Renovate National Church Revitalization Conference at RenovateConference.org/church-partners 37

Sustaining by Training Fall is coming and you may be in the process of finishing up the details for a new program or a back-to-school event that you hope will give your church momentum. People will be returning from vacation mode and families will be turning their attention to the cycle of school, sports and weekends. Many churches see this as the real New Year’s Day and want to make it a happy one where people resolve to reconnect with their faith community. What could be better than planning activities that will pull people back to church? The challenge we face as people called to serve as leaders in Jesus’ church is not whether we can do another activity. The challenge is whether the activities our churches plan will accomplish what we hope they would. In other words, if your church is going to gain and sustain momentum, what you spend your resources of time and people on matters. I have been asked many times by church leaders I coach what activities they need to add that will best help their churches draw people to church and impact their lives. I reply that adding activities is not the goal of a sustainable church. It is not the purpose of a church to keep people busy doing things—even good things—to fill up their free time. In fact, in many areas the school system and local sports programs surpass the church in 38

the quality of their activities, if people are looking for activities. If anything, ‘more is not better’ in making a church sustainable. Adding another program with probably not make much of a long-term change in your church’s local footprint. If anything, it may be the tipping point that burns out already overtaxed volunteers. I’ve heard this lament often. Nor is less better. Some churches have gone the other way, dropping a lot of their activities with the suggestion that people use their free time to spend it with friends or family. This may sound like a good plan, but many people just fill up their lives with outside activities instead. You find your church competing for the attention of your attenders all over again.

They came to the conclusion that they were activities rich, but impact poor. They noted that they had a full range of things for attenders to do if they wanted to be involved, but none of these good things took them into the lives of people who were not part of their church.

By Steve Smith

Sustainability comes from doing the right things better. A declining church I am coaching recently went on a leaders’ retreat as part of the first phase of their church renewal process. They had taken the Triage for the Stuck Church Evaluation, which examines the health of five critical church systems (Spiritual Life—Vision—Evangelizing— Discipling—Leadership Training). Four of the five systems were on life-support, so their retreat had a sense of urgency. As they explored their church’s ministries, they came to the conclusion that they were activities rich, but impact poor. They noted that they had a full range of things for attenders to do if they wanted to be involved, but none of these good things took them into the lives of people who were not part of their church. None led them to rub shoulders with lost people so they could sow the gospel. None prepared them to even walk a new believer through the basic truths of being a disciple. This discovery did not discourage them. Instead, the participants felt this exercise was a moment of truth for them—an eye opening experience which convicted their hearts of the unmet needs their church should be addressing in their community. But instead of immediately adding more activities to get people ‘involved’

in outreach, they realized they needed to be trained as leaders to first do the work of ministry Jesus gave them, then to invite their congregation to join them. In choosing training over activities to go forward, this leadership group is recognizing the issue of sustainability. We can do an activity that has impact on our weekly turnout—maybe a bump that raises attendance by 5-10% for weeks, even several months. But most churches will see this bump fade away as people get busy with other activities on weekends. To have a sustained impact, training leaders—and then everyone else—to effectively live and sow the faith outside the walls is far more necessary. Training, in turn, can change what your congregation invests their time in. Training leaders in evangelism and discipleship is not difficult. However, many pastors I know default to the classroom model for training. They get the best book or program on evangelism and prepare lessons. Then they invite people for a number of weeks to hear formal talks about the subject. In contrast, I believe that, while people need to know how to evangelize and disciple, informal on-the-job training produces better results. Recently, the church I serve in decided to reach out to a marginalized development not far from our building. Several of our attenders lived there. At first, people went over to help one man clear off his property so he could have a place for his modular home. Then one of the

leaders asked him if the group could host a barbeque for the neighborhood on his property. Nothing fancy, just brats and burgers. Some others came with left-over bread from Panera to give away. Prayer was offered for anyone who needed it. What started as a three hour event lasted from morning to midnight. Neighborhood people came for food and were drawn to the gospel. And people just kept showing up in ones and twos hours after the official end of the barbeque, not looking for food, but because they heard someone in their community cared about them.

will change your leaders. In turn, those leaders will bring change to your congregation. Training will sustain you not just into the Fall, but will have far reaching effects on what your church will become. If you are interested in discussing how you can become a sustainable church or curious about the Triage Evaluation, you can contact me through my website at www. churchequippers.com.

What is interesting about this event was that many of the church people had never done anything like this before. None of them were formally trained. But just talking to people gave them confidence to return there several times to continue connecting with the lost, and to seek more formal evangelizing training so they could share the gospel more readily. Why? Because now they were motivated. What’s more, a number of the people they talked to have confessed faith in Jesus, are now coming to church and will be discipled. This growing group of leaders is now looking at another nearby development to do it again and is inviting others in the church to join them. If you choose this kind of training for church renewal over adding in-church activities, it

Steve Smith is the founder of

ChurchEquippers Ministries. He is the author of several books including The Key to Deep Change and the Increasing Capacity Guidebook. He is a strategic thinker, a relational networker, a mentor and coach to pastors and young leaders.

The Imploding Church: What to Do When It’s All Falling Apart Do you know the name Edward

J. Smith? What about Francesco Schettino? Edward Smith was the Captain of the HMS Titanic when it struck an iceberg in the northern Atlantic and sunk two hours later, killing 1,517 people. Francesco Schettino was Captain of the Costa Concordia, which struck rock off the coast of Italy, capsizing and killing thirty-two. These men have more in common than their ignominious ship disasters. Most experts agree that both men could have saved more lives if they had reacted differently during their respective disasters. It is widely known that Captain Smith quit issuing orders and withdrew from people while the Titanic was sinking. Instead of supervising the loading of lifeboats, he “froze up” and went quiet. Captain Schettino was so overwhelmed by the circumstances surrounding him that he abandoned his own ship while passengers were still aboard. Mental health experts describe these phenomena by several names: Psychological Shock, Mental Shock, and Active Stress Reaction. Whatever one chooses to call it, it is the response to a terrifying or traumatic event. Put simply, if a person is bombarded by crises and the demands placed upon him are excessive, he may simply freeze up and cease to function effectively. When this happens to a leader the consequences can be disastrous and catastrophic. Perhaps pastors of churches that are dying experience something similar. Let me propose a scenar40

io. Say a pastor of a struggling church experiences a series of crisis-moments in a brief period of time. Several families in the church are unhappy and begin leaving the fellowship. The church’s finances, already at a low point, take hit-after-hit as these faithful, giving families leave in succession. Conflict arises in the church, including conflict leveled at the pastor. The church begins to polarize and there is talk that the pastor is going to be asked to resign. There is a struggle for control of the church and the next business meeting promises to be a full-blown war. Meanwhile, the Youth Pastor, a tremendous asset to the church, is offered a ministry position at another church and tenders his resignation. The deacons of the church have taken the position that, instead of supporting the pastor, they will just help the church to maintain the peace. Teachers and other church workers begin quitting their positions without helping to secure their replacements (more work for the pastor). The pastor begins to have nightmares, begins to lose his appetite. He fixates on certain hateful individuals and rehashes the critical comments made about him. The pastor is tired, his health is failing, his marriage is suffering, and although he has tried to find another church to serve, no one is calling. He questions his calling from God and even considers leaving the ministry altogether. The pastor has essentially shut down. Sound familiar?

So much comes at the pastor, and so quickly, that there is little time to address one problem, let alone multiple problems. Before he can even address these problems, even more problems are added to his plate, and then some more. The pastor becomes despondent and shuts down. He does not want to deal with people or their problems; he has enough problems of his own. He truly loves his church, but is simply overwhelmed by the circumstances. The church expects him to act but he is not able. The pressure to deal with the church’s problems only compounds his circumstances. This form of ministry shock, if not addressed, leads to the familiar symptoms of PTSD, which can last for months, even years. The truth is, I have been there and the scenario that I offered is basically the nightmare that I lived through in my church. But I am not alone in this. I have spoken to multiple pastors who have experienced the very same thing. One told me that I was describing him and his church to a tee. After I shared this material with the Revitalization Team of my Association, I was strongly encouraged to develop this further and make it available to the pastors and the churches. Let me offer some counsel to you and those you know going through similar trauma. First, ask for some time. We may feel that the church,

By Terry Rials and our ministry, is in so much trouble that the church will not be able to pay its bills and may have to dismiss staff in order to survive, but that is not really the case. In all my years of working with churches in revitalization, I can tell you this. Churches live longer than people think. They may be hanging on by a thread, but they hang on for a long time. Ask the church and key leaders for time to address these issues. Ask people to bear with you six months because in six months, things can be vastly different. Second, you need to know that good people do not fight. It would be nice if some of your supporters would just stand up to the bullies in the church, but they do not. It does not mean that they do not love and support you; good people just do not fight. You probably have the support of the majority of your members, even if they are silent. Do this exercise - take a moment and look up at the ceiling tiles. How many bad ones do you see? Count themâ&#x20AC;ŚNow count the good ones. You are where you are because God put you there. Stay put and stay faithful. Third, talk it out. Find someone you trust and talk about these things. Do not keep them bottled up inside you. Remember, Jesus split His own church! In the synagogue in Capernaum many of His disciples decided that following Jesus was just too hard for them. The Apostle Paul admitted that he had enemies. How many New Testament writers addressed

conflict in the church? You are not the whole problem; you may be part of it, but you are not all of it. You can be the pastor, but you are not the church. Fourth, take responsibility for your mistakes. You have to own them because they are of your doing. You must ask for forgiveness if you have hurt people and change your attitude and behavior to prove your remorse. This does not necessarily mean that you will be forgiven. It is my experience that the church is not very good at forgiving, but you will go nowhere without addressing your failures. If you have yet to experience anything like what I have just described, count your blessings and prepare yourself for what will happen to you one day. It is not if this will happen to you, but when it will happen to you! Airlines know that they must train their pilots to deal with multiple system failures, which come at the pilot all at once. Pilots are trained to manage these crises and are drilled over and over until they get it right in the simulator! Pastors have to do it in real life in real time. Revitalizers like me are working hard to prepare our pastors for the future eventualities of church conflict and decline. We are here to help. For now, prepare yourself mentally for what you will experience one day. Learn to attack problems by addressing them immediately. Peal the onion â&#x20AC;&#x201C; take on one problem at a time. Train your leadership to handle crises and practice delegating

problems that do not require your attention. We are called to be overseers, as well as shepherds and elders. Never neglect overseeing this part of your ministry.

Find someone you trust and talk about these things. Do not keep them bottled up inside you. Remember, Jesus split His own church! In the synagogue in Capernaum many of His disciples decided that following Jesus was just too hard for them. The Apostle Paul admitted that he had enemies. How many New Testament writers addressed conflict in the church? You are not the whole problem; you may be part of it, but you are not all of it.

Dr. Terry Rials is the founder of ChurchRevitalizer.com, serves as the Senior Pastor of the Crestview Baptist Church of Oklahoma City, and leads the Church Revitalization Team Leader for Capital Baptist Association. He earned his doctorate in Church Revitalization at Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary and is a frequent conference speaker. He is co author of The Nuts & Bolts of Church Revitalization!

Sailing Past Summer Ministry Doldrums Pastoring in a town where the engine of tourism feeds the local economy, I understand the rationale behind slowing the pace during summer. Summer can be a great reprieve, yet, without intentional, focused planning many church revitalizers fail to regain momentum coming out of the summer doldrums. Procrastination, a lack of a call to action, and good as the enemy of great all serve to hinder ministry momentum. Healthy church revitalization includes times of focused ministry as well as times of rest. Apply these four steps to profit from the slow winds of summer while punching the ministry throttle into high gear as summer draws to a close. 1. Prioritize the Gospel in Your Own Family. Summer is a time when families go camping and busy parents slow down to spend much needed time together. This can be healthya good thing. In fact, many pastors might rightly be reminded of the benefits of summer doldrums. Pastor’s children so frequently feel neglected that the woes belonging to a child born into a pastor’s home have become cliché. Love your wife by consistently spending quality time with her, by taking your son fishing (or whatever matters most to him), and your little girl on a daddy/daughter date. After creating the universe and all it contains God demonstrated a healthy pattern of rest following

work (Genesis 2:2). Jesus unpacks this message in Mark 2:27 telling his disciples that man was not made for the Sabbath, but the other way around. The Sabbath was made for man. Church leaders spending time with family follows this rest principle woven through the fabric of redemptive history. As a church revitalizer it could be argued you need this rest more than most. In maritime terms, the doldrums are a time of calm winds- not a great thing if you are in a sailboat. In our zeal to advance the kingdom, we often fail to see God’s hand in slowing the winds of ministry. Yet, at times, God intends these ministry doldrums as a means of blessing, allowing believers to catch their breath and rest in Him before another busy season. Just as it is not healthy to work weeks on end without a day off, we all need times of rest following seasons of intense ministry. 2. Beware of Procrastination. Too many church leaders plan ministry the way they prepare their sermons- Saturday night with no time to spare. Carey Nieuwhof, author and lead pastor of Connexus Church describes inspiration this way, “Here’s one truth I run into again and again: I almost never really feel like doing what I need to do. I rarely want to: exercise, eat healthy, get enough sleep, write, follow through on my obligations, or apologize.” Do not wait for inspiration. Plan to plan early. Nieuwhof is right that most

By Chad McCarthy

of us find it easier to focus on the fun stuff and leave the hard stuff till later. Most good ideas improve with age. Just as a good spaghetti sauce improves as the sauce is given ample time to marinate in the spices, so good ministry ideas tend to improve with ample time and planning. When the dust settles from the Fourth of July, it is time for church leaders to prioritize fall ministry planning. This holds especially true for those involved in church revitalization. More often than not, church revitalizers work with a bare bones budget and staff. Kick-start fall ministry momentum by starting to plan fall ministry a good four to eight weeks before school begins. Don’t fall prey to the lie that great ministry “just happens.” 3. Plan for Action. Plan for how you will lead the church to act on the Great Commission. Many churches have subverted the Great Commission. They function as though the Great Commission describes discipleship as telling converts all about Jesus’ commands as opposed to teaching disciples to obey (action) Jesus’ commands. Biblical discipleship calls the believer to grow in obedience, acting on Jesus’ commands, not just learning about his commands. Author Brad Young puts it this way, “In contrast to the Creeds stands the Great Commission,

where the risen Lord instructs his followers to raise up disciples in all the nations of the world, ‘teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you’ (Mathew 28:1920).” Young emphasizes Jesus’ focus on action over the Creeds as he writes, “There is no mention of what to believe in the Sermon on the Mount. The focus rather is on action: what to do and thereby fulfill the meaning of the Torah.” Young’s words should not be taken as demeaning right doctrine, but rather a demonstration by Jesus of how to wrap creed in action. Break through summer ministry doldrums by leading your congregation to action. Authors Walton and Sandy weigh in on the necessity for action writing, “Belief in authority [God’s authority] not only involves what the Bible is but also what we do with it.” Plot a course forward that demonstrates submission to God’s authority by leading your congregation to action. Teach the church about Jesus’ commands as you help them to act on Jesus’ commands. 4. Evaluate all ministry plans in light of the Great Commission. Every action a local church takes that does not bring them closer to fulfilling the Great Commission moves them away from this great task. Ministry action that is not

Great Commission focused is not healthy action. Healthy churches are in a process of becoming more like Jesus. Church revitalizers must move the church towards a more faithful expression of a Great Commission lifestyle. All ministry plans should be evaluated in light of the Great Commission. Healthy church revitalization steadily moves the church towards living out discipleship as part of the church’s DNA. Being a disciple should become synonymous with being a disciple-maker. Biblical church revitalizers must assess whether a particular action plan moves a congregation towards or away from a disciple-making culture? Does their

action plan develop a commitment to the Great Commission as part of the church’s culture? Will this forward motion reinforce or erode the congregation’s understanding that every believer has been called to make disciples? Will the church be propelled towards reproducing both individually and corporately? Are you preparing to sail through the summer ministry doldrums? Plan to impact your community this fall by planning now, by leading your church to act, and by evaluating future plans in light of the Great Commission.

Chad McCarthy is the lead pastor at Faith Baptist in Chetek, Wisconsin. Prior to pastoring in Wisconsin, Chad served in church planting for about fifteen years. He has also spent time on the mission field teaching English as a second language. He earned his Master of Divinity at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary and is working on his Ph.D. in Missiology through Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. Chad is passionate about how discipleship fuels biblical church revitalization. Chad is married to Heather. They have six children.

Turning Around a Generic Church 7Marks© of a Growing Church – Building Revitalization Upon a Church’s Gifts

By Bob Whitesel

This article is the 6th of “7Marks© of a Growing Church” uncovering church revitalization secrets from the 2015 American Congregations Study conducted by Hartford Seminary (www.FaithCommunitiesToday.org). This sixth mark is that growing churches usually have at least one “specialized program.” This is a ministry it does well and church leaders put funding/person-power behind it to expand it. Almost 52% of the growing churches could cite at least one specialized program. But less than 42% of the churches who claimed “no specialty” were growing. Church revitalization takes place in even a small and dying churches if they uncover the specialized program that God has given them. The Bible describes how God gives spiritual gifts that allow individuals to uniquely contribute to a fellowship of believers and to reach out to meet the needs of people in the community (1 Cor. 12:7, Eph. 4:7, 1 Peter 4:10). Gifts are listed in Romans 12, 1 Corinthians 12 and Ephesians 4 along with secondary gift lists in 1 Corinthians 7, 13-14; Ephesians 3 and 1 Peter 4. And, most Christians are a mixture. I’ve seen that the same type of God-empowered giftings in communities of faith. Churches often have specialized programs that

are making significant kingdom impact because God has anointed these programs.

the type of specialized ministries upon which churches have focused to reach their community.

But too often church leaders are not aware of how much an effective, specialized program can be the foundation upon which to build a revitalized church. Turning around a church means recognizing which programs are having a kingdom impact in the community and channeling more funding and volunteers to those ministries.

When revitalizing a church, and that church is small and weak, it is helpful to find a specialized, anointed program upon which the church revitalization can be built. This does not mean that everything a church specializes in, or even that it does well, is what God intends. Thus, 5-steps can help you ascertain if God has gifted a congregation with a specialized program which can become a foundation for revitalization.

God-empowered Specialized Ministries I’ve asked my students to list specialized programs they have uncovered in their own churches via a 5-step process (below). Their replies include: worship-oriented churches, preaching-gifted churches, churches that reach out to the poor, churches that have a strong Sunday school program, churches that offer tutoring for schoolchildren in the community, churches that support foreign missions, churches that support local missions, churches that plant churches, churches that launch multiple venues, churches that have large/multifaceted facilities, churches that have small but intimate facilities, churches that have strong prayer ministries, and the list goes on. It is important to recognize that churches should be competent in multiple of the above specialties. And, this not to say all of the specialized programs listed are good for everyone. But, these are

An example of a church revitalization based upon a specialized, anointed program (This example is gleaned from several case studies in order to preserve anonymity.) A small and dying church, had been trying to attract younger generations by offering contemporary music. Unfortunately, this aging congregation had never been skilled (nor seemingly anointed) in contemporary music. Therefore, these efforts failed. But, though small and dying the church had a long tradition of members weekly tutoring 5th grade students over lunch in a nearby school. When polling the community (below) it became clear that this program was much appreciated. The church began to invite younger generations to join their lunch mentoring program. Younger generations,

appreciating such service to the community, soon began attending the church. Conduct a Saturday morning community survey to find your specialized, anointed program A simple survey is conducted by a handful of church leaders who go out into the community on a Saturday morning from 10 until noon. Conducted in a public location such as the park or Civic Plaza, the leaders explain they are from a local church (identifying that church) and ask those they interview how they would describe their church. Leaders write down the replies and spend the afternoon looking for recurring programs about which people in the community know and appreciate. Be forewarned, the community will know some negative things too. Yet, it’s important to be aware of these as well. The leaders ferret out the one or two ministries for which the church is known and begin to build part of their revitalization strategy on this. This is conducted in 5-steps. Evaluate the specialized program though 5-steps 1) Describe the specialized program in two ways: A. In a first sentence, describe your

church’s specialized program. B. In a second sentence, explain what “need” it meets in the community. 2) Evaluate it for Biblical fidelity and longevity. Carefully narrow your focus to one or two ministries that can be sustained over a long period of time and which appeal to younger generations as well. A. Evaluate this specialized ministry through a biblical lens. A ministry must line up with God’s Word and His intention to reconcile the world to himself. There are many specialized programs that may not be your most appropriate avenue for spreading the Good News. B. Ask yourself if this program can be maintained over the long term. If the church is known for “a good choir,” but choirs are less appealing to the younger generations, this is probably not the specialized program upon which you can build your future. 3) Expand the program. This may require taking the focus away from other things you’re doing and refocus time and treasure on a specialized program that is having an impact. Though not easy, it is wiser to spend time and treasure on programs that God has anointed, rather than trying to simply copy what other

churches are doing. 4) Tell people you are expanding this ministry. Feature it prominently on the main page of your website and in your communication. 5) Evaluate your specialized program through the 5-steps every year. Ask people (in a community survey) about specialized programs for which your church is known. Look for an increasing awareness in the community of the specialized, anointed ministry. A specialized and impactful ministry is a characteristic of growing churches according to The American Congregations Study. These 5-steps will help you discover an anointed and specialized ministry upon which God may intend to build a revitalization. Bob Whitesel is the founding professor of Wesley Seminary at IWU, he holds his “Annual 1-Day Church Consultant Training” as a Pre-Conference to Renovate in Orlando including: • Credit available for Society of Church Consulting Training Levels 1&2 • Credit available for continuing education or 3-graduate credits through Wesley Seminary.

Bob Whitesel (D.Min. and Ph.D., Fuller Seminary) is a sought-after speaker and award-winning writer on organic outreach, church leadership and church health; who has been called by a national magazine, “the key spokesperson on change theory in the church today.” Author of 11 books in 12 years, he serves as the founding professor of Wesley Seminary at Indiana Wesleyan University and holds two doctorates from Fuller Theological Seminary. The recipient of two national McGavran awards, he is a nationally respected consultant helping churches grow and regain health. 45

FEELING STUC

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Quick Self-Assessment: Are you part of the 54%? Are you able to move forward and execute your vision for the church? Are you feeling a sense of failure or loneliness? Do you wish you had a friend or coach who knows what itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s like to be a pastor? YOUR PASTORAL SUPPORT TEAM Utilize Our Organizational Tools & Services to See How Much Less Stressful Ministry Can Be Thanks to the giving of our foundation partner, we are here to serve you.

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SOUTHERN

BAPTISTS

February 8

Criswell College, Dallas The focus for 2018 is reaching the generations in revitalization. Our focal theme is on assisting the local church address specific generational needs in its context without neglecting those who are still present. Speakers will address engaging the various generations in a reaching and discipling ministry.

COST

$15

TEXAS

David Fedele

Reaching Gen Z

Johnny Derouen

Reaching Youth

Pastor of Adult Mobilization, FBC Colleyville

Senior Pastor, FBC Mustang, OK

Mitch Tidwell

Collegiate Evangelism Associate, SBTC

Grant Skeldon

Initiative Network Founder

Kenneth Priest

Convention Strategies Director, SBTC

8:30am - 4:30pm Keynote Speaker

Jonathan Falwell

Senior Pastor, Thomas Road Baptist Church, Lynchburg, VA

Speaking on

Ministry in a MultiGenerational Church

CONVENTION

Reaching Collegians Reaching Millennials Reaching Gen X

Chris Shirley

Reaching Boomers/Builders

Chris Enright

Technology for the Generations

Professor of Discipleship Dallas Baptist University

Information Technology Associate, SBTC

Lance Crowell Church Ministries Associate, SBTC

Disciplemaking Among the Generations

sbtexas.com/revitalization 47

HELP! How Do I Get the “Big Mo” Mentum Back in My Church?

Oh what an exhilarating ride the experience of positive momentum can be! Just like the adrenaline of an amusement park ride, the ebb and flow of a giant roller coaster – when you are riding momentum it seems as if anything is possible. We all know what these exciting momentous times are like in our lives personally and in the ministry of our churches. On the other hand, the flip side of this is negative momentum or the loss of momentum. Sometimes you will hear people say things like: I can’t get into a rhythm. I don’t have it today. My shot is off today. I’m having an off day. I just can’t get anything going. We are very familiar with momentum in the world of sports. Athletic teams know what it is like to experience the thrill of regaining momentum, but there’s also the sinking feeling which accompanies the loss of momentum. We see this all the time in sports. Most churches, following the summer months, find themselves needing to regain momentum for getting back to God’s game plan (his mission and vision) for the church. Unfortunately, most churches are losing ground in the communities they are called to serve. What can you as a pastor or church leader do to regain momentum? 48

Take Responsibility First of all, as a pastor or church leader, take responsibility for, take ownership of the brutal reality of your church’s situation. Tell the truth. If you are in a decline, you are in a decline. Everyone knows it, so just say it. Don’t panic, focus on solutions. The people will appreciate your honesty and courage. If you are plateaued, the same idea holds true. Don’t get stuck on the things you can’t control, instead take action on those things God is calling and leading you and your church to do. Momentum is your church’s forward movement toward fulfilling its God-given mission. Take a moment to rate your current momentum in the ministry or church you lead: Momentum Scale 1. Stuck—No momentum 2. Losing Speed 3. Maintaining 4. Gaining Speed 5. Advancing (Unstoppable) If you are 3 or below, your church or ministry needs a boost of momentum. If you ranked yourself a 4 or 5, momentum is present but you need to be sure you know how to sustain momentum. Creating and sustaining momentum requires that you understand what gets people moving. Take a look at this definition: Momentum is sustained motivation over time to fulfill God’s mission.

By Darwin Meighan There is a very real relationship between organizational momentum and personal motivation. As personal motivation goes up so does momentum. As motivation diminishes in your team, among your attenders or even within yourself, momentum loss is inevitable. Our motivation flows out of a growing, personal relationship with Christ Jesus. His love, sacrifice and presence are what get you moving and momentum is realized. Refuel Yourself Allow God to rekindle the “mo” in you first. It’s what God is doing inside of you, what you believe, the size of your faith and the size of your God, and the hope of Christ in you that matters. Not the mistakes in the past or the mountains in front of you. If you lose hope, you can’t inspire a congregation. If you don’t believe, the people can’t believe. Your faith, knowing that God is with you matters. Through the daily practice of spiritual disciplines allow God to continue cultivating this hope and faith within you. When you do face times of discouragement, find a strong leader who is a friend and set aside some time to talk. Gain wisdom, experience, and fresh perspective. Don’t give up. Recast Vision Nothing regains momentum like communicating and inspiring the church with a winning

The Imploding Church: What to Do When It’s All Falling Apart First, ask for some time. We may feel that the church,

and our ministry, is in so much trouble that the church will not be able to pay its bills and may have to dismiss staff in order to survive, but that is not really the case. In all my years of working with churches in revitalization, I can tell you this. Churches live longer than people think. They may be hanging on by a thread, but they hang on for a long time. Ask the church and key leaders for time to address these issues. Ask people to bear with you six months because in six months, things can be vastly different.

Second, you need to know that good people do not fight. It would be nice if some of your supporters

would just stand up to the bullies in the church, but they do not. It does not mean that they do not love and support you; good people just do not fight. You probably have the support of the majority of your members, even if they are silent. Do this exercise - take a moment and look up at the ceiling tiles. How many bad ones do you see? Count them…Now count the good ones. You are where you are because God put you there. Stay put and stay faithful.

message. Momentum is fueled by vision and activated by faith. Vision is the source and fuel of momentum, and it is faith which activates God’s hand toward momentum. Without a clear and compelling vision, there is no direction to follow. Without faith, there is no invitation for God to provide a power larger than what human leadership can muster. It takes both large vision and great faith to see momentum catch traction. Clear mission and vision create real motivation. If there is confusion among your team they will be less motivated to get moving. When the vision is fuzzy few people follow. If momentum seems low, ask yourself these questions: • Have I been crystal clear about

Third, talk it out. Find someone you trust and talk about these

things. Do not keep them bottled up inside you. Remember, Jesus split His own church! In the synagogue in Capernaum many of His disciples decided that following Jesus was just too hard for them. The Apostle Paul admitted that he had enemies. How many New Testament writers addressed conflict in the church? You are not the whole problem; you may be part of it, but you are not all of it. You can be the pastor, but you are not the church.

Fourth, take responsibility for your mistakes. You have

to own them because they are of your doing. You must ask for forgiveness if you have hurt people and change your attitude and behavior to prove your remorse. This does not necessarily mean that you will be forgiven. It is my experience that the church is not very good at forgiving, but you will go nowhere without addressing your failures.

Dr. Terry Rials is the founder of ChurchRevitalizer.com, serves

as the Senior Pastor of the Crestview Baptist Church of Oklahoma City, and leads the Church Revitalization Team Leader for Capital Baptist Association. He earned his doctorate in Church Revitalization at Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary and is a frequent conference speaker.

my expectations? • Have I given those I am leading really clear short term and longterm goals? • Are my values clear enough to define the behaviors of my team/ church? • Can my team/church imagine and articulate your church’s preferred future? • Have I clearly defined our strategy and trained the best practices for ministry? Refuel and Reenergize the Team Other key ingredients for motivation and momentum are passion and energy. Ask yourself, what fuels your team members and what drains your team members? Here is a quick list of potential energy boosters for you to consider:

• Trust: People are energized when they follow a leader who is trustworthy, consistent, caring and competent. • Fun: Laughter lifts the spirit. Intentionally schedule fun times together. • Rest: How much time is your team/church getting to refresh? Challenge them to get real rest. Model it yourself. • Exercise: There is a clear link between physical exertion and motivation. The more motivated they are to be physically healthy the more likely they are to be motivated in other areas of life. • Relationships: Meaningful relationships in our life fill the tank. Create ways to build relationships Continued on Page 56 49

By Fred Boone 5 Steps to Keeping Your Sunday School Growing During the Summer

You must know the purpose of Sunday School. When I ask Teachers what is the purpose of Sunday School they give me one of the following purposes: Bible study, Fellowship, Ministry. All of them are great answers, but they miss the key purpose. The purpose of Sunday School is to help the church carry out its mission of making disciples. The Sunday School facilitates the church in carrying out the Great Commission. Consider what Moses told the Israelites just before they entered the Promised Land. Deuteronomy 31:12, “Assemble the people, men, women, and little ones, and the sojourner within your towns, that they may hear and learn to fear the Lord your God, and be careful to do all the words of this law.” This passage is many times referred to as the Great Commission in the Old Testament. I share with my Sunday School leaders that these are the core value of our Sunday School as it outlines 4 key practices of our purpose: Reach – people, Teach – people, Win – people, and Develop - people. Bob Mayfield, the Sunday School/ Small Group specialist at the Baptist General Convention of Oklahoma said: “In fact, if you want to put the purpose of Sunday School in modern terms, read Colossians 1:13. Did you see that ‘rescue’ word? Your Sunday School class, whether it is a senior adult class or a newborn class, is part of the greatest rescue mission in world history. We are part of our Leader’s rescue mission to save lost and perishing souls from a Christ-less eternity and bring them into a personal relationship with Jesus.” The key to an effective summer Sun50 day School emphasis is clarity about

our purpose and how it impacts all we do during the summer months. With our purpose in mind, then we must put an emphasis on key strategies that help us fulfill our purpose. Second, Set enrollment goals for the summer months. The definition of enrollment: “To register a prospect as a member of a Sunday School class. Sunday School Enrollment is the Welcome Mat for an outsider to become an insider in a class.” We need to develop an atmosphere where everyone knows we can enroll anyone, anytime, and anyplace. When we promote this open door for our Sunday School we are emphasizing a high priority on Bible study for everyone. This open attitude will promote new excitement in the Sunday School as we infuse new members during the summer months. A focus on new members can bring a new excitement in the purpose and place of the Sunday School in the life of the church. WHY IS ENROLLMENT IMPORTANT? Andy Anderson did Sunday School research and conferencing for the Baptist Sunday School Board (now LifeWay) in the 1970s. He made an important discovery in his research among all sizes of churches around the country–who were in a mix of rural, suburban, and city settings. He discovered that when 3 lost people were enrolled and active in Sunday School for a year, one out of the three would be saved. This shocking revelation shows that the Sunday School can be the most powerful evangelistic tool the church has. In the churches that I have led I have found that open enrollment is a powerful method of reaching people for Christ. After years of

setting and reaching enrollment goals I wondered why it had such an impact, then one day the Lord revealed to me the truth about this principle. I was reading Psalm 126:56, “May those who sow in tears reap with shouts of joy! He that goes forth weeping, bearing the seed for sowing, shall come home with shouts of joy, bringing his sheaves with him.” The seed is the Word of God and we sow in the souls of man. Then comes the harvest. Enrollment increases the field; therefore the harvest is increased. This is a great promise from God’s Word. Third, Start new units or classes. Forming a new class is recognizing that there are people who can be reached if a new group is formed with the purpose of reaching this unreached group. There are several target groups: church members who are not enrolled in any group, age groups that have a missing segment or start a group with a special purpose. We started a “Parenting Class” for the parents of children who where enrolled in our Vacation Bible School. Here are some key principles about starting new classes: 1. The law of 10. For every new class that you start, attendance will increase by 10. This should be the number one reason for starting a new class. 2. Prayerfully recruit a teacher and core leadership team. 3. Train teacher and core leaders (SundaySchoolLeader.com provides some great resources). 4. Select curriculum – for summer

months a short subject driven curriculum is the best choice. 5. Set place and time for the group. Remember, if you select a time other than Sunday morning you will have to make provisions for childcare. 6. Set a start date. Remember we are talking about a summer emphasis so a late May or early June start date is best. 7. Promotion – the pastor should speak about the opportunity. The target group should be visited, called and sent a letter with details. Also, use social media in creative ways. 8. Just Do It! Fourth, set contact goals for the summer. Definition of Contacts: “Love, concern, compassion and care is expressed by phone, email, or letter, and visits to members with the goal of involving the member in life changing Bible study.” There is great value in making weekly contacts to members and prospects of the Sunday School. Contacts should be seen as ministry touches and they are never more important than during the summer months as people travel and generally get out of pocket. It only takes someone missing Sunday School three times in a row to get out of the habit of attending.

goals. You must build excitement and anticipation for your summer emphasis to have the expected impact. Again, the senior pastor must take a leading roll in promoting a special summer focus. In fact, the entire staff and key leaders must be on board for you to have any significant success. There are two key ways to building and highlighting the summer months. The contest would be between classes in the Sunday School. Adult classes would compete against other adult classes, youth against youth and children against children. The contest can be developed around themes, like baseball. Points would be based on one new member = 10 runs, a visitor = 5 runs and contacts = 1 run. Develop a team to brain storm possible themes for your church and your setting. Challenge goals are the church-wide goals that are promoted from the pulpit week by week. The pastor can encourage the church by preaching a series of sermons on the theme to build continuity in the effort. The potential is limitless. Seek the Lord and set your sites on goals that only the Lord could accomplish and you could have the greatest summer in your church’s history.

Here is a formula for increasing attendance: 1 / 7 / 10 the meaning is simple. There will be an increase in attendance of 1 when 10 contacts are made within 7 days. In other words, for every ten people we contact each week attendance will increase by one person. Fifth, Contest and Challenge Goals. The icing on the cake is the fun you can incorporate to accomplish these

Fred Boone is the Executive Pastor, First Baptist Church of Mount Dora in Mount Dora, FL.

Are You Abusing Your Pastor? We are living in a day where satanic forces are everywhere. Even the local church can become a place where evil individuals are allowed to run rampant. This chapter deals with the hardest issue pastors face when trying to begin the work of revitalization. It is when abusive lay people seek to hurt their under-shepherd. There is within some churches an air of toxic DNA that surfaces when those who have been part of killing the church are not happy with the pastor who the Lord is using to revitalize the church. Pastor abusers seldom repent of their sins and seek to remain in power until someone with a stronger backbone removes them. As shepherds continue to be battered, they ask themselves, “When will the silent majority of godly church members join together and excommunicate these bullies?” Satan loves that the membership within the local church have not risen to expose and remove such individuals from destroying the church. God’s shepherds are being destroyed by these abuses while the rest of the membership avoids dealing with these unhealthy situations in the church. -Tom Cheyney

Sustaining Revitalization: Developing a Gospel Saturation Strategy for Your City Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation (Mark 16:15). A church in need of revitalization is one that has not been growing or has been experiencing negative growth for some time. Church growth can occur when new people start coming to the church from several sources such as new move-ins, transfers from other churches, biological (new babies) or conversion growth. The best way to breathe new life into a dying church is to focus on reaching new people with the gospel of Jesus Christ. Really, we can’t get around our central task of evangelizing and discipling new people. Therefore, an effective gospel-sharing strategy should be central to any church revitalization effort. Why would we even bother to try to revitalize churches without insisting on obeying the commands of the Great Commission mandate of Jesus himself? Donald McGavran defined the mission of the local church as, “an enterprise devoted to proclaiming the Good news of Jesus Christ, and to persuading men to become His disciples and dependable members of His Church.” Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching

them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age (Matthew 28:19-20). When we renew our focus on evangelism in the local church, why don’t we go all out and insist that we do what Jesus commanded us to do – that is to take the gospel to every person? Let us stop at nothing short of making sure that no one in our communities misses out on the life-changing message of Jesus Christ. Do you want to stand for social justice? What could be more unjust than denying someone the opportunity to make an up or down decision to be rescued from the bondage of sin and death? Do you want to provide relief for suffering people? There is no greater cause than relieving the suffering of spiritual isolation and hopelessness. Do you want to be a visionary? Why not be the one who casts vision for taking the gospel to every person in your city? Where to Begin But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith that we proclaim); because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. (Romans 10:8-9)

By Mark Weible Starting in our own homes, let’s make sure that every family member has had an opportunity to hear and respond to the good news message of Christ’s atoning sacrifice for sin on the cross and the promise of eternal life for everyone who believes in and confesses faith in Jesus? W. Oscar Thompson in his classic book on evangelism, Concentric Circles of Concern, encourages Christians to evangelize people who you already know before trying to save the world. It makes sense, that we share the gospel first with people we already know and with whom we have established personal relationships. It is somewhat hypocritical to pretend to care for people whom we’ve never met while ignoring those closest to us. Therefore, the gospel begins at home and extends from there. Do What Jesus Did When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest (Matthew 9:36-38). Jesus laid the groundwork for an effective evangelism

strategy. We can’t miss this essential ingredient – prayer. Praying for a harvest of souls is so obvious and so elementary that this step can easily be missed. Before Jesus sent out his first disciples, He told them to pray. He started by demonstrating a heart of compassion for lost people and then he told them to pray. Jesus overwhelmed his disciples with the evangelistic need in front of them and then he told them to pray that God would send out more workers. They must have really prayed, because Jesus used the disciples to answer their own prayer. He sent them out! This is an important lesson for us today. Jesus does not send people who don’t pray. If we don’t have enough people willing to go out and bring in a gospel harvest, it is because we don’t have enough people praying that God would send out people to bring in a gospel harvest. Just like Jesus, we need to motivate the people of our churches to pray that God would send someone to take the gospel to all of those harassed and helpless people out there. We motivate them to pray by showing them the great need and by demonstrating a heart of compassion for people who are directionlessly meandering through life without a spiritual leader. When they pray, we

need to remind our people to pray like Isaiah who said, Here am I, send me (Isaiah 6:8). Praying for Neighbors by Name Chris Cooper at Mapping Center for Evangelism has developed a free tool that can help motivate church members to pray for their neighbors. By simply logging in at www.BlessEveryHome.com, a person can sign up to receive daily email reminders to pray for their neighbors by name. They can track their progress on a map that identifies each neighbor’s home and tracks the ones being prayed for. Participants are encouraged to ask God for divine encounters that lead to caring relationships and gospel-sharing conversations. By asking people to pray for their neighbors by name, we are asking them to make a small investment that can lead to greater rewards. By praying, a person can become more interested in having caring conversations and activities with their neighbors that can lead to intentional gospel sharing. The Bless Every Home tool can be used to track the progress of reaching every neighbor home and even every neighborhood in an entire city. Chris is working with church and community leaders across the United States to develop local initiatives

where churches work together to cover every home in their cities with prayer. The idea is that praying for our neighbors will lead to caring relationships and gospel sharing conversations. The Pray, Care, Share strategy is a part of the Mission America Coalition’s Love2020 Initiative and has been adopted by several churches and organizations across the United States. Churches in need of revitalization can indeed start seeing new conversion growth and the joy of their neighborhoods being transformed by the power of the gospel when their people begin praying for their neighbors. With efforts like this, we can see entire cities immersed in the gospel of Jesus with global impact.

Mark Weible serves as the

Church Planting Director of the Greater Orlando Baptist Association and the strategic Director of the Renovate National Church Revitalization Conference. Mark has a wealth of experience as a church planter and local church coach. Mark is passionate about church multiplication, renewal, planting, and coaching.

Early and Latter Rains As I sit writing this article, I look out across the corn and bean fields of Illinois. It is obvious that they are in need of a refreshing rain before the scorching heat of the summer withers them to just dry foliage. It is essential that the plans that were put into action during the spring have the continued nourishing rains during the summer. The scripture talks of early and latter rains [Joel 2:23-25]. The growing seasons in Israel were dependent on both rains. The early rain came in the winter and gave hope of a spring harvest. The latter rain came in the spring and would be necessary for the crops to mature and produce during the arid Israeli summer months. The absence of either would spell doom for any hope of sustained crop production. While our growing seasons are somewhat different in America, the crops planted in the spring are dependent on the snowfall and winters rains. Likewise, the crops need the sustained rains for a bountiful fall harvest. As a child we had a large vegetable garden. We had the early crops like snap peas and green onions that would come on pretty quickly. The rest of the produce, such as tomatoes, corn on the cob, green beans and sweet potatoes, would be the fall crops 54

used for canning and seeing our large family through the winter months. Now I like the early crops of peas, cucumbers and the like, but they won’t be around in the fall. So while it is enjoyable to eat of our labors quickly; they would all but be gone by fall. Amos 8:1 uses the image “basket of summer fruit.” The point is that summer fruit just doesn’t sustain; in fact it spoils very quickly.

The focus too often of the ministry and missions of the Church in the summer months is “Let’s get through these activities for another year!” Instead of trying to create or use them as launching greater sustainable “crops” for future sustenance, the objective was do the ministry and be done with it for another year. In the April/May Renovate magazine, I titled my article “The Law of Inertia.” In that article I

By Jim Grant

addressed such things as strategic plans and long range planning; correlating it to the plans that had to be formulated in the winter month, and put into action during spring. You might at this point wonder ok, where is he going with this? The focus of this edition of Renovate is “how to sustain momentum coming out of summer.” I want to use the aforementioned discussion on crops and rain to draw a parallel to what must happen in the life of the church. For many [if not most] churches the summer months are the busiest time of the year. Most of the ministry done will be done during the summer months. Plans are made for mission trips, camps, VBS and backyard sports camps and such. The struggle with the “early rains” of ministry is that they are not enough to sustain a church through the dry fall and winters months. While there is a lot of excitement during the summer activity, and please I do not want to minimize the good works that are accomplished by these activities; but they are like the basket of summer fruit, Amos talks about. The ministry has its quick rewards, but it doesn’t last. The focus too often of the ministry and missions of the church in the summer months is “Let’s get through these activi-

ties for another year!” Instead of trying to create or use them as launching greater sustainable “crops” for future sustenance. The objective was do the ministry and be done with it for another year. If there isn’t a goal of using these traditional events for longer, deeper ministry, then all we get to enjoy is the immediate rewards for our efforts. There is nothing wrong with the summer fruit, except that it is consumed during the summer months, for it will spoil before winter, and must be eaten quickly. Now I know that with our modern day ability to irrigate crops, we can determine that there will be a fall crop. But if we are people of faith, we must trust the Lord for the latter rains; this blessing from God will produce the staple crops for canning and the rest of the year sustenance. The planning, planting, weed pulling and plowing has to continue throughout the hot summer months. I can remember complaining about the heat

of the day and wishing to just bask in the food we already had. There are similarities about tending a garden and church ministry – if we are not mindful and attentive to the crop in the field, the weeds/tares will take over and choke out the good harvest. The work of a church is not done when they have finished planting and harvesting the early crops; the work continues into the fall. I am reminded at this point of the words of Jesus. Pray to the Lord of the harvest to send labors for the harvest, for the fields are already white unto harvest. As a child we would spend hours shucking corn, snipping beans and peeling tomatoes. There were long nights of pressure cookers and jar washing. What seemed to be an arduous task during the summer was a welcomed sight when retuning to the cellar for jars of our labors.

ministry and missions work must be more that a completed task on the calendar! Every “crop/ministry” must answer the question – why did we do this? If churches have not thoroughly thought through why they do what they do during the missions months then they will enter into a fall/winter season of dried up fruit, which will not sustain any momentum achieved by their hard work previously in the sun. I was so thankful for those canned jars of latter rain crops; for they assured that we would get through the cold months of inactivity to greet another spring filled with hope and new life.

If a church is going to have more than Summer Fruit, the

Jim Grant is the Lead Pastor of Heartland Baptist Church in Alton, Illinois. He is a veteran with 25 years of service in the Air Force. His extensive travels, while in the military, allowed him the unique ability to have served in the full spectrum of churches, styles, and health. Jim is the Gateway Baptist Association Revitalization Team Leader 55

HELP! How Do I Get the “Big Mo” Mentum Back in My Church? - Continued By Darwin Meighan among the staff or volunteers. • Faith: Provide opportunities for your team to grow spiritually. Coach them on how to cultivate a personal devotional life with Jesus. Again, model it. Ask yourself this question: What can I do now and into the fall months that will help focus and fuel my team/church? Motivation is not created overnight, but with intentionality it will grow and so will the momentum of your church. Rate the motivation level of your team/church. People will rarely be more motivated than their pastor or church leaders. How do you rank? Which of these words best represents your motivation level right now? Motivation Scale 1. Discouraged 2. Losing motivation 3. Maintaining 4. Gaining Motivation 5. Driven Release for Empowered Ministry Momentum is about forward movement. A good, biblical word for forward movement in

the church is discipleship. Making disciples is about providing on-ramps and predetermined measurable steps for the Christ follower’s journey. It’s not just a matter of getting people into the Kingdom. They also have to be helped, encouraged, and empowered to move from one level of maturity to the next. This process of movement will differ from church to church, but every church must have a process and the process must be measurable to ensure people are moving in maturity and becoming more like Jesus - empowered to make disciples who make disciples. True momentum and forward movement in the Kingdom of God will always lead to multiplication. Conversely, what doesn’t reproduce will eventually die out or become extinct. Those churches who keep momentum rolling, forwardly advancing the Kingdom, are churches who demonstrate incredible force – impacting their community and world with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. As Holy Spirit-led momentum gets rolling, remember to celebrate those wins of life change and transformation that God will surely bring your way.

Momentum is about forward movement. A good, biblical word for forward movement in the church is discipleship.

Darwin Meighan after 31 years, Darwin served the Lord as a local church pastor. The past two years, he has serving in the role of revitalization specialist and speaker at the local, state and national level. As a coach and practitioner, he encourages pastors and churches toward the process of renewal and hope – guiding them in the journey of rediscovering their God-given purpose and mission of making disciples which embraces an outward focus of engaging their community, culture and world with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. You may reach Darwin at darwinmeighan@gmail.com

revitalizer

LIBRARY

This edition of the Revitalizers Library features two books that I highly recommend. The first focuses on creating sustained health in the church, the second sustained health in the pastor’s life. Tony Morgan’s The Unstuck Church: Equipping Churches to Experience and Sustain Health (Thomas Nelson, 2017) in an excellent resource. Morgan’s passion to see your church become “unstuck” shows up in two ways. First, he provides fresh perspective on a church life cycle bell curve. Second, he prescribes actions your church should take to move to sustained health. Don’t skip the introduction. Don’t skim it either. In the introduction Morgan does more than announce the book and why he wrote it, but lays a foundation for everything that follows. His own story for the work begins with Aubrey Malphurs book Advanced Strategic Planning: A New Model for Church and Ministry

Full disclosure, I ordered and received David Murray’s Reset: Living a GracePaced Life in a Burnout Culture. (Nashville, Thomas Nelson, 2017) the day before I left for vacation. Originally, I thought the topic of burnout would be helpful to read up on. Maybe give me some insights to my own life and ministry. Vacation seemed like a good time for my soul to read on the subject of rest and restoration. I was unprepared for how much the Lord used the work to first reveal where my own life was out of sync and second some changes that needed, no, must hap-

Leaders and the bell curve of the church life cycle. For those unfamiliar with the church life cycle, Morgan briefly defines it in writing, “The curve represents how, over time, organizations start, grow, thrive, decline and eventually end” (2). Knowing the stages of the church life cycle can enable church leaders to quickly access their current state of health. Morgan then provides fresh perspective on the church life cycle by merging that illustration with the seven stages of predictable success detailed by Greg McKeon’s book Predictable Success: Getting Your Organization on the Growth Track – and Keeping it There. The union of these two resources fits together seamlessly creating great synergy. Each chapter then accomplishes two purposes. First, the reader is led through character traits to identify their church’s current health status. Second, The Unstuck Church offers the reader prescriptive actions to move to sustainability. The temptation with a book like this is to only read the chapter that seems to matter. That temptation must be avoided. The full description of each stage and the prescription to move towards sustainable health are vital.

pen to restore some health. Murray clearly defines his purpose for this book, “I want to help you reset your life so that you can avoid crashing, or recover from it, by establishing patterns and rhythms that will help you live a grace-paced life and get you to the finish line successfully and joyfully” (25-26). This is exactly what this work accomplished. As a co-laborer in pastoral ministry and revitalization I cannot recommend this book enough. Throughout the work Murray uses the imagery of garage bays specialized in diagnosing particular issues to bring about restoration in the life of the reader. Reset then is not a work of theoretical ways to avoid burnout. Nor is it only a proposal of theological definitions of work

However, if the reader only read one chapter much would be gained from chapter 4, “Sustained Health; Becoming the Church God designed it to be.” But so much more would be missed. Read the whole book. Morgan changes his tone and approach in chapter four giving less diagnosis and creating a vision of what sustained health looks like. The change of tone is sharp and seems more theoretical than pragmatic. Chapter four does provide good diagnosis and vision casting for the reader. Another critique is that a church may not fit all of the characteristics described in one category. Many times there are trends in general and abnormalities in specifics. Morgan’s prescribed actions are general enough to be applicable to the church in that stage of health. The reader must determine how to specifically apply the principle to the work. Overall, The Unstuck Church; Equipping Churches to Experience Sustained Health is an excellent book. Beyond the work Morgan provides some free online analysis tools for your church. Morgan’s book is an excellent addition to the revitalizers library.

and rest. The theological convictions and proposed principles have been applied both by the author and by the many he has counseled throughout the years. He presents, as one of the endorsers writes, a biblical anthropology addressing the whole body and spirit. Transparently he describes how regular and intentional rhythms’ of sleep, diet and exercise have tremendous influence on ones entire outlook, vitality and abilities to fulfill a ministry calling. Be warned there is not one arena of life this work does not touch. The chapter entitled “Reduce” focuses on time management did not seem to be as strong as the others. Perhaps the audience for this chapter was the pastor who Continued on Page 58 Book Reviews by Rob Hurtgen

BOOK REVIEWS CONTINUED... has little to no time management skills. Certainly there is counsel to receive. Yet this chapter did not carry as well as the previous. Pastoral ministry is hard work. Being a revitalization pastor adds another level of stress. Without realizing it necessary margins in a pastors life

can easily be erased. Borderless ministry is a quick path to burnout that destroys elf, the pastor’s family and churches along the way. Pastors, revitalizers, and planters we must intentionally apply the disciplines to build a life-long ministry. Reset is an excellent resource to start.

The Lord used Murray to identify some critical areas in my own life. The pages revealed that the tiredness I felt was more than having a full schedule and an ever-growing list of things to do. Reset: Living a Grace Paced Life in a Burnout Culture is essential for the revitalizer library.

The Obedience Answer Matthew 28.19-20, Acts 1.8 The difficulty of regaining momentum at the end of the summer can be challenging. However, if we focus on the mission of the church, and get back to the evangelistic work we are called to, then we might find things flow a little easier. In church revitalization, we all know ultimately, we must begin reaching new people. The fall is a great time to think on these things. The question always comes down to, “who?”. Who will we reach? Or who should we reach? I believe this drives us to the Great Commission, and therefore the title of the article: “The Obedience Answer”. Out of obedience we should be striving to be on mission for God. Matthew 28.19-20 Jesus appears to his disciples and gives them the Great Commission, his final challenge of action for his followers. He begins with his statement of authority. This statement of authority is also setting the stage by which the disciples would accomplish the ministry Jesus had intended for them to do. Jesus’ authority is empowering the disciples he leaves behind to function within the ministry he is handing off to them.

At the time, they have no idea about his Spirit’s coming, but his words are setting the ministry stage for them to receive the Spirit, thereby fulfilling the final portion of his Commission, “I will be with you always” (v. 20). In verse 19 Jesus establishes the teaching ministry he is calling his disciples to fulfill. Central to this issue, the disciples are to make disciples. This is the expansion of the kingdom of God. This is the growth of the church during this present age. Until the return of Christ, the church is to grow by making disciples. The present decline of so many churches is a failure, in at least some part, to fulfill the Great Commission calling of making disciples and reaching the nations. If the church is to grow, it must return to the obedience answer. This is where growth occurs. Absence from the Lord is resulting in decline. Spiritual decline occurs first, which then causes the numerical decline as people are no longer seeking God. Verse 20 brings the statement on teaching. This is the “what” or “how” of making disciples. In Jesus’ model this is the teaching ministry. The disciples are to teach others the things they have been taught. In Matthew’s Jewish culture mind-set, this teaching is about a lifestyle. This command continues to this

By Kenneth Priest day. The believers who make up the church are to teach all they know of Jesus. Today, what is known of Jesus is taken from his Word. Therefore, we are to teach God’s Word as the teaching ministry of our Great Commission strategy. The call to reach the nations is evident here, though it is not to neglect a person’s present context. Acts 1:8 Prior to Jesus’ ascension to heaven, he appeared to his disciples one final time. They gathered at the Mount of Olives. The disciples’ mindset was one of waiting for Jesus to establish his kingdom, now more than ever having seen the power of the resurrection. Beginning in verse 6, they ask, “Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom of Israel?” Jesus’ response to them was to set their attention in the appropriate direction prior to his leaving them. The major focus on this passage is that of being global witnesses for Jesus. The global expansion of the kingdom of God was his intent. The church which is faithful to fulfill the Great Commission will experience growth. Growth must occur spiritually before it can occur numerically. The obedience answer is the thing believers actually do demonstrating

faithfulness to Christ. Being on mission in oneâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s community affords the opportunity to see this come into a reality. Believers who are faithful to share the good news of Jesus will see the fruit of the harvest occur, not every time, but faithfulness to continue to share the truth creates the opportunities when God will bless you as the instrument he uses for the harvest. The Great Commission states once the person is reached, he or she is to be discipledâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;or taught the things of Jesus. This teaching ministry is being obedient to the Great Commission. It is not enough simply to reach people for Christ, but seeing them come into a growing, learning relationship is needed. Having a foundational understanding that God designed His church to grow is paramount for any endeavor to succeed. Train your people to share their faith. You can use a simple One Verse Evangelism strategy where you show them how to tell their salvation testimony by using a verse of Scripture. Or you might choose a more formalized plan such as Can We Talk, EE, Walk Across the Room, or Share Jesus Without Fear. My point is, use some methodâ&#x20AC;Śbe intentional. The Great Commission is for all believers, not simply those gifted and equipped with evangelism. I encourage a model that engages people in outreach based on their style of evangelism. We all have a style. Some are confrontational, and some love going door-to-door in a community. Others enjoy building relationships. Still others are fine sharing their faith during a community event as they walk around

talking with people in the crowd. In order to effectively go and get the people, you must create multiple opportunities for all members to use their own style. Follow-up is crucial. Anytime someone visits your church or an activity sponsored by your church, you should have a way to register their attendance at the event. With this information, you must have a follow-up strategy. Contact guests as they like to be contacted. If they provide an address, you can make a personal visit. However, it is also good to send a note in the mail. If they provide email address or mobile phone number, send an email or a text message. You might have church members who are not willing to go on visitation, knocking on doors, who are willing to write a note or send an email. Creating a strategic process for going and getting the people will help you as a church be more effective at ministering to the needs in your community. As your people are in the community, they are on mission. This missional directive fulfills the Great Commission. Relaunch your fall by being obedient to what God has called the church to do. This is The Obedience Answer.

Formula for Developing Critical Mass By Tom Cheyney Everyone wants to see some sort of growth come back to their dying church. Many a church revitalization effort has been hurt due to the leadership within the church, both lay and clergy, waiting too long before they addressed the issue of critical mass. Critical Mass is that size of any church where it has enough members actively working and participating in the weekly work of ministry growth. When a church has waited too long to address the issue of critical mass, it is almost sure the church will die even if for a moment it keeps it head above the water of closure. Here is a quick formula for developing and keeping critical mass in ones church: 1 % of the church membership is in pastoral leadership Plus 6% of the church membership is passionate about the future of the church Plus 14% of the churches leaders are in positions willingly and are advocating for the future renewal of the church Plus 42% of the church are actively participating and willingly following future directions of the church This simple formula equals a growing critical mass for growth and the eventual revitalization of the congregation.

Kenneth Priest serves as the Director of Convention Strategies for the Southern Baptists of

Texas Convention in Grapevine, TX. Kenneth has been leading revitalization endeavors since 2008 with the SBTC. He holds a Doctor of Educational Ministry degree with an emphasis in Church Revitalization from Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, Kansas City, MO. Please contact Kenneth at kpriest@sbtexas.com.

Soaring With Summer Momentum That is right…SOARING…not SNORING. Summer may be a time for some extra naps, but not when it comes to reaching new people. Church renewal at times is a matter of perspective and priority.

surroundings. Young marrieds are pumped up about the newness, camping, hiking, biking and just enjoying the environment around them. All the same still wanting to meet likeminded couples and people.

I see the Summer as a great time for church health and growth in developing momentum.

Never lag in zeal and in earnest endeavor; be aglow and burning with the Spirit, serving the Lord (Romans 12:11).

No, I am not on drugs and I am certainly not sleeping. Not only is summer a time when people in our congregation make family, business, career or ministry moves, but new people are moving to our various regions and some of them are looking for a new church. They have new jobs and that may mean relocating… to your region.

My wife, family and I enjoy the summer for vacations just like you all do. However, we use the summer in the pastorate having new people over for barbeques, coffee and dessert, along with time in our home. If you do not want to open your home this way, I understand. How about hosting time at your church.

Did you read that?New people are moving to our various regions and some of them are looking for a new church? With the passion of follow up that we have during the Easter, Mother’s Day, Start of School and Christmas seasons. I advocate the same energy going into reaching new people during the summer. Why? You have a ripe time to reach new people in transition who need new friends and some stability in the midst of transition. Children are sad that they are leaving their friends. Parents are masking the pain so that the kids are not upset, but lonely just the same. Singles are excited but also nervous about the new 60

Each worship weekend or whenever you meet for weekly worship can provide the following: • Connect new guests with the pastors, Lead/Sr. Pastor and key leaders each week for a reception, it can be 30 minutes to an hour long with relational focus, snacks/drinks, some brief vision and a time of loving on people. Alternate a small group or other key leader hosting this weekly. • Order a list of new people moving into your area (start up to 10 miles), that gives you weekly updates or at least monthly updates where you can mail out a nice

By Greg Kappas postcard welcoming them to the area. Begin your new move in list with people who have moved in over the last quarter and then have it sent to you regularly. Outreach Marketing does this very inexpensively and it has been one of the best tools I have ever used in reaching new people. The church that I led in NE Seattle saw this more than pay for itself in less than 6 months with new people that came into our local church body. This continues to be one of the best tools that churches use nationally. • Follow up your above regular list with a welcome wagon type of gift. We gave a coffee mug, pen, water bottle, etc. It is low key and effective. If your area is not distrusting, you can have a team (they liked the name Cookie Brigade at our church…your choice) that drops off a dozen cookies with the greeting gift. Be creative, and be a missiologist to your communities and culture. • Have a different ministry in your church sponsor a monthly Coffee and Dessert time for all new people over a few months at a time (some people will miss 1 or 2 invitations and need to still be invited). Have someone administrative in the above ministry in your church help you with this. A relaxed 2 hour time for coffee, drinks, desserts, questions and answers, vision, relationship building, a game that helps identify each new person and their interests, hobbies and something unique to them, helps move to-

ward some new community. • Plan a monthly small group for all new people that simply meets until your regular small groups are up and running again. If no small groups at your church, then take guests that are interested and form a new beginnings group for your new people. If you do not have enough to form a group, then still schedule monthly cookouts, swim parties, reading groups, etc. that will appeal to your communities. The fact is that people need Truth and Relationships. Starting a new members class is not the first step; getting to know them and representing Jesus and His Word are the first steps. Pray for new people to come, pray for them when you meet them, and pray and invite them into an environment of love and care. Is it possible that we do not focus on reaching new people due to our lack of love for the lost and for those believers who are not connected to a local church family? Is it possible that we treasure our own comfort and rest instead of letting Jesus seek and save the lost through us? Is it possible as servants of Christ that we claim our own rights and that summer is our time to rest from a hectic pace throughout the year? Is it possible that pace and rest can become our god of comfort, instead of regular priority? I believe proper pace and rest is Biblically and Theologically correct. Yet, I am fully aware of some pastors

“checking out” mentally and emotionally for 8-10 weeks” every summer. I hope that you seize the moments of this and each summer, moments of fun family time, moments of time with your spouse that brings smiles and great joy, memories that represent pace, rest and planning.I alo hope you will have times to meet new friends, to be with long time friends, to have cool refreshing events and to do weekend happenings that invite new people to consider and connect with your local body. They are hungry for Truth and Relationships! I have pastor friends who reach out to Olympic athletes and budding Olympians who train on the various bike paths of Central Florida. They use the training times to hand out water and to greet the athletes who are flying by on the paths. They use the 4th of July and Veterans Day to be creative and intentional in their outreach to those without Christ. I am so proud of David and Darlene Miller, along with their staff who seeks to intentionally engage their communities for the Gospel frequently, passionately, creatively, and prayerfully. What actions can you take this summer from the above suggestions or others that God puts on your heart and mind? What is the Holy Spirit calling you to do? What steps are you going

to take now and throughout the summer to sharpen your spiritual sword and influence in your regions for Jesus Christ? Reaching new people is essential to your personal and church health. You can be the change agent along with your family to see more guests and new people as a regular part of your worship times and your small groups. It really is simply a matter of Truth and Relationships!

Greg Kappas is President and

Founder of Grace Global Network Greg has been married nearly 35 years to his remarkable wife, Debbie and has 2 children with a grandchild due this Summer. He is the Author/Editor of over 15 books. Dr. Kappas speaks at various churches, conferences and venues throughout the United States and in over 40 countries. He is a coach and consultant to pastors and global influencers in leadership development. You can reach him at grkappas@ yahoo.com

Show and Tell - Continued

1) Consider using sermon series that utilize drama with a coaching scenario. Any passage about Jesus training His apostles is a masterful message. Don’t just speak the message, display the strategy and methodology. This is a strong way to teach witness training, a discipleship program, and conflict resolution, just to name a few. Many people are tactile learners and they need to have the truth “fleshed-out” in front of them, or they may not capture the truth or the practice. 2) Coach and disciple potential, entrepreneurial leaders to employ their time and energy toward a spiritual calling. Monitor their progress. We begin each coaching process with both a study of the major doctrines of the Bible and practical, hands-on opportunities to perform hospital visitation, street evangelism, mission trip preparation, ordinance implementation and small group leadership. 3) Using weekly free-time as an opportunity to let these new students use their training, gifts and personalities in ministry, mission and witnessing solidifies their understanding of God’s call on their life. A quick way to train someone to swim is to throw them in the pool (avoiding the deep end). Always be ready to jump in and rescue them for the next session. Rarely does a person become an expert on the initial try. Practice makes better, not perfect, but better!

By Tracy W. Jaggers 4) Coach the entire congregation to be diligent in the basics of Christian growth and health: personal quiet time (reading for study and insight); prayer; journaling; fasting and witnessing. Whenever an athletic team is doing poorly, we hear the coach proclaim, “It’s time to get back to the basics.” Why ever depart from the basics? Why not perpetually build on these foundational principles? 5) Encourage an attitude of adaptability. Let your new mantra for the fall be – “If we desire to advance to the next level, we must be willing to make adjustments.” Robert Dale’s book, To Dream Again: How to Help your church Come Alive is a valuable work. Books by John P. Kotter, Spencer Johnson, MD and Thom Rainer are all resourceful. Require your church leadership to have a new book in their hands at least four times per year. Accidentally falling into the fall is not as effective as intentionally sprinting into it! May your summer be eclipsed by the glory of processes, programs and plans leading into the next 1-5 years! Finally, the churches I have served and observed have historically been led by godly men with great love and passionate hearts, but some churches are plateaued or declining because they need bold, confident leaders - men who are fully convinced that God has placed them in their present position.

The flock needs a pastor who will lead them to the Rivers of Living Water and the Bread of Life, not someone who will ask them where they want to go. “Man does not live by bread alone though, but by every Word that proceeds from the mouth of God.” (Matthew 4:4) Let us lead the wandering sheep, so they can walk fearlessly into the future!

Tracy W. Jaggers

Associational Director of Missions Gateway Baptist Association, Edwardsville, Illinois. Tracy is an adjunct professor with Gateway Seminary in CA. He earned his Doctor of Ministry degree in Church Revitalization from Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Kansas City, MO. He is a frequent blogger and writer for state and national revitalization websites and magazines, and is an active speaker in state and national revitalization conferences and webinars.

Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Matthew 28:19

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Estelle Myers, C.E.O. & Women’s Revitalizer

“Baptist World Charities is happy to participate in Revitalization Magazine! Our team is ready to help you REVITALIZE your church through Missions and Evangelism!” Rob Myers, Pastor, President, Revitalizer & Men’s Mentoring Leader http://pastorrobmyers.wordpress.com V.P. Dr. Franco (M.D.), Medical Missions

Our Motto is: If I can go, I will go… If I cannot go, I will send… But I refuse to sit and watch! Thomas Myers is an amazing 24 year old Evangelist who will travel to your church and help bring Real Revival to your congregation! His relevant and inspirational messages from God’s Word will help to “Re-set” your church.The alters are full when he gives an invitation. He can be booked for weekend Revitalizations through our website.

Join Dr. Bob & Estelle as we Launch: Teachers On Mission with the Haiti Initiative. Join us as we Teach God’s Word in the University of Haiti’s Education System in North Haiti!

Take your Church on a medical missions trip or help serve in Orphanages around the World!

Thomas Myers, Evangelist

Dr.Bob Brumley, PHD Educational Missions

Continued from page 10 questions I now had a working criteria to make an assessment of purpose, philosophy, format, goal(s), personnel, and timetable. My initial assessment after four weeks on the job helped me understand that the church, while wanting to sing meaningfully as a congregation in corporate worship, was presently entrenched in and committed to a traditional style. It was all they knew. Additionally they had never been discipled in the area of Biblical worship. Elements like corporate recitation of scripture, moments of meditation, and antiphonal praise were quite new to them. Incorporating these new elements they had never before experienced as a group in public worship would be step one in leading them toward meaningful change. Since they were an already established church, I knew we would have to go slowly for the sake of body unity. STEP THREE – ESTABLISH A NEW COMFORT ZONE Because I was an interim music director I was able to lobby as a “consultant” for gradual but needed changes (this leverage may not have been possible for a full time staff member). About every five weeks the choir would sing a new song that was contemporary but arranged in a more blended style. This created a “tolerance” for new music. Then I would go back to the familiar choir library for some old favorites. That would be followed up with another newer song, again, letting the choir introduce the piece to the congregation. After a few weeks I would lead the congregation in singing a congregational arrangement of the new songs. This way we were enlarging the repertoire of songs for the worship service while helping newer

songs become familiar “friends” before adding more new songs. We rode this wave for about eighteen months. Variety in the service was accomplished weekly by • occasionally departing from the weekly template or bulletin. •the slow introduction of new music. • utilizing the public recitation of Scripture, a Responsive Reading, or someone presenting a short drama to help introduce the sermon. In short, we established trust and credibility with the pastor, staff, musicians, tech team and congregation. NEXT STEPS ENTER – DRUMS! Utilizing drums as part of the worship service took over two years. Since we were already incorporating new elements we didn’t have to make this an issue early on, but it was a logical next step. It was needed to help mature the church body and in growing the music/worship experience for the worship leaders and participants. We decided to use drums for the Easter service. Then we left them on the platform, un-played, for several weeks. Over the summer we played them twice a month and by fall we were using them every week. ENTER – GUITARS! After successfully incorporating the drums with the organ and piano we also added a guitar, bass, and keyboard for the Christmas program. We now had a full sound that was blended in style with a 35 voice choir and six vocalists on mic. WHAT CAN WE LEARN? Transition is optional but revitalization of any style of worship, be it tra-

By Author ditional, blended or contemporary, is non-negotiable. We must always be asking the Lord for: • Definition – As we listen for His instructions (“do this…don’t do that”) we become defined. Confidence is renewed. • Direction – As we ask “Where Lord,” He will show us where to go, not just geographically, but philosophically as well. • Vision – As we gain definition and direction, we begin to “see” the big picture of how we can lead people toward meaningful worship revitalization. •Passion – Having a clear vision ignites the fire to launch us enthusiastically toward a desired and worthy goal. • Diligence – rehearsing our definition, experiencing his direction, seeing His big picture will keep the fire burning which in turn causes us to put the shoulder to the sled and do the work of the ministry. Tim Kaufman is an itinerant teaching and music presenter, passionate about personal and corporate renewal. He and his wife Alicia are active members of FBC-Orlando

Five Ways to Revitalize Church Social Media this Fall Social media is here to stay. Why? People love the way it’s available all the time. A large majority of church members use social media for some type of purpose: entertainment when bored, discovering trending news, following brands and products, and/or interacting with acquaintances. Everyone is different, and some like all of these! Every church, especially because the tools don’t cost much, should be on social media to reach an audience that’s scrolling and seeking good content. And it’s all about content! Good content must start with understanding an audience or group of followers. Don’t have a lot of followers? Start there. Think about the kind of followers you actually do have (online and in your congregation) and look at their walls to see the kind of content they regularly share. Resisting political banter of course, try to sense how you can interject into their social world and provide shareable content. Or at the least, content that they’ll like. Also consider the types of people you’re trying to provide content for (even outside of your current followers). Or do you mainly want to reach your congregation? Or are you trying to reach a greater church audience? Or people in the community? It’ll all affect the type of content you will create. These decisions will also help 66

you gain followers (your ultimate goal). If you have very few followers, then there’s probably no sense providing content. And you need to provide the right content to attract the followers. If you do it right, you’ll deliver great content AND gather followers. Constantly ask people to follow your social media for a particular purpose! Give them a reason when you see them in person or in print — possibly they haven’t discovered your social media feeds! Start with people who already listen to you (your congregation) and allow the social algorithms to share your accounts outside your area. HUGE TAKEAWAY: stop providing the same kind of content if you’re not building a following. You’ll need to change something: content or audience. Timing is another potential issue that we’ll deal with later. Here are 5 tips to owning your church social media and revitalizing your presence so you can build an online church: 1. Discover your Thread. This is an important step that allows you to limit what kind of content you deliver. The church can talk about virtually anything, but I’d encourage you to start thinking about what you SHOULD be known for in your community. Think about solutions to prominent problems or concerns or paths to goals. Become known for something. Then you’ll want to maintain that thread throughout your posts so that people know your posts are consistently needed. Don’t be known

By Mark MacDonald for advertising and promoting your events — rarely is anyone seeking ads on social media. Think about your social tools as entertainment channels that occasionally deliver promotion. It’ll keep your followers engaged and coming back for more. Important: remember that discovering your thread will mean that your social media won’t tackle various content. It’s essential to set your fences up so you know what should and shouldn’t be offered on your accounts. If you don’t lock these fences down, you will get content drift and never gain a following of people looking for something you can offer. 2. Inventory your accounts. Do you currently have social media channels? List all of them, and make sure you have control (username and passwords) of them. If someone has started a channel “for” the church, it’s time to take control of it — and maybe use the opportunity to ask the current owner for social media help. Look at the channel names (ie. @ mainstreetchurch) and make sure they are all similar (the closer the better). Then look at their avatars (icons) and make them the same too (professional and recognizable when seen at a small size). Your descriptions should also be similar as it says the facts about who you are and why someone should follow you (your thread). Use the same keywords that people will be searching for in the descriptions. If anything doesn’t align between accounts, consider changing it so you look controlled, professional, and needed.

3. Choose the ones you do best. Can you realistically provide unique content for all the accounts? Consider what each channel is known for (demographic of their followers or content style). For example, Instagram is known as a visual sharing channel, Youtube is all about video, and LinkedIn is targeting business people. Search in Google for the tool’s name and ask for demographic or content description; it’ll deliver lots of great research about this. What kind of content do you do really well? If you don’t have video capabilities, you should drop Youtube or Vimeo. If you’re just starting and want only one channel, I’d recommend Facebook. Almost every adult has a Facebook account, and it allows you to try various content styles to see what works with your followers and what you can do well. It’s not wise to build followers on a channel you can’t maintain easily. Also resist linking channels to share the same content — it rarely works well with one of the linked accounts. Unique posting is best. 4. Create a content calendar. Now that you have a few channels/tools to work with, turn your attention to a content calendar. Start with 1 post a day (per channel) and look at your master communication calendar to decide what’s going on in your church. Only 10-20% of your content should be promotional though, so you’ll need to think about stories, pithy thoughts, sermon quotes, pictures, videos, and biblical memes that will emphasize

your thread. Once you get a following, you can expand the frequency of posts. Remember that most channels favor video (especially “live” video feeds), then pictures, then words. Therefore, the channel will “allow” more people to see that kind of content. It’s best to think short (Twitter’s 140 character lengths are good) for words. Be creative and be consistent. Look at the calendar and slowly fill in the posts needed. You may need help to fulfill the content, so plan well in advance. You’ll also want to consider time of day to post too. Try posting when most of your followers are bored (lunch, breaks, evenings after kids are in bed). 5. Automate to preserve sanity. If you’re new to social media, I’m sure your head is spinning now. There’s a lot to do, and you won’t be able to post everything when you need it posted. It will drive you crazy! So look into social media automation (like Hootsuite, Social Oomph, or Buffer). These online tools allow you to load all your channels into one dashboard so you can create a post and send that post out at a specific time. It’s like magic! Most churches need people to create the content, a person to load all the content each week, and someone to monitor your accounts for comments and questions. That rhythm has to be figured out, but once it is, you’ll discover it’s not as hard as it sounds.

A Final Word: If you’re not a particularly social person, running a social media account is not for you. If you struggle keeping a conversation going in person, you’ll struggle keeping it going online. Make sure you have the right person or team in place to ensure a vibrant social media feed. Church is about fellowship, so the online social media church must try and maintain a fellowship feel — where someone can comment, post, and ask questions knowing a real person will engage with them.

Mark MacDonald is a Bible Teacher, speaker, author of Be Known For Something, and communication strategist for BeKnownForSomething.com. He empowers churches to become known for something relevant (a communication thread) throughout their ministries, websites, and social media. His book is available at BeKnownBook.com and amazon.com.

Making “IT” worth It! Here is a quick lesson for any Church Revitalizer about making it all worth it for you, your church, and your community as you build value. Your Vision Must Be Compelling You cannot build value for church members, prospects, volunteers, lay leadership, or the community without a compelling vision and values for your new church. Become a Significant Leader in Your Community You build value by becoming the leader in your community, the church that everybody wants to attend, work for, grow from, or support. It takes tremendous confidence to stake out the territory and to lead others toward it. Withstand the Loneliness of Leading Lay People You have to withstand the doubts and loneliness of pastoral leadership. At the same time you have to acknowledge to yourself and others that you don’t always know how you will reach your destination. Trust Your Laity First, In Time They Will Trust You For others to follow you through times of uncertainty requires mutual trust and faith. That is what clarity of vision and commitment to values can bring. I once thought that the test of personal leadership was the number of people that follow a leader. But what is more rewarding is to look across a church and see the number of leaders in place, people who share a common aspiration and have the tools and wisdom—the vision and values—to achieve something great. That is any church revitalizer’s greatest legacy, to make “IT” all worth it for everyone. Then you know your vision is on right track.

Tapping Into the Power Without the power and presence of the Holy Spirit, all efforts at Church Revitalization will fail. Sadly, while ministering among churches, I have discovered a disconnect from that power as I observe churches struggling to operate on human ability rather than heavenly power! The basis of this power is found in Acts 1:8 where our Lord declares that, “… ye shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you and ye shall be witnesses unto me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” Clearly, there is no power apart from the Holy Spirit upon which a church may operate. So, why would any church not want to utilize that power? If a church is to succeed in gaining a new and exciting life, it must be through the presence and power of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit of God must fuel every life changing function of the church. That includes the process of revitalization. He is the ever present constant … the church’s absolute source of revitalization. Force for Change Change is not popular in most churches and it makes revitalization more difficult. Revitalization always involves change. The Holy Spirit is the only true source and facilitator of change in the life of a church. He facilitates that change by enabling the church to accomplish the vision that God 70

has given. The Holy Spirit can bring change because he knows the changes that are needed for that church to succeed. Moreover, he knows the pitfalls and the obstructions that are present. He possesses the wisdom to lead through the maze of difficulties to spiritual success but He must be prayerfully sought. When we try to bring change through human understanding, we usually fail because we make human assumptions which often cause more difficulty for the process of change. It is the Spirit who knows what needs to be changed and if we follow His leadership, He will show us the direction in which to lead the church. Source of Empowered Leadership The type of leadership the world admires can never bring revitalization to the life of a church. The Scripture is devoid of modern notions about leadership. Only a leader who is absolutely dependent on the Holy Spirit for direction, insight and wisdom will be blessed of God in bringing fire back into the life of a church. We see then, that it is the presence of the Holy Spirit in a leader’s life that makes him a great leader. His presence, bespeaks power, wisdom and ability to lead properly. Jesus makes that clear in Matthew 28: 20 when He said, “I will be with you always.” That abiding presence assures the leader that there is wisdom and understanding available for all

By Steve Sells circumstances. Thus, the spiritual leader must be divinely empowered to do the work of the Lord. A mediocre or secular leader can never lead a church to a higher level of ministry. It is true that a church will never rise above its chief leader. Source of Vision Tragically, most writings about vision for the church ignore the main component of that vision … the Holy Spirit. Just before His ascension back to the Father, Jesus promised to send the Comforter unto us (John 16: 5 – 13), That Comforter would guide, lead, teach and direct the church as it does the work of Christ in this world. He is the only source for true vision in the local church because He is the one who knows what the church and community needs. While interviewing pastors and lay leaders in the church, the first and most telling question I ask is, “What is God’s vision for your church?” I have been amazed at how misunderstood the concept of a God-given vision is, even among pastors. The most common answer I hear in asking that question is, “To win the lost for Christ!” As great as that sounds, it is not the vision for the church… it is the God-appointed task. The vision is a direction from God as to how to accomplish the task. The Holy Spirit gives the vision and guides the church in accomplishing that vision. Vision cannot be borrowed from another church. It cannot be the imitation of an-

other church model. You cannot read a book, other than the Bible, and get a vision. It is not taught in a classroom or dictated by a spiritual hierarchy. It is like what happened on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2: 16-17). It is clear from Scripture that God owns the vision. He imparts the vision to the man of God. The man of God imparts the vision to the people of God. They, in turn, live out and declare the vision to a lost and needy world. The Holy Spirit possesses a vision for every church. God will entrust His perfect vision for each church when the leader has a passion to understand that vision. When the man of God focuses his heart on seeking Him, His plans, His power, and His direction; God will make the vision plain through His Holy Spirit. But, where there is no vision, the people will perish (Proverbs 29: 18). Source of Consistent Growth Without the presence of the Holy Spirit, there can be no growth in the Church. He is the chief motivator. He has the power to change hearts and direct lives. Human efforts at church growth are usually short lived. Methods and models will not suffice to grow a great church. He is the life-giving source, and as that source, He gives the power to take the church to greater heights. Man often tries to grow the church based on human

ideas, but we must realize that the church does not belong to man but to God. It is His and He is the only source for new life. When we see the Holy Spirit working in the people of God, the church grows. His power was demonstrated in the earliest days of the church. The Scripture says, the saying pleased the whole multitude and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Ghost, and Phillip and Prochorus, and Nicanor, and Timon, and Parmenas, and Nicolas, a proselyte of Antioch: whom they set before the apostles: and when they had prayed, they laid their hands on them. And the word of God increased; and the number of His disciples multiplied in Jerusalem greatly; and a great number of the priests were obedient to the faith (Acts 6: 5-7) . Conclusion There is no other source of power, presence, or authority more important within the process of church revitalization than the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is that source by Godâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s appointment. He was sent as a comforter, not just to the individual Christian but to the entire church. (John 16: 13-14) His greatest task in our world, other than the conviction of lost souls, is, I believe, to bring the church back to renewed and revived

power. But, for that to happen, the pastor and the church must hunger for His presence in their midst.

Change is not popular in most churches and it makes revitalization more difficult. Revitalization always involves change. The Holy Spirit is the only true source and facilitator of change in the life of a church. He facilitates that change by enabling the church to accomplish the vision that God has given. Steve Sells is the president and CEO of Operation Transformation church revitalization ministry in Salisbury, North Carolina. Steve has served in ministry for 43 years in North Carolina and Georgia. He has led numerous revitalization conferences and projects. Dr. Sells is the co-author of the book With Greater Power. He seeks to help churches of all sizes experience new health and growth.

Un-Slumping: Regaining Momentum Coming Out of the Summer

Have you ever noticed in the marketing industries that the same products are regularly updated in their “look” or packaging? You will see New and Improved on almost everything that is marketed over time. The lesson here is the same one that we can apply to church. Things get boring if you do the same things, look the same way, sing the same songs and even teach the same sermons. One of the key things that Rick Warren taught me about purpose driven preaching is that there are all kinds of ways to reach people through differing teaching styles. Rick is more topical than I am. My teaching style is more verse by verse exegetical. Rick says to find out what works for you, but remember this, there is never an excuse for being boring. So honestly ask yourself the question: Am I boring? Make a list of everything at your church that is boring, including staff members. If you are having trouble with this ask your kids about what in your church is boring… they will tell you, if they know that you can take it. I have an old saying about this that I am fond of: “You know the pastor is boring, when he falls asleep during his own sermon.” It is said that the definition of insanity is doing the same things over and over and expecting different results. So before we go to part two of my article make a list out of these to columns:

One of the blessings of being a school teacher while a bi-vocational pastor for twenty years, was that the profession forced me to plan out what I intended to teach; how I intended to utilize, integrate and present the required curriculum. Then I would state my learning objectives or desired outcomes, both for weekly and quarterly reports. The big difference between teaching a course and pastoring, is that you can repeat the course and plan each year to each grade, knowing that they are only going to hear it once. That of course does not work for churches, because each week has to be different. In the fall, people are coming back from Disney World to your church and finding out that there is definitely no “Magic” to your “Kingdom” (lol)? So let’s work this through and make the changes that are needed. Use the following as a guide to create your won plan. Take a notebook along side this and write your own strategy. 1. If your curriculum is the Word of God, make a plan of preaching that has sections that last no longer than 5 weeks. (here is an example, for a five week series in Colossians) a. Give the series an exciting name. b. Print some new shirts for series c. Listen to your old sermons and make sure you don’t repeat anything, illustration wise.

By Rob Myers

d. Do a creative meeting with your staff to help with ideas e. Print up a teachable outline for your small groups. f. Do a video teaching online for the lesson. g. Create Ice-breakers and lesson plans for the groups. 2. State your New & Improved objectives (some example ideas for you) a. Preaching (map out a sermon series plan for the year)! b. Music (Make your music team limit songs that are over 5 years old). c. Staff (make a plan for your staff to “age reflect” your target audience in your community). d. Building (do the cheap things that catch the eye to make things better or newer looking). e. Men’s Mentoring: (Try using the Xristos Factor mentoring program in the Renovate Library and create a core of new leaders in 10 weeks). f. Women’s mentoring (coming soon the Xristos Factor for women). g. Spare no expense on visually updating (1st. your youth & children’s area). h. Plan a fall leadership retreat; (have fun and grow deep). 3. State your expected outcomes: a. This means you need to envision what your church is going to look like if you have the fortune

“Get-er Done” Motivators for Church Revitalizers If you are successful as a Church Revitalizer, you will win false friends and true enemies. Strive for success no matter. The service you render today will be forgotten tomorrow. Serve people anyway.

of hitting your target. 4. After you get all this together, present your plan to your leadership! Remember that New and Improved is what they are used to in every walk of life except the church. Bring up your WOW factor! JESUS IS NOT BORING!! Top 10 Boring Things at My Church (example) 1. Sermons are left overs 2. Music is for funerals 3. Staff is too old and doesn’t relate 4. Service is totally predictable 5. Fun & New ideas are frowned on 6. Sanctuary looks like the year 2000 7. Children’s area is old 8. Men’s ministry = building and grounds work day 9. Women’s ministry = nursery rotation 10. Baptismal is now a planter box for ferns

Dr. Robert Myers, known as P. Rob by his flock, is the Senior Pastor of Miami Baptist Church. For the past 15 years he has grown a multicultural Southern Baptist Church. His church is the most ethnically blended church in Miami and is reaching people for Christ, creating mature disciples and leading much of the national SBC in per capita baptisms. His new mentoring program, The Xristos Factor Mentoring Program is available in the Renovate store. He is a traveling professor for Indiana Wesleyan University, and a break out leader for the Renovate National Church Revitalization Conference. He is available to consult with your church on how to implement The Xristos Factor Men’s Mentoring Program in your church. See the XristosFactor.org for more information or contact Mark Wieble at Renovate for more help in this area.

A Church Revitalizer’s honesty and frankness will make you vulnerable. Be honest and frank anyway. Revitalization is hard work and those who soft peddle the process loose in the end. Even your biggest critic in the church has more at stake of you being successful in the efforts of revitalization. The smallest men with the smallest ideas can shoot down the biggest men with the biggest ideas. Dream big, be bold, and think big anyway. People pretend to love the “little” people, but sell their souls to the “big” people. As a Church Revitalizer, fight for the “little” people anyway. The nose of a bulldog is slanted backwards so he can continue to breathe without letting go!

What Does Church Revitalization Mean? Every place I go people ask me for a definition of church revitalization. Church Revitalization is a movement within protestant evangelicalism, which emphasizes the missional work of turning a plateau or rapidly declining church around and moving it back towards growth. It is lead through a Church Revitalization Initiative, which is when a local church begins to work on the renewal of the church with a concerted effort to see the ministry revitalized and the church become healthy. Church Revitalization means that the local church knew how, at one time previously, to renew, revitalize, and re- establish the health and vitality of the ministry. One of the challenges for the laity in the day in which we live is that they have lost the knowledge of church renewal and no longer want to cultivate the skill sets necessary to see their church experience revitalization. Even sadder is when a congregation does not have the corporate memory that there was a day when the local church was reaching people for Christ Jesus and active as evangelistic witnesses into their community.

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ENOVATE R National Church Revitalization Conference

November 7-9, 2017

Speakers Include:

Orlando, FL

Karl Vaters Micah Fries Gary McIntosh Jennifer Bennett David Murrow Tom Cheyney Paul Smith Terry Rials Ron Smith Steve Smith Jason Cooper

(FBC Winter Park)

RenovateConference.org

Church Revitalization Workshops

National Church Revitalization Speakers

Breakout Session Opportunities

Main Sessions by Revitalization Practitioners

Pre-Conference Intensive Subjects

1000+ Fellow Church Revitalizers Working Together