The Church Revitalizer Magazine May-June 2015

THE

CHURCH

May/ June 2015 Vol 1 Issue 4

Revitalizer

“A Revitalization Retreat in Every Issue”

It’s Your Choice to Change or NOT! Do you love your grandchildren enough to make the necessary and relevant changes to bring them back to your Church?

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

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RENOVATE National Church Revitalization Conference

Speakers Include Tom Cheyney Bob Whitsel Michael Atherton Ed Stetzer Paul Borden Neil Franks Ron Smith Bruce Raley Terry Rials Paul Smith

November 2-4, 2015 Orlando, FL

RenovateConference.org Aloma Church

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May / June | Vol 1, No 4

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A Change of Heart: The Role of Prayer in the Revitalization of the Church

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Observing the Obvious in Scripture to Better Your Preaching

The Whale 32 Missing Sparking Revitaliza-

By Joel R. Breidenbaugh

By Chris Irving

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THE SEVEN PILLARS OF CHURCH REVITALIZATION AND RENEWAL

By Tom Cheyney

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tion By Focusing on the Essentials

By Lee Kricher

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The Preparation for Revitalization ByJohn Kimball

INSIDE THIS ISSUE REVITALIZING YOUR CHURCH THROUGH DISCOVERING AND ENGAGING UNENGAGED UNREACHED PEOPLE GROUPS By Mark Weible

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OVERCOMING ROADBLOCKS TO REVITALIZATION By Ron Smith

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THE LEADERSHIP LINK…

By Michael Atherton

KEEPING FROM GOING BALD IN CHURCH RENEWAL By Greg Kappas

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Elephant and Dinosaur Churches

By Jim Grant

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Building Sustainable Student Ministry Volunteer Teams that Last By Drew Cheyney

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Six Facts to be Understood Before You Begin to Lead as the Church Revitalizer

By Tom Cheyney

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The Critical Commitments of a Church Revitalizer

By Tom Cheyney

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How to Get Off Stuck if you are Facing Change!

By Dr. Tom Cheyney

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Conflict Avoidance & Resolution Basics for the Church Revitalizer: How to Enjoy Change!

By Bob Whitesel

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Are You Ready For a Change? (Do

You Want To Get Well?)

By Darwin Meighan

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Defining Church Revitalization

By Kenneth Priest

60 The Dynamics of Change for the Church

By Terry Rials

Does Your Sunday Morning Bible Study Measure Up?

By Tom Cheyney

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Why Can’t People Change?

By Glenn Miller

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“The only magazine dedicated to Church Revitalization.”

revitalizer

LIBRARY BOOK REVIEWS

The Church Revitalizer Book Reviewer: Rob Hurtgen 57 Thirty-Eight Church Revitalization Models for the Twenty-First Century By Tom Cheyney 57 Re:Vision: The Key to Transforming Your Church

By Aubrey Malphurs and Gordan Penfold

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.

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CCCC ChurCh Development Equipping local churches to make disciples, develop leaders, and connect with their communities.

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Conservative Congregational Christian ConferenCe

8941 Hwy 5 | Lake Elmo, MN 55042 | 651-739-1474 | www.ccccusa.com 6

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Revitalizer Volume 1, 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 Linda Goans Executive Editor & Brand Manager Tom Cheyney Magazine Designer & Format Editor Gerald Brown Executive Director of Advertizing Linda Goans Web Ad Traffic Director Mark Weible For subscription information contact this office at: www.churchrevitalizer.guru/subscriptions.

Subscriptions donatins 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.

Stock images from ISTOCK Photo or where otherwise noted. © Copyright 2015 Renovate Publishing Group

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ChurchRevitalizer.Guru

by Tom Cheyney

Welcome to the the Church Revitalizer Magazine: A Church Revitaliztion Retreat in Every Issue!

After a year of having church members and revitalization pastors asking me would the Renovate Publishing Group consider publishing a magazine exclusively on the subject of Church Revitalization and Renewal, we have launched a bi-monthly subscriber donation based magazine for the purpose of raising up the conversation regarding this critical need in the local church. Our goal every other month is to provide you with a Church Revitalization Retreat in every issue. During the next few issues we are assisting with a clearer understanding of revitalization terms. With the field of church revitalization and renewal expanding so quickly, here are a few of the key fundamental definitions to begin ones journey: • Maintainer: The maintainer desires the enhancement of the current state.

• Manipulative Leader: A leader functions as a controlling force and seeks to hard sell his followers into what he desires.

Ministry by coercion is the fashion of this type of leader.

• Manipulators: Are church leaders which are quite active in the local church as they place their own personal needs above the needs of the congregation. Members under this form of leadership become merely tools in a game played by those who seek personal reward.

• Momentum Takers: This is the type of leader who is more in it for themselves than they are in it for those they serve.

• Opinion setters: Those who hold the power because of visible influence in decision making.

Stay connected, more is coming...

Dr. Tom Cheyney is the founder and directional leader of Renovate National Church Revitalization Conference and Executive Editor of the Church Revitalizer.

Thirty-Eight Church Revitalization Models For The Twenty First Century Authored by

Tom Cheyney Renovate Publishing Group

ISBN-13:978-0990781608 ISBN-10: 0990781607 List Price: $19.95

Purchase Online at: RenovateConference.org/Bookstore

While some church revitalizers see church revitalization models as mere fable, others see the validity of having examples and samples to study in the effort to get a glimpse of what God might be saying about how to bring church renewal to their present work! Regardless of the debate regarding myths for models or strategies for the revitalization churches, there appears to be at least six areas and thirty eight strategies that a church seeking renewal could consider.

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Elephant and Dinosaur Churches Within the realm of Church Revitalization the subject of change is ingrained. Revitalization by definition requires change, but the changes must be necessary and vision focused. People do not like to change – I don’t like to change. While this is nothing new, it is an essential ingredient for anyone entertaining church revitalization. I have to be willing to change and as a leader, must be able to create a healthy atmosphere for the needed changes.

Whether the revitalization is within a city, community or church; those advocating such must be prepared for conflict and confusion along the way. It has been often said that “unless the pain of staying the same exceeds the pain of change, nothing will be done.” Those who advocate revitalization have to create a “climate” for change, doing so is often a very tedious task. I want to use the illustration of elephants and dinosaurs as a way of identifying both “climate and ministry” changes.

In my office I have a collection of elephants that church members have given me over the last 4 years. Each elephant represents an “elephant in the room” problem that has finally been addressed and dealt with appropriately. Even though many knew the elephant existed, they were not strong enough, nor willing to expose it and deal with it. Many times churches would rather take “The Kings New Clothes” approach to elephants. If you are not familiar with this fable, it means just going along with what everybody else says, until it is so glaringly obvious to all that what was said is in fact untrue.

Characteristics 1. Elephants are warm blooded mammals, which birth off-spring

and nurture it to self-sufficiency. Elephant ears are normally 1/6 of their body size.

2. Dinosaurs are cold blooded and largely reptiles, and have many eggs of which they will try to protect until hatching, once hatched they are for the most part on their own for survival.

3. There are some times when an entity has characteristics of both.

[They are ministries that are extinct and still eat a lot of church resources; giving only an occasionally “song and dance routine] Dinosaurs are flesh eaters. They devour their prey; they became extinct when earth had an extreme climate change as a result of Noah’s Flood. There are some dinosaurs that have made the climate change; such as alligators/crocodiles. Most of the dinosaurs are found in museums, and really are not much more than skeletons. But their existence in churches must be self-evident.

Elephants are very large mammals that have a pre-flood ancestor called the mastodon. The mastodon didn’t survive the radical climate change produced by the flood. However, we do have a distant relative, the large pachyderm with us today.

We must agree that these two species exist in some form with in churches. When we look at these two species within the revitalization movement, they become very self-evident in the lives of churches.

It must become obvious that dinosaurs and elephants cannot be treated the same way.

The church in America still has dinosaurs in existence. One could put the “Bus Ministry, or “daycare/school” in this category. Years ago every church

by Jim Grant

adopted the Bus ministry because it was the thing to do in churches. It has been clear from recent history [that and the rusting busses in back of churches], that not all churches should have started a bus ministry.

In more modern days the necessity to have “hand bells, organ, piano and choirs” could be considered dinosaurs that every church felt it needed.

In a dinosaur climate, everything the church does is for its own self-preservation, particularly outdated programs. These become dinosaurs when the climate has radically changed, and it becomes a “dead/ extinct” program. In other words the programs became more important that the ministry they were hoped to be. Before I get into too much trouble, there are some places where these aforementioned programs “appear to be beneficial,” however, they really only have significance for those who are dinosaurs themselves.

Many communities and churches find themselves in a climate shift, yet, will not or better yet cannot acclimate to the new environment.

I have been a pastor at a dinosaur church. It is very interesting, how many “historical programs” have ceased to function, yet thousands of dollars are invested to keep them on life support. One such case is opening a daycare or school in the church; in hopes that it will keep the church alive. Day-cares look good on paper, but rarely add to the Kingdom of God. This is similar to the “Bus Ministry” mentioned above, except that the daycare or school devours ministers and laity without giving back. In order for churches to become effective they must rid themselves of the dinosaur syndrome. Caution – the dinosaur will try to eat you if you provoke it! Much

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CHALLENGING ENCOURAGING

It’s More than a book, it’s a RESOURCE for today’s Church!

Free Resources visit RonBSmithJr.com

Available in print and digital editions everywhere books are sold.

“Without revelation people run wild.” Proverbs 29:18 HSCB11

Revitalizing Your Church Through Discovering and Engaging Unengaged Unreached People Groups Did you know that you might have people living in your neighborhood who represent what international mission organizations considered to be unengaged unreached people groups (UUPGs)? They may be your neighbors, co-workers or people whom you do business with. Many of these internationals want to develop a relationship with you and your family. They are interested in learning more about you, how you live and what you believe. You may have an opportunity to share Christ with them and connect them with your church. When you and your church reach these leastreached people groups with the gospel, you unleash the potential of global gospel saturation.

Aadheem (not his real name) was in the U.S. on a tourist visa and had some questions about becoming a Christian. He had reached out to several churches and Christian organizations online, but only one of them responded. A pastor noticed Aadheem’s post in an online group and offered to meet with him. During their face-to-face meeting, Aadheem decided to become a follower of Jesus Christ. He connected with a local church and was baptized. Almost immediately, Aadheem began having evangelistic conversations with his overseas family over the internet. He shared with his wife and extended family about his experience with Christ and about what he was learning in his small 12

discipleship group.

In his small group, Aadheem was discipled using International Mission Board’s Training for Trainers (T4T) process. With T4T, small groups focus on training new disciples to immediately evangelize friends and family members, make disciples and train them to repeat the process. A few months later Aadeem returned to his home country intent on spreading the gospel and planting churches among his people group.

There are over 307 unengaged-unreached people groups (UUPG’s) in the world with a known population of over 100,000 people. An unreached people group is an ethno-linguistic group with a common shared identity with less than 2% of the people claiming to be evangelical Christians. A people group is considered to be unengaged when there is no evangelical church planting strategy to reach them.

Of these 370 unengaged-unreached people groups, about 106 of them have people living in freedom in the USA.1 Through a process of discovery and engagement, churches in North America can reach people who currently have no access to the gospel. When we reach them here, they can penetrate their own people groups with the gospel in places where there are no missionary personnel 1 imb.org/globalresearch

by Mark Weible

currently serving. It is not uncommon for a new believer in Christ to reach out to family members thousands of miles away with the good news of salvation.

Often this happens with hours of coming to know Christ via the internet.

The discovery process can begin with gathering data online and observing people groups in your area. The International Mission Board has developed a website that allows individuals and churches to discover and report information about people groups in their area. Simply, by visiting PeopleGroups.Info, you can research people groups and points of interest that others have discovered in your geographic area.

You can also add to the database as you encounter people groups near you.

A simple exercise in people group discovery involves visiting ethnic restaurants and grocery stores.

As you move about in your community, look for locally owned eateries that serve up authentic food from cultures that represent unreached people groups. Go inside, have a meal, and observe the atmosphere. Eat there often and get to know those who work there. Feel free to ask workers questions about their homeland and their experience adjusting to American culture. You can do the same in ethnic grocery stores and gift shops. Also consider visiting mosques, temples and other places of worship. Local cultur-

al centers and universities may provide opportunities to discover unengaged-unreached people groups as well.

The next step is to intentionally engage people from unengaged unreached people groups by developing authentic relationship. Most internationals want to get to know American families.

They want to befriend you, invite you to their home and visit you in your home. Internationals typically want to understand American cultures and beliefs. This naturally leads to opportunities for developing real relationships of trust and transparency. This process can take some time and requires patience. The gospel is often most effectively shared in the context of genuine relationships. Getting to know an immigrant co-worker or neighbor is easy to do but it does take time.

In the context of authentic personal relationships, it is appropriate in most cultures to discuss and even compare religious beliefs. If you show a genuine interest in the beliefs of your international friends, they will likely be interested in what you believe.

If you have been transparent in the process of building relationships, sharing your faith in Christ with your international friends will simply be a natural part of getting to know one another. As you life out your faith in front of your friends, you authenticate your story of God’s grace and truly become salt and light.

When you have the privilege of leading an international friend to faith in Christ, a healthy discipleship process can lead to the multiplication of disciples and the penetration of unengaged unreached people groups overseas. It is important that you focus not only on the spiritual development of this one individual, but on the potential of the people in his or her sphere of influence becoming multiplying disciples of Jesus as well.

The multiplication of disciples often leads to the multiplication of churches and to church planting movements.

“A Church Planting Movement (CPM) is a rapid and multiplicative increase of indigenous churches planting churches within a given people group or population segment.”2 CPMs are the vehicle that God is using to reach millions of people with the Gospel of Jesus Christ all over the world. Often these churches are small but they multiply quickly. The rapid multiplication occurs when new believers are discipled to disciple others and when leaders lead by example and quickly develop new leaders who are sent out to repeat the evangelism, discipleship, leadership, and church planting process all over again.

You never know, but that person that God has put into your life may be the key to penetrating a 2 imb.org/globalresearch/Pages/CPM

unengaged unreached people group with the Gospel and unleashing a church planting movement in a spiritually dark part of the world. Can you think of a better way to revitalize a stuck church than to see God work in such a miraculous way?

Mark Weible is the Church Planting Director for the Greater Orlando Baptist Assocition and the Strategic Director for RenovateConference.org.

In the context of authentic personal relationships, it is appropriate in most cultures to discuss and even compare religious beliefs. If you show a genuine interest in the beliefs of your international friends, they will likely be interested in what you believe.

- Mark Weible

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Elephant and Dinosaur ChurchesContinued...

like the movie series of “Jurassic Park” the original intention may have been well intended, but in the long run the dinosaurs turned against its masterminds that brought them to life.

Elephants are different however, while they consume a lot of resources, they are not as nearly mean spirited. When churches have elephants the condition is more subtle.

Dinosaurs will be loud and boisterous, when elephants are more behind the scene operators. When we address elephants in churches we find that everyone knows they exist, but feel the elephant [area of problem] is too big to mess with, and tend to leave them alone. This seems like a good idea, except, the dynamics of the elephant are such that they aren’t programmatic, but personal relationship oriented. As dinosaurs are more flesh eaters, [destroy people] elephants are more of a hindrance. It is tough to get an elephant to move if it doesn’t want too. The “Elephant in the Room” is a person, group or established order that has become sacred.

Both the elephant and dinosaur have their own way of doing things.

Dinosaurs just want to destroy everything, whereas elephants want to just create resistance and blockages of change.

In church revitalization, I think I would rather deal with a dinosaur than an elephant. One has to only change the “climate” to rid themselves of the dinosaur. But the elephant has learned to adapt to the new surroundings and remain still the biggest obstacle to productive and effective ministry.

A church will have to deal with both types of churches; it is imperative that the “change Agent” know which he is dealing with in order to lead a church beyond the position of medi-

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ocrity. If the climate of change is not significant enough in the right direction, the “extinct dinosaur will keep the church in the Ice Age.” Too many churches have been held captive to the past climate; partly because the dinosaur has threatened to destroy everyone if any change would cause them to be extinct.

When elephants are allowed to lurk around in services, business meetings and fellowship circles, then the church will lack the courage to confront for fear of conflict. The one thing about allowing elephants in the room or church is they will not leave on their own.

So if you are burdened about the Cultural or Climate you find your ministry currently existing in; you will have to be able to “identify the species” and determine how you will deal with each one in such a way so as not to destroy the church or worse yet be destroyed yourself.

by Jim Grant

Jim Grant is senior Pastor at Heartland Baptist Church in Alton, Illinois. He came to Heartland Baptist from Texas, where he served three churches. He is an Air Force veteran, retiring with 25 years of service. His extensive travels while in the military allowed him the unique ability to have served in the full gambit of churches styles and health.

He has a master of divinity degree from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, and a Doctorate of Ministry degree from Midwestern Baptist Theological seminary with a concentration on Church Revitalization. He has been married to his wife for 39 years; they have two daughters and four grandchildren.

CHURCH Revitalization

February w Dallas/Fort Worth 9am - 4pm • $20

Open to pastors, associational and church leaders alike.

This will be a day of intense conversations centered around strategic topics relating toward revitalization of the local church.

Conference Speakers

Lance Beaumont

Micah Fries

Nathan Lorick

Lance Crowell

Rod Harrison

Bart McDonald

Vice President for Institutional Effectiveness

Executive Director SBT Foundation

Tom Cheyney

Nathan Lino

Kenneth Priest

SBTC Worship Strategies

SBTC Discipleship & Online Strategies

Founder & Directional Leader Renovate National Church Revitalization Conference

VP LifeWay Research

Senior Pastor, NE Houston Baptist Church

SBTC Evangelism Director

SBTC Director of Convention Strategies

register at sbtexas.com/revitalization

North American Society for Church Revitalization & Renewal February e Criswell College • 9am - 3pm • $49 Academic writings in the field of church revitalization and/or renewal should be submitted to kpriest@sbtexas.com by Nov. 6, 2015 for review by the Coordinating Council. If your research is selected to be presented, you will be notified by Jan. 8, 2016.

Coordinating Council Members: Tom Cheyney, Renovate National Founder Rod Harrison, Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary Tracy Jaggers, Tryon-Evergreen Baptist Association Kenneth Priest, Southern Baptists of Texas Convention

sbtexas.com/nascrr Writings should not be longer than 20 pages; plus a bibliography. By submitting an academic writing, you are agreeing to allow the North American Society for Church Revitalization and Renewal to publish your paper in the NASCRR Journal. Writings being presented will be included in the journal automatically; other writings may be included in the journal for a future issue as determined by the coordinating council.

The Hard Reality of Revitalization Church Revitalization is important because so many churches are dying and or are all but dead. It is also important because even today’s healthy churches run the risk of developing the same illness that other churches are experiencing. God’s people desperately need a biblical foundation for church revitalization! Many Christians today actually attend a local church, which needs to consider learning and practicing the various principles for Revitalizing Churches.

-- Tom Cheyney 17

Building Sustainable Student Ministry Volunteer Teams that Last

Whether you want to admit it or not, in today’s world of Student Ministry, the Student Pastor who only builds relationships with students and fails to invest into leadership will always find themselves not only behind the curve in their ministry, but also in a position of frequent panic and consistent plateaus. Why you may be asking? Because you cannot have the kind of impact you have been called to have if you are always doing it by yourself. Think about this for a second; what would it be like for you to have 4 hours a week to dream about where your ministry could go? What would it look like to have a plan in place that is executed monthly instead of coming up with things last minute or on the fly?

To tell you the truth, most Student Pastors would love to have time to ask the questions yet alone discuss the answers. If you are anything like most Student Pastors in our nation, you have a desire to impact eternities past graduation, you want to teach students how to use their influence to impact people, and hopefully, you want to see the church and its student ministry thrive.

The complication in this dream however, is that most of us use our energy and efforts striving to be superheroes when it comes to Student Ministry instead of leaders of an architectural structure. We plan, plot, problem solve, and hope that if we come up with the coolest new ideas that the climate in our ministries will go from stagnant to impactful.

Here is the skinny though, if you are going to have successful student ministries that last, then you must have a deep volunteer team to HELP! As Pastors, we all want to lead the kind of change that matters, but few leaders in student ministry today are actually willing to take the necessary steps needed to do so. What is the

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first step you may be asking? Well it is this: START CONNECTING WITH PEOPLE! It sounds so trivial when you hear it since that is what our job description calls us to do in ministry, but when you think about it, when was the last time you went up to a complete stranger in your church and struck up a conversation that went past “hi” or a passing “hello”? For some of us it is been way too long, and it is for this reason that the leadership in our Student Ministries is going nowhere!

To be clear though, really good leaders will not come to you the majority of the time. In fact, the best leaders in your church probably will never even sign a card letting you know they were in attendance yet have a desire to serve. It is because of this that Dan Reiland, Executive Pastor at 12 Stone Church, puts it this way, “If you’re serious about increasing and expanding your leadership, you have to take the initiative to form new relationships. You can’t sit back and wait for people to come to you.”1 Why you may be asking? Because good leaders do not know the potential they have to impact an eternity until you encourage and challenge them with the opportunity to do so. It is because of this fact that you are going to have to find them first!

Finding them though, is just the start of the equation; after finding them, you then need to connect with them. Strike up a conversation, find a reason to have a cup of coffee, maybe eat a meal together. Then you need to do something most Student Pastors get squirmy on, you need to humble yourself and ask 1 Reiland, Dan. Amplified Leadership.

Lake Mary: Charisma House, 2011. Print.

by Drew Cheyney

people to check out your ministry to see if there is an area they would be willing to help make better. Yes you may be told “it’s a bad time right now” or “no thanks, I’m just not that interested,” but you have to at least ask the question. When we fail to even ask the proverbial question, we as Student Pastors are saying “NO” for people. And by doing so, we are robbing them of an opportunity to serve in a much bigger venue in God’s Kingdom. I personally say it like this, “My responsibility as a Student Pastor is to put as many ‘good people’ in the lives of our students as possible; not perfect people, but people like yourself who are trying for better day in and day out in their lives. Would you be interested in at the minimum checking it out and just seeing if there is an opportunity in Student Ministry for you?” Then I listen to their answer and pay attention to how God works on people’s hearts. Sometimes they want to know more and sometimes they do not, but nothing will happen if we do not at least ask.

Thirdly, it is your responsibility when people do want to be a part of your ministry to put these potential leaders in the right places and then invest into their lives. It is not your calling to plug holes just so you can fill a 7th grade boy’s small group leader position or a registration leaders spot. It is also not your calling to put people where you know they will not succeed just because they want to serve wherever it is. It is our responsibility though, to place people where they can excel and succeed in God’s kingdom. Maybe for you that means letting people be a fly on the wall and trying various opportunities out for 3-4 weeks to see what works. It could also be

Continued on page 36

THE

Revitalized Church Forfeiting Self to Follow God MICHAEL ATHERTON

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A Change of Heart: The Role of Prayer in the Revitalization of the Church

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by Chris Irving

Texans are fiercely independent. From the beginning of their fight for independence from Mexico in 1835 until now, no one tells a Texan what to do. The town in which I currently serve (Gonzales, Texas) is the epitome of Texas pride and independence. Our community flag is one that waves proudly and is known as the “Come and Take It” battle flag with its symbolic Lone Star and iconic cannon. The oppressive tyrant known as General Santa Anna forced the hand of the Texans, beginning the struggle for Texas independence right here in my hometown.

The people wanted a change. The fight ensued and many lives were laid on the altar of freedom and independence. Texas changed for the better.

it is compelled to change by forces impressed upon it”. While not a biblical principle, there is truth in this statement that applies to church revitalization.

When the hand of a tyrant tried to selfishly force change, Santa Anna lost his empire. Let me suggest that you not try the Santa Anna Method to bring about revitalization in your church. Instead, consider Sir Isaac Newton’s first law of motion, which states “everything continues in a state of rest unless

In Matthew 6:9-13, Jesus teaches us how to pray.

The Disciple’s Prayer serves as a model prayer that we can employ for heart-change, which ultimately leads to revitalized churches. When we pray the Jesus-way, our hearts adjust to His by dwelling in community with Him, our vision and priorities

Change begins in the heart and soul of the people.

How do we, as leaders, change the hearts of men?

Simply put, we cannot. But God can! Prayer is a vital component to revitalization because it is through prayer that God speaks to His people to impress the need for change. In an article in “Facts & Trends”, Micah Fries lists 7 essentials for true church health.

One of the seven is “prayerful dependence.” When, through prayer, we come to a place of total dependence upon God, revitalization can begin.

conform to His and we come to depend upon God for His provision of daily needs, forgiveness, and leadership.

OUR HEART CONFORMS TO HIS Have you ever noticed when you’re driving in your car and there appears, over time, a slight vibration in your tires? The calibration in the balance of the tires is out of sync, causing the vibration of the car.

In the same way that a vehicle’s tires require calibration, we too need to have our hearts calibrated to God’s. When we pray, “Our Father in heaven,” we acknowledge our relationship to Him and His position of authority over us. He is our Father first and He is in heaven on His sovereign throne, in complete control of creation and His kingdom.

The truth of who He is and where He is causes our hearts to shift.

The need for revitalization is not always noticeable right away, but like the tire that gradually shifts out of balance, the local church can slip into a place in which revitalization is required. The adjustment must be made as we seek God the Father. The Fatherhood of God ought to settle uncertainties and give hope as the church prays for revitalization.

Change happens as we conform to His will. God’s name, purpose, and priority are most hallowed when the church behaves in conformity to His will.

David said it right in Psalm 16:8 when he wrote, “I have set the LORD continually before me.”

OUR VISION CONFORMS TO HIS Sometimes, the ride of a car is turbulent because the wheels are not aligned correctly. Because the wheels are out of alignment, the tires wear unevenly, leading to other serious problems. Our vision can get out of alignment with God’s kingdom purposes. God’s vision for the church is found in the prayer of Jesus. As we pray for the Kingdom of God to come, the vision of the church changes as His

kingdom transforms our hearts into kingdom-centered Jesus-followers.

I love the way The Message states Proverbs 29:18, “If people can’t see what God is doing, they stumble all over themselves; But when they attend to what He reveals, they are most blessed.” As we pray for His kingdom to come and for the accomplishing of God’s will, our vision should naturally conform to His. If this conformity does not happen in the hearts of the people, any outward change will be short-lived. As the church prays this truth, the vision of the people will begin to conform to God’s kingdom vision and the church will become relevant and vital. How can we see what God is doing if we are not spending time in prayer?

Should we continue to pray for our focus to be on evangelism, discipleship and all the other stuff that goes with church life or should we pray for the Kingdom of God to come? To live and pray the Kingdom of God is not a prayer to be prayed in addition to all the other stuff…it is the stuff. Discipleship, fellowship, evangelism, ministry and worship don’t happen outside the kingdom; those things are the Kingdom.

OUR NEEDS ARE MET TO FULFILL HIS PURPOSE In order to thrive and drive, your car has certain needs. Routine maintenance is a must for any car, no matter the make or model of the vehicle. As you journey the road of revitalization, you’ll learn to depend on God more and more to meet your needs.

This is like God saying, “Hey, I’ve got your back.” God will provide all of the church’s needs according to His glorious riches in Christ Jesus.

Look at what God does for His people while they journey through the desert, leaving Egypt. They are in His will, traveling to the Promised Land and each day He provides manna for them. The “daily bread” they need in order to thrive in their journey falls from heaven each morning.

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We need God’s daily provision, but we also need forgiveness from God and to dispense this same forgiveness to others in the church. No doubt you will face opposition to the revitalization adjustments needing to be made. But you cannot harbor the bitterness that naturally comes because bitterness is dangerous poison to the heart of the revitalizer. You too must forgive.

Finally, we need God’s leadership, protection, and deliverance. As you pray for His leadership, protection from temptation leading to failure and for deliverance, God’s providence is evident and His glory is on display. This, after all, is the purpose of the church… to make God known to the nations.

You cannot force change any more than I can force a square peg into a round hole, but you can intentionally begin a journey of prayer focused on changing the hearts of the people you serve, thus changing the heart of the church. The result is a healthy and vital church. After all, prayer changes people. And who knows but that the heart changed most might just be yours.

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. He earned his Masters of Divinity at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary and his Doctorate of Ministry in leadership studies at Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary.

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.

In his book Leading Change, John Kotter outlines this eight-step process:

1. Establish a Sense of Urgency.

2. Create a Guiding Coalition 3. Develop a Vision and Strategy 4. Communicate the Change Vision 5. Empower Broad-Based Action 6. Generate Short-Term Wins 7. Consolidate Wins and Produce More Change 8. Anchor New Approaches into the Culture.1

1 Leading Change, John P. Kotter. Harvard Business School Press, pg. iiix.

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Observing the Obvious in Scripture to Better Your Preaching

by Joel R. Breidenbaugh

Have you ever found yourself listening to a sermon, marveling at a preacher’s insights into a particular passage? You may have even thought to yourself, “I could never do that.” I believe you can, however, but it takes work and it takes time to observe what’s in the biblical text. I want to help you with that very thing.

Putting the Puzzle Together

My oldest daughter and I like to work on puzzles (no, not the 24-piece floor puzzles, but the 500+ piece puzzles). I think the steps of Bible study are a lot like a puzzle. When you put a puzzle together, what do you do first? You find the corners and edges and look at the big picture on the box. That’s like the process of observation—seeing what’s there. Next, you separate certain colors, based on the picture, so you can put the trees or lake or barn together more easily. This step is similar to interpretation—connecting the different pieces together. Finally, you finish the puzzle and you may even frame it and hang it on the wall for others to admire (we’ve done that with more than one puzzle).

This final process is like application—understanding what the Bible says and doing it. While all three of these steps are crucial to life-change, it begins with the first step of observation, for the less you observe, the weaker your interpretation is, and the weaker your interpretation is, the less helpful your application will be.

Keys to Basic Observations1

1 Adapted from Howard G. and William D. Hendricks, Living by the Book: The Art and Science of Reading the Bible (Chicago: Moody, 2007), 79195.

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Read the Text Multiple Times

To get the most out of your study of Scripture, begin by reading the text multiple times in multiple ways. You may even want to read different translations. As you read the text, start by reading it slowly. Read through it thoughtfully. Keep the purpose or theme in mind (if you know it). Read over it quickly to see what else jumps off the page.

Multiple readings will help you see what’s there.

Six Things to Look For

As you read the text, there are a few things to look for. First, look for things which are emphasized.

It may be the amount of space given to it (75% of Genesis covers Abraham’s family), a stated purpose (see John 20:30-31) or the order of things (when listing all the disciples, Peter is always first and Judas is always last).

Second, notice repetition. Start with terms, phrases and clauses (see Psalm 136). Also, consider characters (how does Barnabas appear in Acts?), as well as circumstances (everyone doing right in their own eyes through Judges). Pay attention to patterns (between Israel and Jesus, as the new Israel, for example) and the New Testament use of the Old Testament, especially in determining what laws are still binding.

Third, observe things which are related. It may move from the general to specific, much like Genesis 1 deals with creation in general, while Genesis 2 hones in on day 6 and the creation of man and woman. Furthermore, questions may contain answers (Paul answers many of the questions he raises in Romans) and there may be cause-effect relationships (see Acts 8:1-4, for instance).

Fourth, look for things which are alike. Similes will utilize “as” or “like” to help with this step. In a similar way, metaphors are analogies without the use of “as” or “like.” When Jesus said about the bread at the Passover, “This is My body,” we understand that statement to be a metaphor.

Fifth, on the opposite end, notice things which are unlike. While metaphors may also occur here, look especially for the key word “but” to show contrast. Pay attention to irony, too (like Jesus asking who touched Him when a whole crowd pressed around him, Mark 5).

Finally, pay attention to things which are true to life. You may need to use a bit of sanctified imagination here, but try to place yourself in other people’s shoes. What must have been going through Abraham’s mind as he was about to offer Isaac as a sacrifice? How did Paul fight off discouragement while in a Roman prison?

Certain truths about life transcend culture and time and can help others better understand God’s message.

Examples

Now that you know what to look for, let me provide you with a few examples. These are observations I’ve made about different texts and you have probably made similar observations. Such observations are encouraging whenever you see some of the same things the scholars note in their commentaries. These notes also benefit your audience in helping them see what’s in the Bible.

• Genesis 1—five times during the account of creation, we read, “God saw that it was good.”

Only after God creates male and female to we read, “God saw everything that He had made, and behold, it was very good” (1:31). Thus, the crowning work and most important part of God’s creation is the creation of mankind.

• 2 Samuel 11:1—“In the spring of the year, the time when kings go out to battle, David sent Joab, and his servants with him, and all Israel.

And they ravaged the Ammonites and besieged Rabbah. But David remained at Jerusalem.” As

you read the rest of the next couple of chapters, you see how David should have never been in the position to see Bathsheba and covet her and commit adultery, because he should have been off at war.

The application from this observation is simple: if you fail to do what God has ordained for you to do in your position, you can find yourself in a tempting situation.

• Galatians 5:22-23—have you ever asked, “How many fruits of the Spirit are there?” Most people answer with nine, but there is only one. The Bible says, “The fruit of the Spirit is…” (singular noun and singular verb). This single fruit has multiple layers, like a blossoming flower. I have applied this truth to say, “You don’t get to pick and choose which characteristics of the Spirit you are going to have, because the Spirit works all of them into the lives of the child of God.”

Conclusion

As you can see, thousands of observations are right there, staring us into the face. We have to take the time to pay attention to what’s there. It takes more work, but the work will pay off. Like sticking to it and finishing a difficult puzzle gives my daughter and I a sense of satisfaction, observing golden nuggets in the Bible can benefit you and your hearers. I pray you are able to take the time to see what God’s Word says—it’s quite a blessing!

To get the most out of your study of Scripture, begin by reading the text multiple times in multiple ways. You may even want to read different translations.

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.

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Six Facts to be Understood Before You Begin to Lead as the Church Revitalizer Alright you are now officially the one who has been called to lead the struggling church towards church revitalization! Before you get too excited, take a minute or two to look over these six facts often misunderstood in church revitalization and renewal.

1 2 3 4 5

One single solitary individual can make the difference between success or failure in any church revitalization effort. You can be that individual through becoming the revitalization leader God needs you to become.

One of the most amazing facts about revitalization is that most church revitalizers become successful only through the help of other people they draw around them and the renewal effort.

You do not need to be the lead pastor to become the church revitalizer leader. You do not need to wait on someone else to tell you that you can begin working on the development of your church revitalization skill sets. You can begin working and acting as a church revitalizer immediately.

If you understand that the essence of church revitalization is very simple, and the main ingredient will be you learning how to motivate people around you to seek revitalization and renewal so they can perform to their highest potential to achieve the purposes of revitalization that you as the church revitalizer have set.

Church Revitalizers are made, developed, and trained; never born revitalizers! There are no magic pills and cookie mold church revitalizers. If you want to be the one who leads revitalization, you can learn how in the same way you learned other skills. Hard work and becoming a life learner is a beginning. The skill sets are obtainable so get to the National Church Revitalization Conference annually and begin growing as a church revitalizer.

Strong Biblical revitalization does not depend on being in the perfect place or having everyone think you are great. Your ability as a church revitalizer to motivate your people to perform to their maximum is independent of these factors.

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Church revitalization leaders have a tremendous opportunity and influence to help the church accomplish anything that you believe as the church revitalizer God desires for your church. As the Church Revitalizer within the church the Lord has called you to lead your people towards revitalization and help them achieve the revitalization of their local church. ~ By Tom Cheyney 26

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Overcoming Roadblocks to Revitalization

by Ron Smith

Feature Writer First, and always first, establish a culture of conviction.

The church must understand it has a mission. The church is more than a name, a building and an address with a history. The church has a future - a future that is revealed as we go.

The life of the early church was fueled by the promise of Christ’s return. At the sight of the risen Christ, the disciples knew that what he said would come to pass. When Jesus said, “Go – I’ll return,” the disciples believed and obeyed. As a result, the early church worked toward a future with the hopes of taking many people with them to meet Christ when He returns.

The same should be true of us today. We, the followers of Christ, should be working toward a preferred future – the return of Christ. We have a mission and a future.

Knowing this, as pastoral leaders, we must equip the church to work towards this future. We also know that not everyone is a fan of change and growth. Renovation is hard work. The revitalization of a church is by the far the hardest thing I have ever done; and yet it must be done.

When we walk with the Lord in the light of His Word, What a glory He sheds on our way!

While we do His good will, He abides with us still, And with all who will trust and obey.

Trust and obey, for there’s no other way To be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey.

Not a shadow can rise, not a cloud in the skies, But His smile quickly drives it away; Not a doubt or a fear, not a sigh or a tear, Can abide while we trust and obey.

Time, research and the predictability of human nature allow us to identify roadblocks that will be encountered.

Let’s examine common roadblocks and plot a course of action to overcome them.

Not a burden we bear, not a sorrow we share, But our toil He doth richly repay; Not a grief or a loss, not a frown or a cross, But is blessed if we trust and obey.

Believe it or not, more churches value death over life.

They may not speak it in those terms, but all of their actions and steps communicate this. “New” is scary. “New” is unpredictable. The old and familiar is comfortable.

New life, new programs, and new debt are a fate worse than death. Most churches would rather stay the course of a slow death, because a fear of the unknown causes us to seek the security of the certain.

But we never can prove the delights of His love Until all on the altar we lay; For the favor He shows, for the joy He bestows, Are for them who will trust and obey.

Sadly, many of our senior adults choose this path. One would think that after years of following Christ, a deep faith has developed - a faith deep enough to trust God and take Him at His Word. However, in many churches the saints of old are the ones crying to return to Egypt to die in “freedom.”

To overcome this you must preach, teach, pray and lead out in a way that establishes that the church has a future. Honor the past of the old saints by having them recall the way they felt when God moved in their lives in the church. Then ask them, why would they want to rob future generations from experiencing a movement of God?

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Remind them that everyone in the Bible who ever experienced the movement of God had to step out by faith and trust God for the future. The church is like a ship: made for the open waters and not the safety of the harbor. A good Captain of a ship is not afraid of stormy waters, salt in the eyes or open seas. Any good Captain knows that these things will be experienced. Safety in the harbor does not guarantee life; it may be safe from storms, but not from dry rot. Instead, life is discovered in the following and in the obeying – if your church like hymns then remind them of the hymn, Trust and Obey:

Then in fellowship sweet we will sit at His feet.

Or we’ll walk by His side in the way.

What He says we will do, where He sends we will go; Never fear, only trust and obey.

Now there’s a sermon calling us to go – obey – do!

It never ceases to amaze me when churches speak against growing the body. What causes them to think it’s okay to stay where we are and cease reaching people for Christ?

After 23 years, I am still amazed at this thinking. People are afraid of the church becoming too big. Size, to some, equals fake, liberal, thin, and showy. Somehow in their thinking, it’s best to be small because to them, small equals authentic, conservative and deep.

This excuse stands in total opposition to the Great Commission. As long as babies are being born and people

exist without knowing Christ, we MUST share Christ with them and seek to get them in the local church. The church property has no room for a sign that says, “No Vacancy”.

Creating a culture of conviction that communicates that the church has a mission – a mission to bring people to Christ – shatters this kind of small-church thinking.

The church has no other option but to grow; we must do the work of revitalization.

Churches cannot remain neutral - indifference courts disaster. Jesus spoke against being lukewarm when he said to the church at Laodecia, “I know your works: you are neither cold nor hot. Would that you were either cold or hot! So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth” (Rev. 3:15-16, ESV).

We must restore churches to fulfilling the original mission (Matt. 28:19-20).

take time to overcome issues of control. The journey of revitalization is three years, but nothing replaces the power of conviction based on scripture. A pastor with a conviction for biblical health, biblical life, and a biblical future is hard to stop. The critics may not easily follow, but you will attract a crowd of followers who will join you on the journey. Three voices of resistance may be loud, but they aren’t as powerful as you think they are.

When we lead out of conviction over opinion, conviction will always win. Pray for God to reveal what to preach – then preach it with conviction. Develop strategies to equip the saints for the work of the ministry and carry it out with conviction. Begin reaching the neighbors and neighborhoods around you, and do it as if Christ is returning soon. Commit to the church that you are here to stay – and work every day with the conviction of that calling. Demonstrate healthy leadership. Don’t yield to critics. Be transparent. Do the work of an evangelist. Cast vision and live with conviction, and the roadblocks will fall.

The most common and difficult roadblock in the work of revitalization is in the area of control.

Chances are, the church you are leading has had other pastors before you. With each transition of pastors, the church typically has a group that maintains stability and direction during the interim. Over time, this group assumes control. Arriving on the scene as the new guy, you desire to take the church toward completing its mission.

But you soon find out that a group in the church has other versions of how to complete its mission.

The issue of control holds the top spot for reasons why pastors leave churches. The question of who’s going to run the church is a contentious roadblock in the work of revitalization.

Let’s recall Nehemiah while he was building the wall.

Nehemiah created a culture of conviction, enabling him to re-build the walls. This conviction held him on the wall in the heat of criticism. I love Nehemiah 6:3; “And I sent messengers to them, saying, ‘I am doing a great work and I cannot come down. Why should the work stop while I leave it and come down to you?’”

Nehemiah’s conviction to the work kept him on the wall.

This conviction also answered the critics and gained him the leadership needed to complete the work. Listen – pastoral conviction backed by scripture is a powerful tool to overcome the issue of control. As pastors, we have a biblical mandate to lead the church, not out of compulsion or for selfish gain, but “in the Lord.” It may

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Ron Smith is the lead pastor of FBC Altamonte Springs a church working towards revitaliztion and renewal. Ron is a husband to Rana, father to three girls and Pastor of FBC Altamonte Springs. 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 Podcasts as well as serving on staff of the Renovate Coaching Network.

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The Leadership Link…

by Michael Atherton

Moses, God’s Leader It is nearly impossible to have a discussion of leadership, centered on the great leaders of the Bible, without talking about Moses. God used Moses to deliver the Israelite children out from under the slavery of Pharaoh and the bondage of Egypt. Yet we understand, in order for Moses to be successful he had to navigate all kinds of challenges. He had to face his fears. He had to return to his enemies.

He had to acknowledge his inadequacies. He had to face a number of realities, which I am sure he would have rather just ignored. Such is the case with revitalization leadership. To be the leader who is willing to lead in revitalization, the challenges will be great. Looking at Exodus 18, we can find encouragement from the life of Moses as to what a revitalization leader should consider.

In Exodus 18, Jethro, Moses’ father in law, comes and offers some helpful advice to Moses concerning how he was leading the people. We pick the text up in verse thirteen, where we read: 13 The next day Moses took his seat to serve as judge for the people, and they stood around him from morning till evening. 14 When his father-in-law saw all that Moses was doing for the people, he said, “What is this you are doing for the people? Why do you alone sit as judge, while all these people stand around you from morning till evening?”

15 Moses answered him, “Because the people come to me to seek God’s will.16 Whenever they have a dispute, it is brought to me, and I decide between the parties and inform them of God’s decrees and instructions.”

17 Moses’ father-in-law replied, “What you are doing is not good. 18 You and these people who come to you will only wear yourselves out. The work is too heavy for you; you cannot handle it alone. 19 Listen now to me and I will give you some advice, and may God be with you. You must be the people’s representative before God and bring their disputes to him. 20 Teach them his decrees and instructions, and show them 30

the way they are to live and how they are to behave. 21 But select capable men from all the people—men who fear God, trustworthy men who hate dishonest gain—and appoint them as officials over thousands, hundreds, fifties and tens. 22 Have them serve as judges for the people at all times, but have them bring every difficult case to you; the simple cases they can decide themselves. That will make your load lighter, because they will share it with you. 23 If you do this and God so commands, you will be able to stand the strain, and all these people will go home satisfied.” 24 Moses listened to his father-in-law and did everything he said.

25 He chose capable men from all Israel and made them leaders of the people, officials over thousands, hundreds, fifties and tens. 26 They served as judges for the people at all times.

The difficult cases they brought to Moses, but the simple ones they decided themselves (Exodus 18:13-26).

Principle #1: Moses had to become a man of prayer (v. 19).

I realize the simplicity of the principle yet recognize the depth of the challenge. The simple truth is that far too many churches are deciding what type of staff to hire, how big of a budget to set, what type of programs to run, and what kind of philosophy to adapt without taking their marching orders from God. To give the benefit of the doubt, I am sure there are many church leaders who are striving to proceed with good intentions. But good intentions are not always God’s intentions. If you are unwilling to seek God in prayer, then how can you ever know exactly what God wants? Had Joshua not heard from the Lord, I am not sure that he would have felt comfortable deciding that the best plan was to simply march around the walls in order to defeat Jericho. It just didn’t make any sense.

Similarly, I am not sure that Jonah would have ever gone to the wretched Ninevites. The disciples would have never set out to feed the multitudes with such a small stipend of food. Nehemiah would have stayed in the king’s palace, never returning to rebuild the walls around Jerusalem. The lame would have not walked, and the blind would have never seen. Yes, these testimonies of the faith would have been much different if they had not listened to the Lord God. Whether through a bush, in the cleft, on the mountain, or in a valley, we must be willing to listen to God. In today’s context, many times that comes through prayer.

Further, when you listen to God, regardless of how crazy the plan seems from a human perspective, you can have confidence that God will see you through to a successful completion. Let me say it another way: when what you set out to accomplish is a direct result of God’s direction, you can know that the power of God accompanies you.

There is power in the name of Jesus!

Not only that, but do you remember when the touch of Jesus restored sight? Do you remember when the voice of Jesus raised men from the dead? Do you remember when just merely touching the cloak of Jesus healed people? Jesus is still in the miracle-making business, but if the church is going to navigate the treacherous territory of this sinful world and accomplish the Great Commission, it is going to come because we have willingly submitted ourselves to the power of God through prayer.

Principle #2: Moses committed himself to communication (v. 20).

This principle cannot be overstated, even if I devoted a whole series of books to it. Communication is a key characteristic in any leader’s effectiveness. Effective leaders are effective communicators. We are helping people, whether corporately or individually, make the necessary changes that lead them from the status quo to reaching their full potential in Christ. The problem? Who wants to have to make changes?

As you lead individuals or an entire church through change, the greatest weapon in your arsenal will be communication. Be willing to communicate, communicate, communicate! Beware that as your church is made up of various age groups, their desired form of communication might be different. Some want newsletters.

Some want e-mails. Others might want Facebook posts, and still others might desire a simple phone call. Do not become an ineffective leader by mandating that people must conform to your desired form of communication. I have been heard telling my staff, “If someone in the church family would rather hear from you in Morse code, you had better learn it!”

One last element of communication that must not be overlooked is your responsibility to listen.

Hear people and the things they have to say to you. Accept their praise and hear their criticism.

Listen to their ideas, understand their perspectives, and genuinely consider their feelings. You do not always have to agree, but if they know that they have been heard, they will likely hear you better when it is your time to talk.

To be continued…

In the next issue of the Leadership Link I will examine three more leadership principles from Moses. Until then let me leave you with an encouraging word. Leadership is as difficult of a discipline to learn and master as any other discipline you run across. But don’t become discouraged in your efforts to better your leadership. The old adage is appropriate: practice makes perfect!

Michael Atherton is the lead pastor of the Cornerstone Church in Longtree, CO where he has turned around two churches through a church merger.

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“Church Revitalizers must understand the pace issues when it come to making change. There is nothing more permanent except change! Change often frightens people. People do not relax well in the midst of change. It makes them anxious. As a church revitalizer, you will discover that nothing is more challenging than leading through times of change.

In most churches the normal pace of change is intentionally slow. This is usually because of comfort with the status quo no matter how good nor how bad things are going..” ~ Tom Cheyney

Missing The Whale: Sparking Revitalization

By Focusing on the Essentials

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, we were on the verge of closing our 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 did attendance increase, the average age of those attending Amplify Church decreased from 50 to 35 years old. Every generation was well represented for the first time in many, many years.

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When I was in my mid-40s, I went on a three-day scuba diving trip on the Great Barrier Reef off of the coast of northeast Australia. On one of my favorite dives, I was about 80 feet deep and the number and variety of fish and coral was stunning. I spent most of my dive observing from a few inches away a family of clown fish swimming in and around a large anemone. It was beautiful.

When I came to the surface and got back on deck I wasn’t surprised that the other divers were also excited about the dive. But I was surprised at how excited they were. When I asked about what, one

diver said, “Didn’t you see the whale?” Apparently a small whale swam right above us – I was the only one who didn’t see it. I was so focused on the family of clown fish that I missed the whale.

Sometimes we are like that in our churches. We spend our time focusing on so many good things that we lose sight of the whale - our church’s core mission.

Keeping People or Reaching People?

At Amplify Church we did not need to change our core beliefs. We became convinced, though, that we had lost sight of our core mission. We agreed that the core mission for our church was to lead as many people as possible into a growing relationship with Jesus Christ. It was obvious that we were failing to live up to this mission, particularly with the next generation.

In order to more effectively fulfill our mission, we felt that we needed to shift our priority from keeping people who were already attending the church to reaching people who were not attending the church. We also felt that we needed to sharpen our focus by reducing the number of programs and ministries offered by the church.

After prayerful consideration, we decided to focus nearly 100 percent of our time, energy and resources on just three things that we were convinced would have the greatest impact on our ability to fulfill our core mission: the weekend service, small groups and children and youth ministry.

The weekend service was in dire need of attention. People had stopped inviting family and friends to church because our weekend services were perceived to be boring or irrelevant or both – especially by visitors. A small “creative team” was formed, consisting of staff and volunteers to prayerfully plan every weekend service. The creative team planned ahead several weeks to determine how to best reinforce the themes of

the upcoming weekend messages with graphics, videos, special music, takeaways and other service elements. Every part of the experience that visitors had from their entrance to the parking lot to their exit was discussed.

The goal was to plan each service so that it would make a tangible difference in the life of each person in attendance. We knew that we could not count on people attending our church out of obligation. We had to plan and conduct our services so that people would want to come and feel excited about bringing others with them.

We also focused on small groups. We felt that small groups were a critical part of helping people to build community and experience a growing relationship with Jesus Christ. The combination of Bible study and prayer in small groups would build meaningful connections for people with God and each other that could not be built solely during weekend services.

Our biggest challenge was a renewed focus on children and youth ministry. In addition to investing in the best children and youth curriculum we could find, we made decisions in two key areas: • Staffing – We added one staff member and re-assigned another so that we had both a children’s director and a youth director. Even though both of these individuals were paid modestly and had additional roles, this was still a major commitment considering our financial situation. One church member understandably asked, “Why do we need a children’s director and a youth director when we have no children or youth?”

• Facilities – We began to create environments that were designed specifically for children and youth. We had a rather large church facility but there was literally not one room that was considered dedicated space for children or youth.

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Everything was multi-purpose meaning that our children or youth were able to use rooms only when other activities and programs were not scheduled. The first time our resolve became evident was when we turned the chapel into “The Kid’s Theater.” As you can imagine, this was quite controversial. One person commented just before leaving our church, “We don’t need any designated areas for children – especially something that looks like a Disney stage. There are hardly any children in our church anyway. Just let them use adult spaces when we don’t need them.”

I Think They Like Kids Around Here Our shift in focus came from a resolve that we would never miss the whale again. Each decision about how we would invest our time, energy and resources was heavily influenced by our core mission and our commitment to reach the next generation.

There was nothing easy about determining and implementing the changes that we made at Amplify Church. But before long, people started to invite others to church again. They found the weekend services to be engaging. More than half of those attending weekend services began to regularly attend small groups. And we started to hear the sound of kids once again in the halls of our church.

I remember hearing two specific comments that made me think we were on the right track.

I asked one man in his 40s why he and his wife started to attend Amplify Church even though they had not been affiliated with any church for many years. He said, “Because we were invited by our teenage daughter.” I also was thrilled to overhear an elementary school child tell his parents during their first visit to our church, “I think they like kids around here.”

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• What is the whale for your church?

• What is your church’s core mission – the reason your church exists?

• What is the one thing around which everything else should revolve?

• Where should you focus your time, energy and resources on to have the greatest impact on your ability to fulfill your core mission?

Lee Kricher is the Senior Pastor of Amplify Church, Pittsburgh, PA - amplifychurch. com and author of For a New Generation – foranewgeneration.com

The Critical Commitments of a Church Revitalizer

By Tom Cheyney

Every church revitalizer must have a certain set of core commitments if he is to succeed

in the work of church revitalization and renewal. If these focused four commitments are kept as a primary emphasis on the one who is called to revitalize the church, there is a greater chance that renewal or revitalization can be achieved. These four focused commitments are:

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Personal growth through God’s Word. Revitalization is difficult and without a daily walk with the Lord and a focus on His Word, it is impossible to become the change agent, which the dying church requires. Fresh manna must be received daily so as one works through the hard issues of revitalization there is a fresh step in the Church Revitalizers life.

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Spiritual power through intercessory prayer. People ask me all the time what is the key ingredient to church revitalization. Most want a magic pill that will fix their dying church with little or no effort. But without a doubt the single most important ingredient to renewal is the power, which comes from intercessory prayer.

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Integrity through developing accountable relationships. Relationships require a mutual accountability. Church Revitalizers must work at displaying spiritual integrity through the relationships they develop. Holding one another accountable is important in developing lasting relationships.

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Strategic mission through God’s unique call. God has called and gifted you in unique ways to be a Church Revitalizer. Just like not every minister can plant a church from scratch, not every one can take a declining church and breath life back into it. Part of that effort is God’s strategic mission and calling upon your life. Church Revitalizers must be able to make the hard calls relating to transitioning a church. Also they must have the strategic ability to be able to pull the trigger sooner than later. While revitalizers are highly relational, they are not one who takes it upon them to hold everyone’s hands.

While many pastors in declining churches are holding the faithful few in their loving arms, they are just not willing Nor able to make the hard decisions, which will turnaround the church. They wait until few are left and the faithful ask them to leave.

These focused four commitments must be kept as a primary emphasis on the one who is called to revitalize the church. If this is done, there is a greater chance that renewal or revitalization can be achieved. This leader seeks to address God’s mission call to a leader utilizing each of the other commitments. All four commitments are essential to a believer’s ability to abide in Christ, and become more effective in his service.

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Building Sustainable Student Ministry Volunteer Teams that Last - Continued identifying a certain person’s greatest strength and putting them in an avenue of leadership that allows that strength to be maximized at its most impactful level. Whatever method you choose, develop the kind of leadership opportunities that allow ‘good people’ to serve in areas that they love and not only will they develop and grow, but they will stay. John Maxwell, Pastor and Author, says this about building leadership teams, “Leaders create and inspire new leaders by instilling faith in their leadership abilities and helping them develop and hone leadership skills they don’t know they possess.”2 This is what God has called us to do if we are going to build Student Ministries that last. We have to connect with high capacity people, ask them to partner up with the mission of our student ministries, & develop them to use their influence to impact hearts forever.

2 Maxwell, John. Developing the Leaders Around You. Nashville: Thomas Nelson, Inc, 1995.

by Drew Cheyney

You may be wondering how many times you will have to create this process and the answer is, as many times as you need to have more leaders than you actually need. Most Student Pastors only get the amount of leaders they need to accomplish what they are already doing, but if you are going to have the kind of impact and leadership that lasts, you have to invest into/ recruit more leaders than you actually need. If you do that, you can have a team of volunteers that lasts.

Drew Cheyney is the Student Pastor at Neighborhood Church in Valsilia, CA and frequest writer on Revitalization of Churches through student ministry.

How to Get Off Stuck if you are Facing Change!

By Dr. Tom Cheyney 1. Realize you are trapped in a routine.

2. Become more open to other points of view.

3. Examine your daily thinking and how it has or has not served you.

4. Assess your next steps for change.

5. Understand that if you make a blunder, recognize it is all part of the journey.

6. Appraise your plans by whether they fit your beliefs and core values.

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Incredible changes have taken place in the past hundred years. We are experiencing more change than ever in history. The rate of change is so great that we barely catch our breath before another blast of change slams into us. The starting point for unfreezing a stuck church is the development of a solid community of faith that includes spiritual leaders, the absence of major conflict, trust, and a desire to connect with the unchurched world. Everything we are acquainted with is changing.

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The Seven Pillars of Church Revitalization and Renewal: Foundational for Declining Churches

The Seven Pillars of Church Revitalization and Renewal Our Lord loves the local New Testament Church and it is His desire to see it grow! The need for Church Revitalization has never been greater in North America!

An estimated 340,000 Protestant churches in America have an average attendance of less than one hundred. Research data tells us that in the United States more than 80% of the churches have plateaued or are declining. Each and every week we are currently seeing somewhere between fifty and seventy-five local churches closing their doors and not opening them again. Everything that must be done in the area of church revitalization cannot be accomplished in a few hours on the Lord’s Day! The most recent research data released in January of 2012 by the Leavell Center for Evangelism and Church Health, has said that within my own Southern Baptist Convention we are at a critical juncture regarding church plateau and decline. The most recent series of studies have been conducted by Bill Day; Associate

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Director of the Leavell Center for Evangelism and Church Health, who serves the New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary as the Gurney Professor of Evangelism and Church Health in his sequential studies on church health and growth of 2003, 2007, and 2010.

In January of 2012 Bill Day reported, that currently there are less than seven percent (6.8) of our SBC churches that are healthy growing churches. That means 3,087 of our 45,727 SBC churches are healthy. Even the number of SBC churches is in decline and we need to address the needs for church revitalization immediately.

Thinking About the Seven Pillars of Church Revitalization Working in the area of Church Revitalization will lead you eventually to consider the Seven Pillars of Church Revitalization.

A Church Revitalizer will not be working in all of these areas at the same time, but you will eventually find yourself working in most of them at one time or another. Take a moment to reflect upon the Seven Pillars graph as we discuss these areas of renewal and revitalization.

by Tom Cheyney

Revitalization and Realignment

Perhaps the easiest pillar to address is revitalization and realignment. Some observers of church revitalization and renewal argue that the era of small churches is over and that the future belongs to the arising mega churches across North America. Granted mega is an amazing phenomenon of the past thirty years which seems to have arisen with the concept of the massive campus church. But to ignore the 340,000 plus churches in North America that average less than 100 weekly in church attendance would be ill advised! Those who serve and those who attend these churches are an enormously significant network of Christian influence.

Even the mega church finds itself struggling to avoid plateau and decline.

A church in need of Revitalization is described as one where: there is the plateauing or declining after a phase of recent or initial expansion; then the church experiences the beginning of a high turn-over of lay leaders; there becomes a shorter duration of stay of fully assimilated people within the work; the church morale and momentum level drops; the church coasts for a brief time

and then drops again, only to see the cycle of decline repeated again and again. The result is the church hits a new low! This new normal is the first sign of a church in need.

Refocusing

Refocusing is the second pillar and it helps churches that are growing, but still need to set new challenges and look for new opportunities to expand their gospel witness into their target area. Questions such as what is your biblical purpose and why do we exist as a congregation must be addressed. Looking at how God showed up in the past is a good way to get the church unstuck by addressing where it has been, how God has worked and

what does He have for its future.

Addressing the church’s focus, vision, and leading them to discover God’s new direction is just the beginning of helping a congregation to begin refocusing towards the Lord’s new calling plan for the church! Many a pastor today has never been taught how to grow a church and they feel quite stuck and in need of someone to come along side of them and challenge them to refocus one’s self and the church!

Re-visioning

A little bit harder certainly, but not as hard, as the descending order of decline that will eventually lead to the Restarting pillar of revitalization. Have you ever seen a church that once was alive

and vital begin to lose its focus and drive for the cause of Christ?

That is a church that needs to work on its Re-visioning strategy! Any Re-visioning strategy works to help churches dream new dreams and accomplish new goals that lead towards re-growing a healthy church!

This strategy is designed for a weekend retreat tailored fit to foster a sense of ownership and team ship related to discovering a shared vision for the church.

Understanding the critical milestones necessary for a new vision will help foster healthy church practices that might have been lost. Something as simple as achieving a great goal of some sort can begin to launch a church back into a Re-visioning strategy.

Something as simple and dangerous as the Lord’s children taking 39

an ill advised rest that resulted in a slowing or stalling of the momentum into a maintenance mentality can cause a church to become stuck.

Renewing

Church Renewal is the forth pillar of the seven pillars of Church Revitalization process. Often the church simply needs to get back to that which was working and get back on track. When that is needed a careful renewal strategy needs to be planned and carried out. Renewing a congregation becomes much harder than the refocusing, re-visioning and revitalization process. Not everyone who works in church renewal is wired the exact same way and it is important to understand each congregation’s individual needs and not try to make a one size fits all! There is no magic pill in church revitalization. Far too much writing on church growth of the 1980’s was designed in a one size fits all “bigger is better” model and while it may not have been the only cause for declining numbers in our churches, but it certainly contributed! It is vital that you prepare the laity for the work of church renewal as well as yourself. Communicate early and often with the church how the renewal process will take place and how it will be implemented.

Prepare yourself spiritually and then prepare your leaders spiritually. Then begin preparing your church spiritually for renewal! A Church Renewal Weekend is a great way to start! Church renew40

al is not about finding the magic medication or treatment to get growing. It is more about discovering God’s vision for the church and practicing it for the long haul. The utilization of a Church Renewal weekend works well to draw God’s people back towards health and vitality.

when it is necessary to reinvent itself to a changing community.

When a church experiences a shift in the community makeup, often there will be to various degrees, the need to redevelop a new experience for those who make up the new church context!

New experiences must replace old experiences. New practices likewise will replace old practices. A church that is experiencing the need for reinvention must take seriously the need and make the commitment for reinventing itself, revaluing itself, reforming itself, and reinvigorating itself to fit the new context.

The restart church revitalization model is being used all across North America. Changing the mindset of the residual membership can Restoration This sixth area of Church Revitaloften be very difficult. ization deals with things a church Senior adults occupy and a minister must go through when circumstances necessimost of these restart tate that a restoration process is candidate churches called for! Things such as: Gaining a new and fresh underfor which change is standing of the new future for often hard to come the church is vital if success is in the church’s future. by. Until the church is ready to make drastic Inspiring new prospects with a vision that is both compelling changes, it is useless and motivational. Prospects seek to become involved. to be inspired and not dragged down in the world in which we live in.

Reinvention

This fifth pillar of Church Revitalization deals with tools and techniques to assist the church

Meet new needs in order to give you a restored place among the community in which you seek to further minister.

Become prospect driven during these days of transition. Look

for new and yet to be reached opportunities to minister.

Remember if you try to do everything you will end up doing nothing. Therefore pick your greatest opportunities first and let the rest follow along later.

Craft something that comes out of a community in flux and look for ways to reconnect to the community where you once were firmly entrenched. Keep in mind you have been given a second chance so don’t blow it. Prayerfully seek the new things because it might be something you will be doing for a long long time!

Restarting

The final Pillar of Church Revitalization is the hardest and often only happens once the church’s patriarchs and matriarchs have tried everything else they could think of to grow the church with no success! The challenge here is that most churches wait too long to enter into this area of revitalization and by the time they are willing to utilize this strategy, they have sucked out all of the life within the church and it is no longer a viable candidate for this effort. When a sick church no longer has the courage to work through the various issues that led to its poor health, it is usually identified as being on life support and in need of a restart. This type of church has been flat-lined and just holding on by means of its legacy and the faithful few who attend. The Restarting Strategy (also known as a Repotting strat-

egy) is for an unhealthy church to once again begin growing and to engage in a renewed vision that is demonstrated through sufficient evidences of hope.

The restart based church revitalization model is being used all across North America. Any group planting churches or working in the area of Church Revitalization should have a restart strategy if it is going to be a wise steward.

One critical point from the start is a complete change of leadership and direction is a must for this revitalization model to be successful. Lyle Schaller reminds us that 85,000 evangelical churches are running fewer than 50 on Sunday. Being aware of their “critical” condition, however, is not enough. They have got to become convinced they need “major” surgical treatment. One church I have worked with still believes that they have more to offer, though their decline has been meteoritic and yet they

refuse to allow a restart to take place.

Changing the mindset of the residual membership can often be very difficult. Senior adults occupy most of these restart candidate churches for which change is often hard to come by.

Until the church is ready to make drastic changes, it is useless to become involved. There are thousands of churches like this all over America: Some are Baptists, others are Methodists, even in the Assemblies you can find them, Presbyterians, the Lutherans have them, Congregational, Christian, and many others, waiting for a mission-minded congregation to get involved in offering “new life.”

One startling phenomena is there are churches today that as the laity begin to depart this life often see nothing wrong with taking the church to the grave as well.

That was never part of God’s plan for the very thing He gave up His life.

Dr. Tom Cheyney is the founder and directional leader of Renovate National Church Revitalization Conference and Executive Editor of the Church Revitalizer.

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The Preparation for Revitalization We recently bought a new house.

It’s a “fixer-upper” – we knew that when we bought it but are only now realizing how much fixing it needs. The house was first a foreclosure, then an abused rental property and finally was purchased at an auction and flipped. Thankfully, by the time it came to us, we were able to get it at a price that allows us to make the needed improvements while living in it.

amount of time it takes to paper, tape and “cut in” is essential for the actual painting to go quickly and to cover well for a pleasing result.

Carpenters know that measuring well and keeping blades sharp are non-negotiable for a good product.

Farmers spend a lot of time preparing the soil so that their crop’s yield is at its maximum months later. The same principle applies to church revitalization.

One of the biggest issues with the exterior of the house is the lawn – or the lack thereof. We live in a Home Owners’ Association (HOA) that has been very gracious, but the weeds and invasive grasses are not only ugly on our lawn, they are a creeping problem for our neighbors’ lawns as well. Back in Minnesota, I fixed a similar situation with overseeding and lawn treatment for a couple of seasons; however, that won’t work here in Central Florida.

When a lawn is as bad as ours, the bad stuff has to be eradicated down to the root first. We’ve been told by several folks that the only fix we face is to kill everything that is there – making sure the roots are dead – and then re-sod the lawn. And the prep work of herbicides and fungicides is critical or the new sod will be invaded by the same weeds within a summer or so.

Having worked in revitalization for over 20 years, I can tell you that there is a lot of prep work involved to turn a church around. Much of it is tactical in nature (e.g., vision, values and strategy work), but to my continued amazement the one critical component that most folks overlook is prayer. Every movement in Church history – every revival and awakening – is preceded by a season of fervent and focused intercession. Every one. We can track this historically, and yet it seems to be the one thing Christians and church leaders today forget to employ! If a church family will not humble themselves and pray, they will not experience revitalization.

If a congregation will not spend meaningful and ample time interceding for their neighborhood, they will not be able to effectively reach their neighbors with the grace and truth of Christ’s gospel. If church leaders will not gather specifically to intercede for their church family and her mission, they will not see the needed breakthroughs to overcome barriers (personalities, dysfunction, cultural issues…) to

Crabgrass, Dollarweed, Chickweed, Corn Speedwell...you name it, it’s in our lawn.

Anyone who is master of a trade will tell you that there are no short cuts when it comes to prep work.

Painters know that the enormous

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by John Kimball

the church’s ministry.

My experience has shown that churches who take this call to prayer preparation seriously are churches that rediscover their mission, reconnecting with their communities with great gospel fruit.

Experience also tells me that church families who do not do this prep work (for whatever reason), remain stagnant at best. In my opinion, there is nothing else in church revitalization that is as clear and simple as this point. And yet, only about half of the congregations with which I have worked over the years have followed through with respect to intercession.

Pastors, you have to take the lead in this. It starts in your heart before it can spread to the congregation.

Your own personal prayer relationship with the Lord is the foundation for your church’s revitalization. If this is an area that needs work, start there. Pray on your own. Pray with your family. Schedule regular time for intercession with your leaders – weekly if possible (this is not time for “business” – your only business is praying for your church’s fruitful life, ministry and witness). Preach regularly on prayer and intercession. Provide training on prayer and intercession (most congregants need this because they no longer have a frame of reference for effective, answered prayer). Build a cottage prayer movement within your church family, allowing folks to gather in informal clusters around the community to stand in the gap

for their neighbors. Program times of congregational prayer into your church’s weekly schedule and then actually use it for praying. But know this: your congregation will not rise above the level of her pastor in any area of ministry – including prayer.

If it’s not an acted upon priority for you, it will not be for your church.

And if your church does not practice prayer and intercession, revitalization is unlikely.

My lawn is going to look horrible for about 10 days before the new sod can be planted. You might find that you also have a challenging season as you begin the prep work of prayer in your church. But the result will be worth it. It’s not easy, but it is necessary. Don’t rush this.

Pray and watch the Holy Spirit show up in your church’s ministry.

Times are Changing, So Change With the Times - Tom Cheyney

Dr. John Kimball is Director of Church Development for the Conservative Congregational Christian Conference. He has nearly 30 years of pastoral experience, most of it in revitalization ministry, and coaches pastors and churches through development in his denomination and in partnership with the Praxis Center for Church Development.

John serves as the Lead Pastor/ Planter of Palmwood Church in Metropolitan Orlando.

People are afraid of change. Times are changing so change with the times. Our God however, is a God of change. We can learn at least two things from scripture about change: initially, we can learn that Christians should not be afraid of change. In Revelation 21:5 He declares “Behold, I make all things new” God does all kinds of “new things” in our lives every day. When we first become Christians, we die to our past, are buried in the water’s of Christian baptism and rise up a “changed” person, a new changed creature in Christ.

Our God is a God of change, and God can do great things when His people and His churches allow Him the freedom to change their lives. Someone once observed that the only persons who like change are wet babies and even they are not too excited about it either. Churches are notorious for that kind of attitude as well. True spiritual maturity is approached when people turn their attention to those outside the church and seek ways to spread the good news rather than exercise their entitlements as members.

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Conflict Avoidance & Resolution Basics for the Church Revitalizer: How to Enjoy Change!

By Bob Whitesel

For 20+ years, I’ve coached church revitalization. And, this usually means bringing about change in a church. So, when I earned my PhD from Fuller Seminary, I decided to study change and how to bring it about in an effective way.

One of the most astounding things I found was that in church leadership literature “conflict resolution” was one of the most underrepresented topics. That’s right, conflict is probably understudied, under discussed and misunderstood by our church leadership.

We all know that turning around a church will almost always lead to some conflict. Therefore let me suggest what church leaders can do to overcome conflict when it inevitably arises during church change.

Conflict Avoidance: It May be Why There Are So Many Planted Churches and Fewer Turnaround Churches.

1) Conflict avoidance often leads to burnout in the turnaround leader. This

is because the repression of stress creates internal turmoil in the leader which does not get resolved. It usually simmers under the surface until an alarm event pushes it to the front. The leader has repressed it so long the leader will often overact and congregants will wonder why the leader is so upset. The level of irritation is often so great that sides will be formed.

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2) Conflict avoidance often leads to a great deal of external church planting

(you will see shortly that because conflict avoidance is the rationale, these plants aren’t often given a healthy start). The senior leader avoids conflict for so long, that staff who are in conflict with him/her wind up leaving the church to plant another church. The planting of the church is actually a conflict avoidance behavior by the senior leader and planter, because in the name of multiplication this tactic distances discordant and innovative ideas from the mother church. The result is that mother churches become mono-cultural congregations, while at the same time feeling self-satisfied that they are planting churches. But, often the plant becomes mono-cultural too because the avoidance of conflict is a behavior the planted pastor has seen modeled for her/ him and often adopts as a coping mechanism as well.

3) Conflict avoidance often creates an uncomfortable staff relationship with the senior shepherd, because they don’t know how to address conflict.

Often the senior leader will cancel or postpone meetings with staff, if the leader perceives it might involve conflict. Inside, the leader may be thinking, “If I cancel this meeting the conflict will get resolved after the person has had time to think about it.” As a result, the staff will feel at the best disregarded and as the worst

detached. The result is turnover among staff who the church needs for revitalization.

In most of the circumstances the conflict-avoiding senior leader is well liked. In my case study research, the more a leader is liked, the more apt that leader is to be a conflict-avoider. Subsequently, they may be popular among other leaders and asked to share their insights into church growth. Most of that insight will have to do with planting churches. But, if you talk to the pastors of many of those plants, as I have, you will find that they feel leaving the mother church was the best way to avoid an awkward situation where conflict was avoided.

Thus, • The turnaround leader’s avoidance of conflict creates an “uncomfortable” and “awkward” feeling among the staff when they are in conflict with the leader’s ideas. Staff may eventually leave the church instead of helping with church revitalization.

• Because the senior shepherd is well liked, the innovators that are needed for church revitalization will usually distance themselves from the conflict avoiding leader by going elsewhere.

• Often a new planted church is the result of conflict avoidance, because the leaders don’t know how to resolve their differences. Rather than revitalizing a church, the innovators leave with not only wrong motivation but also the wrong coping-mechanisms for handing conflict in their next church.

Conflict avoidance thus often leads to a proliferation of small/weak

daughter churches, less diverse mother churches and a halting of church revitalization efforts.

want?” b) Write down what each person wants.

What Can Be Done? Learn Conflict Resolution Basics

3) Find a “Win-Win” solution, which is one that meets most peoples needs.

To resolve conflict you need to undertake three simple steps of conflict resolution:

1). Attack a problem, not people. We often demonize the

message-carriers rather than looking at the problem. A problem can be shared with such emotion by a message-carrier that the mental image of the message bearer can cloud our judgment and lead us to superimpose the problem on the person. While the person may have a role in the problem, it is critical that you separate the problem from the person. Do these three steps. a) Write down the problem. Keep out anything that has to do with people or their attitudes. b) Rewrite this problem statement until you have separated personalities and people from the problem c) Now you have a description of the problem, devoid of the people involved.

2) Concentrate on needs, not outcomes. Everyone sees a

different outcome. But, understanding what motivates people (i.e. their needs) is the way you solve conflict.

You begin by figuring out what people want. a) Ask yourself, “What does each person involved in the conflict

Take your “description of the problem” (from Step 1) and your “list of people needs” (from Step 2) and write down solutions that could meet both. Then get together both sides and discuss the solutions (do not share what you wrote in Step 1 with them). Because these solutions will meet the needs of what both sides want, we call these “Win-Win” solutions.

Most people are conflicted not because they differ on outcomes, but because they are afraid their personal needs will be ignored. Let me end with an example.

Tower Park Church (a pseudonym) had two worship services, a traditional service at 9:30 AM in their sanctuary and a contemporary service at 10:30 AM in their fellowship hall. To revitalize the church, the new pastor knew he needed to move the 10:30 service into the larger sanctuary. The pastor announced to the board that he was exploring a move of service times and locations.

Immediately a flurry of parking-lot and hallway conversations started to polarize the church into factions: those for moving the contemporary service into the sanctuary and those against it.

The pastor of Tower Park Church knew he had to resolve this conflict. So he followed the three steps above.

1) He wrote down the problem: “The problem is that additional space is needed for the growing contemporary service.”

2) He concentrated on interests, not the outcome. Talking to the traditional service attendees he found they didn’t want to change their service time or to have the altar area filled with contemporary musical instruments and their cords. He also found out that the contemporary service attendees wanted the larger space and the more accommodating sanctuary to the crowded fellowship hall.

3) The pastor suggested a win-win outcome, that met the interests of both sides. He suggested they move the contemporary service back to 10:45 and leave the early service at 9:30. The altar area would retain its traditional looks (as the traditional attendees requested) and so the contemporary band would hide their equipment behind curtaining to retain the formal appearance for the earlier traditional service.

Once the pastor of Tower Park Church refused to avoid the conflict and instead find out what everyone “wanted,” he was able to lead them to a revitalization plan that met everyone’s needs. And, so can you.

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.

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Church Revitalization in Rural America

By Tom Cheyney & John Kimball

Book & DVD Resource Set 47

Are You Ready For a Change? (Do You Want To Get Well?)

In John chapter 5, Jesus asked a pointed question of a man who had been suffering from paralysis and lying at the pool of Bethesda for thirty-eight years. The question Jesus asked was, “Do you want to get well?” In other words, are you ready for a change? For nearly four decades, this man’s life has been in a state of paralysis. Day after day, his life was one of hopelessness. Whereas, normally a pool is a place of recreation, activity and life; for this paralyzed man, the pool of Bethesda was none of these. Instead, his world consisted of lying on the ground, day after day, on a two-foot by fourfoot mat – a whopping total of eight square feet of living space! His life was marked by the same routine, sitting in the same safe place every single day. And just maybe, the man had lost all hope and didn’t have any will to get better.

Paralysis is defined as “a state of being unable to function or move; a state of powerlessness or incapacity to act.” Jesus shows up poolside of many churches suffering from paralysis, and he’s asking the same question he inquired of the paralyzed man centuries ago, “Do you want to get well?” The stark reality is, some churches have been sick, and in an unhealthy condition spiritually for a few years, while others, paralysis has lingered on much, much longer – perhaps even decades.

While God has created the church to be a people and a place of life, hope and vitality within the community and world, in reality many declining and dying churches are lifeless, paralyzed with apathy and complacency, void of God’s Spirit and the truth of his Word. Sadly, like the man in John chapter 5, some churches have lost the hope, will and desire to get better.

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You may wonder, “If Jesus knew all about this man, then why does He ask him, “Do you want to get well?”

What a strange question to ask a man who has been sick for 38 years!

Didn’t Jesus already know the answer to this question? Of course, he did! Jesus never asked questions to gain information. He asks questions to get us to see our need for Him. Obviously it was important for this man to answer the question himself, “Do I want to get well?” This is the same question pastors and churches likewise must honestly answer themselves, “Do we want to get well?” Are we ready for a change?

Symptoms and Causes of Spiritual Paralysis in Churches While only a representative list, here are some common symptoms and causes of churches suffering from paralysis: • Inward focus • Neglect of personal and corporate spiritual disciplines • Disconnected from the community and world • Unbiblical view of church leadership and member roles • Programs take precedence over people • Poor pastoral leadership • Habitual and/or unconfessed sin • Lack of brokenness and repentance • Power struggles/need for control • Relentless attacks on a pastor’s ministry, marriage and family

By Darwin Meighan

• Unwillingness to exercise/follow biblical steps of church discipline • Pride • Unhealthy relationships/unbiblical ways of handling conflict • Lack of mission, purpose and intentional strategy for “making disciples” • Generosity of time, talents and treasures is replaced by stinginess/survival mode • Traditions of men have taken precedence over the truth of God’s Word • Unrealistic, insatiable desire/demand to have personal preferences and needs met • Enamored with the past (want to go back to how things were before) • Setting up of “camps” within the church (us vs them) • Keepers of the law rather than being agents of God’s grace • Apathy and complacency (maintaining the status quo is acceptable) • The pastor and church choose to “go it alone” instead of working in cooperation with like-minded Bible-believing, evangelical churches • The church has been taken captive by a spirit of hopelessness and a desperate sense of helplessness, questioning how they could possibly turn things around to once again obey Jesus’ command of fulfilling the Great Commission (Matthew 28:19-20; Acts 1:8).

As I think about change I reflect on why people fear change, and my mind is drawn back into the Old Testament to the day that the Israelites were at the border of the Promised Land for the very first time! Do you remember what happened? They were afraid of the change. Was it the size of the giants or perhaps the strength of the walled cities? They were afraid of change because they had their eyes on the gants, and not on God. Their fear came from the fact that in their shallow minds, they thought their God was not big enough to face the challenges they faced.

We are living in an age of change and swift turbulence that comes with changing, is all around us. As a church revitalizer if you learn to handle change well you will be more successful. If you avoid learning how to make subtle changes as well as monumental ones, it will cause you much pain and it could lead to your failure. Weather any of us understand it or not we are now living in a generation that seeks change. Perhaps the best recommendation then for you and for me is to learn how to challenge this young generation with change. Real change! This generation wants to grow and experience change.

They do not want to stagnate; they want to try new things, experience new opportunities and have possession of the vision for the future.

- Tom Cheyney The Church Revitalizer as Change Agent

BOOK DUE OUT OCTOBER-NOVEMBER 2015

The Remedy for Spiritual Paralysis The good news is, while the symptoms and causes are quite disturbing, when Jesus Christ is in the equation there is hope for churches today. Getting back to the question Jesus asked of the man suffering from paralysis, “Do you want to get well?” the man responded, “Sir, I have no one to help me get into the pool when the water is stirred. While I am trying to get in, someone else goes ahead of me.”

Occasionally at the pool of Bethesda, the water would bubble up, likely from a spring below, but the people superstitiously thought an angel was causing the disturbance and

the first one into the water would be healed. Thus, the pool at Bethesda had established a reputation as a place where people could be healed.

Sadly and mistakenly, the paralyzed man had, for years, thought the help he needed was based on this myth, superstition, or man-made tradition, if you like. However, the help he truly needed for 38 years could only be found in Jesus. So after nearly four decades of paralysis, he suddenly discovers the path to hope and healing. Jesus said to him, “Get up!

Pick up your mat and walk.” At once he was cured; he picked up his mat and walked.

When Jesus told the man to get up and walk, this was something he had not done in thirty-eight years!

There’s a valuable spiritual lesson in this story: you can’t keep doing what you’ve been doing. Why? Because what you have been doing has resulted in years of church paralysis.

A church on the journey toward spiritual health and vitality must consider doing what Jesus said to the church in Ephesus, “return to the things you did at first.” This story also serves as a reminder: there will always be something God tells us to believe, and do, and to act upon in obedience. Jesus’ command for his church is to: Get up. Pick up your mat. Walk. And we don’t do this by our own power. We do it through the power that God supplies.

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Keeping from Going Bald in Church Renewal

Keeping from Going Bald in Church Renewal: Assessing the Smaller Church and What to do as a Pastor to see Greater Health These thoughts and words stem from Tim Keller’s fine article on church sizes and includes my comments.

How to see your church grow in health on a smaller level. Many of you feel that

pastoring a church that needs revitalization is like pulling your hair out. Some of you point to your baldy and say “I lost my hair leading this church.” Smaller churches from a few to around 200 grow mainly through pastor-initiated evangelism, discipleship, new groups, classes and ministries. This calls for focus, pain, leadership and prayer. A ministry that is built on the Word of God and the Spirit of God will see His blessing, His healing and His health. The timing may not be what you wanted and prayed…but healthy cells do reproduce and this happens in the smaller church. How do you eat an elephant?…one bite at a time…How do we tackle health and growth in a small church? … one person at a time…one new convert at a time…one small group at a time…Reproduce then multiply…multiply…multiply.

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The medium-size church of course will also only grow as it multiplies in evangelism, intentional discipleship, classes, groups, services and ministries. But

the key to medium-size growth is improving the quality of the ministries and their effectiveness to meet real needs. Picture going from McDonald’s to PDQ. The difference is in quality. The small church ‘gets away’ with amateurish quality because the key driving force is its intimacy, family-like warmth, and relationships. Yet the medium-size church’s ministries must be different. Small groups are viewed as relational and time investments.

Classes must really be great learning experiences. Music must meet aesthetic needs.

Preaching must really inform, inspire and call to action. The So What Becomes I See. Many pastors and preachers miss this…

The So What Becomes I See… answer what the congregation must do about your message.

There must be Meaning, Significance and Response. Call it the MSR. Of course, do not forget to reproduce then multiply…multiply…multiply.

Crossing the threshold to the next size-category.

Keller notes the small church crosses the 200 barrier into the medium church through:

by Greg Kappas

1) Multiplying options, 2) Going to a multiple staff, 3) Shifting decision-making power away from the whole membership, 4) Becoming more formal and deliberate in assimilation, 5) Moving the pastor away from shepherding everyone to being more of an organizer/administrator.

This paradigm shift must take place and you as a pastoral leader reach a make or break time in your adjustments. There is just no room to not adjust. Picture construction on a road broadening from 2 lanes to 4-6 lanes.

Keller reminds us that we can grow beyond 200 without all the five above changes. In fact, most churches do. Often churches grow past 200 ‘holding on’ to one or more of the smaller-church attitudes. For example, if the minister is multi-gifted and energetic he can get the organizational/ administrative work done and still get to visit every member as possible in a smaller church.

Sometimes the staff is added but decision-making still stays primarily congregational. But to break 400 and head toward the larger church, you must firmly break the old habits in all five areas. When you reach a point that the paradigm stops shifting, it may be too late for the next stage…think about that…some churches miss a stage as they blink and then the church expe-

riences numerical growth but a lack of internal health. Picture a tall, gangling teenager. Strategic thinking, reproduction and multiplication cannot stop…multiply…multiply…multiply.

Moving to a new space and facilities can be crucial to breaking this health and growth barrier. This is often true for a medium-size church, but there is not a guarantee. Even thinking through how to create a climate for change, things still go back to Jesus, His Word, His Spirit and intimacy with God. We are here to bring glory to Him and to reach the lost. We are here to bring glory to Him and equip the saints. We are here to bring glory to Him and mobilize believers for ministry. That is why we reproduce and multiply…multiply… multiply. When we stop, we will pull our hair out…and be a baldy.

Let’s don’t make that choice.

“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.

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.

In Revitalizing of a church its people really need help, but may attack you if you do help them. As a Church Revitalizer help people anyway. Give the church the best you have and you’ll get kicked in the teeth. Give the church the best you have anyway. People will let you done, but Jesus will never let you down.

Greg Kappas is the President of the Grace Global Network and Vice President of TTI

The nose of a bulldog is slanted backwards so he can continue to breathe without letting go!

-- Tom Cheyney

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Are You Ready For a Change? (Do You Want To Get Well?) (continued)

Churches today must recognize their desperate condition and need for help. This same Jesus comes to you at poolside, right now. He is asking a very direct and pointed question of you and your church, “Do you want to get well?” Are you ready for a change?

Interestingly, some pastors and churches want help while others don’t. You can’t help someone who doesn’t want help, no matter how obvious it is that they need it. Some pastors and churches, perhaps, they have not yet reached the place the paralyzed man had reached. They are not helpless enough yet. They are not ready to give up on human efforts to solve their problems. They are not ready to admit they cannot make it on their own. They are still determined to get into the water when it is troubled. “Do you want to get well?” If you say, “Not yet,” or, “No, I don’t,” then what? Sadly, the only alternative is continued paralysis and eventual death.

But if you do want to get well, if you are ready for a change, the starting place is coming to a place of brokenness before the Lord. Admit to him your need of healing. Turn to Jesus. Follow his commands. When Jesus gives a command, he also gives the enablement to carry out the command. And to top it all off, here’s some more great news! God has provided many excellent tools and resources to help pastors and churches, under Christ’s leadership, move toward spiritual healing and wholeness again.

Consider these steps: Register for Renovate in Orlando, November 2-4, 2015. Seek the guidance and assistance of a coach or consultant.

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By Darwin Meighan

Meet with other pastors and church leaders regularly who are also in the journey of revitalizing their churches. Read books and articles on the topic of revitalization. Most importantly, personally encounter Jesus daily.

Stay the course. Keep your eyes fixed on Jesus, “the author and perfecter” of our faith. The remedy for spiritual paralysis is Jesus. For your church, the hope of recovery from spiritual paralysis and the ability to truly change is found in Him.

Darwin Meighan is currently leading Light in the Desert Church in Mesa Arizona through the process and journey of becoming a revitalized church.

He also serves as a member of the state revitalization team in Arizona. He is called by God, and passionate about coming alongside in partnership with pastors of existing churches, for the purpose of seeing God revitalize and strengthen them for his mission and his glory.

He has received his undergraduate degree from Dallas Baptist University in Business Administration, a Master’s degree from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas in Religious Education, and a Doctor of Ministry degree from The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary Louisville, Kentucky in Leadership. You may reach Darwin at pastor@litdbaptist.org.

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.

revitalizer

LIBRARY

Satistics continue to identify that 75% - 80% of all evangelical churches in America are platued or declining.

The number of pastorless churches along the feared shortage of the future of pastoral stock is growing.

The shrinking influence of the Church places the church in an identity crisis.

Tom Cheyney is on a mission to divert

What is it that about some revitalizers that seem to be more effective than others? Is there common temperament and spiritual giftedness between the most effective revitalizers?

Who should a revitalization pastor be?

The answer to these questions and more is the aim of Aubrey Malphurs and Gordan Penfold in their book Re:Vision: The Key to Transforming Your Church (Baker Books, 2014).

Malphurs and Penland have one objective; to calling forth a national effort to develop pastors as church planters and visionary church revitalizers. The challenges to this effort are large. Pastors are discouraged.

this crisis through Church Revitalization.

Thirty-Eight Church Revitalization Models for the Twenty-First Century (Renovate Publishing Group, 2014), both raises awareness of the need for Church Revitalization and provides a smorgasbord of Church Revitalization models. Cheyney clearly and succinctly defines Church Revitalization. Cheyney’s theme rests on both the need for revitalization and the leader who is to bring it. Building on this theme he lays a foundation for revitalization with the seven pillars of revitalization then detailing models to press towards revitalization. The work serves both as a brainstorming session and reference work that reads as if one was having a cup of coffee with the author.

The various models stress the priority of contextualization for revitalization work. The revitalizer must first become a missional thinker before they can be an agent of revitalization.

Cheyney writes, “Far too many church

renewal efforts fail because the church revitalizer follows a model that may have worked elsewhere instead of seeking God’s face about a new unique and perhaps unprecedented model required for that particular challenge and situation.” The models presented here must be filtered through a prayerful missional thinker.

Thirty-Eight Revitalization Models for The Twenty-First Century is a highly recommended read to any pastor, denominational worker or laymen who has both a concern for the health of the church and how church health can be restored. Each and every model presented in this work is an invitation to a brainstorming session with a seasoned veteran in Church Revitalization. One idea spawns another, and then another until a full contextualized strategy is developed.

Thirty-Eight Church Revitalization Models for the Twenty-First Century is a tremendous resource to both read and refer too: it is the one-on-one coaching that many are seeking.

The evangelical church is plagued with short tenures that contribute to ill-health. The consistent statistics of 70 – 80 percent of churches platued or declining are overwhelming.

Church closures are keeping pace with church plants and neither can keep up with population growth.

These factors and more are contributing to an exodus from vocational ministry and the continual decline of the effectiveness of the church in the culture. The tasks Re:Vision: The Key to Transforming Your Church tackles is tremendous.

Malphurs and Penland begin that they key to renewal is not a technique but rather the leader. Specifially the leader understanding themselves and the demands of the tasks they have been called to. The work then is a process of self-discovery. Drifting between research methodology an pragmatic ministry applications the work leads the reader through the process of discovering their own temperament, giftedness and the way roles they play in the process of renewal. Ultimately leading to the

goal forming a Re:Vision plan for the church or churches called to serve.

Divided into three sections the work first addresses the theology and research of temperament.

The work progresses then towards self-discovery and finally processing renewal mechanics. The focus of the book is on who the revitalization leader is and how to develop the revitalization leader abilities.

The work does fall short on specific strategies and methods to leading a revitalization effort. That however is not the objective. The authors desire to call up and develop leaders who will serve in the unique context of revitalization.

This book is an excellent tool to use in the journey of self-discovery and application towards becoming revitalization leader. The reader will wrestle with questions of identity, temperament and casting a longterm vision for their lives and the church they are called to serve. A must read for a local a revitalization coaching networks and denominational leaders.

Book Reviews by Rob Hurtgen

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Defining Church Revitalization There seems to be some confusion as to what revitalization means. I hear various definitions, typically based out of personal experiences and individual contexts. I recently had a church planting coach inform me of a revitalization he was aware, a church where he had been coaching the pastor. He even introduced me to the pastor who claimed he was a revitalization work. Upon careful examination of the statistics, I saw this was not a revitalization church at all. In fact, it was the story of a church growth scenario, but not revitalization...at least by my definition.

How do I define revitalization?

A pattern of continued decline.

What is the pattern? This might seem more subjective than objective, but when evaluating annual attendance reports for a church, if I can see where there is a consistent decline from year to year, most likely no baptisms, receipts continue to decline, and the decline has lasted for more than three continuous years with the same senior pastor in place, this is a church in consideration for revitalization. Certainly there are other scenarios, a church that cannot seem to keep a pastor for more than 12-18 months, a church full of constant conflict and inability to impact lostness, etc.

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The following definitions can be looked up through Meriam-Webster: church – a body or organization of religious believers1 re·vi·tal·ize - to make (someone or something) active, healthy, or energetic again2 These definitions are technical certainly. However, in exploring the definition of church revitalization, I prefer using Ken Hemphill’s 3 definition for the church; “The church is a covenant community of born-again believers empowered by Christ for the advancing of the Kingdom through the discipling of all nations.”4 When we add the task of revitalization to this definition for church we get: 1 http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/church; accessed May 4, 2015.

2 http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/revitalize; accessed May 4, 2015.

3 Dr. Ken Hemphill serves as the Director for the Center of Church Planting and Revitalization for North Greenville University. He is a prolific author, with more than 30 titles published, served as the National Strategist for Empowering Kingdom Growth with the SBC, President of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, served as Director of the Southern Baptist Center for Church Growth with the Home Mission Board, and pastored several churches in the Southeast.

4 Ken Hemphill, “Connected Community” Auxano Press 2011, p. 10.

by Kenneth Priest

to make active, healthy or energetic again the covenant community of born again believers empowered by Christ for the advancing of the Kingdom through the discipling of all nations.

Each year LifeWay Research makes available the Growth Status of Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) churches. The most recent one is from 2013 data, and as expected, the numbers continue to reflect a need for spiritual renewal in our churches.

The within Southern Baptists of Texas Convention (SBTC) specific numbers are not much different from the SBC report, recognizing 26.20% of churches are growing SBTC churches. This means 73.80% are in plateau or decline.

The need is great. So what do we do?!

In Revelation 2.1-7, we have the account of the church in Ephesus. A wonderful church by first impression, the text says “2 I know your works, your toil and your patient endurance, and how you cannot bear with those who are evil, but have tested those who call themselves apostles and are not, and found them to be false. 3 I know you are enduring patiently and bearing up for my name’s sake, and you have not

grown weary.” 5 And then we get the issue; “But I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first.”6 The first love which is abandoned seems to be that of sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ. With the present plateau and decline of so many churches, and specifically a continued downward slope of baptisms by SBC congregations, I believe it is safe to say this is our issue today.

In 2007, the SBTC launched the Ezekiel Project. This approach was based out of Ezekiel 37, the Valley of Dry bones vision. The concept was new life can be breathed back into the church.

As the SBTC has worked with churches around the state, we have seen successes occur in these methods. Our goal all along has been to not approach each church with a cookie-cutter mentality, but to offer options on how the church can implement a revitalization work in their respective context. Each church needs to be assessed and evaluated through analysis and through conversation to determine the best method of revitalization 5 The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton: Standard Bible Society, 2001), Re 2:2–3.

6 The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton: Standard Bible Society, 2001), Re 2:4.

to utilize. However, no matter which method a church chooses, an approach such as we have outlined at the SBTC needs to be employed in every scenario. The foundation of any revitalization work must be spiritual renewal of the people of God. The SBTC has worked to expand its work in revitalization over the past eight years. Our approaches will continue to expand and to be customizable for the local church in its present context. What will remain true in every context is: a) the church must first place a priority on the Word of God – Neh. 8.1-8 & 2 Tim. 3.10-17; b) the church must insure it has not left its’ first love – Rev. 2.1-7; c) the church must listen to the Lord – 2 Chr. 7.14 & Acts 16.6-10; and d) the church must be about the Great Commission Task, Matt. 28.18-20.

When these things occur, we see the growth of the church, Acts 2.42-47.

God desires for his church to grow and we all want to be part of helping churches impact the communities where God has placed them.

When the Change Agent Must Function as the Motivtoror

By Tom Cheyney

The motivator is the one who faces change as the eternal encourager in the mix. It was John Maxwell that taught me, now some twenty plus years ago, the importance of keeping the momentumn in a church renewl effort! Momentum is the greatest of all the tools of the change agent. I have noticed that over 90 percent of the thriving changes we can make as a church revitalizer are often the result of creating momentum before asking people to make changes.To maximize the value of momentum, revitalizers must develop an appreciation for it early; know the key ingredients of it immediately; and pour resources into it always! It is extremely important as you continue to sense Gods leading that you keep the renewing church from stalling out. It is very important to keep the forward progress moving so the church does not stall at a numerical level that is not sustainable in a church renewal effort.

Most catalitic church leaders struggle at this point in time for the because their skill set is now greatly challenged and they are unprepared to make the momentumn shifts necessary to keep the churches momentumn towards growth ongoing.

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.

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The Dynamics of Change for the Church I recently asked a group of friends at a pastors’ luncheon this question, “If you could go back to 1960, and remain at your present age, would you?” Not a single person would do it; neither would I for that matter. Several of my friends pride themselves in their traditional ways too – still none of them would go back. We reflect with fondness to the good ‘ol days, but in reality, in many ways, they weren’t so good. I’m not that old, but I remember when there were just four channels on the television; I even remember my family’s first color set. I remember using a party telephone line (and I’m still convinced that our nosey neighbors were listening to our conversations). I certainly wouldn’t go back to those days. Would you?

My great-grandparents used to drive their Model-A to town once a month for supplies. They would stop to patch their own flat tires on the side of the road and stop again later to refill the radiator with water. Today, we can make the same trip by automobile in under an hour with air conditioning and without stopping. I wouldn’t go back to those days, would you? We can certainly look with fondness at our religious past, especially in those times of God’s movement in our land.

Instead of wanting to go back, what if we decided to go forward? I am speaking about the direction of change. Modern Christianity has been known to ridicule the Amish for their resistance to change, thinking they are stuck in the past. To set the record straight, the Amish only resist change that threatens their simple, hard-working manner of 60

living. I know a good number of Baptists who resist change with the same ferocity. Some people are stuck in the past, but some people are stuck in the present.

Churches design complex ministries to meet needs that no longer exist by the time those ministries are initiated. Think of it this way – when you shoot at moving targets, you have to lead the targets in order to hit them.

We can neither stay here, nor can we go back, we must press on.

Paul had it correct when he declared, “…one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead” (Phil 3:13 NASB). Where are the future thinkers in the church today? Where are our dreamers?

They are not hard to find because they are some our most effective Christian leaders today. Many of them have figured this out!

The pace of change is something else the church will have to address. Things are changing and changing so quickly that people can hardly keep up. The youth in our culture handle the pace of change much easier than the older generation. Two-year-olds can work a computer mouse and fly with an iPad, while these can bewilder some adults! Perhaps nowhere is the pace of change more noticeable than in the family. One hundred years ago, a father could sit down with son and generally tell him what his life would be like in the future.

Today, a father cannot tell his son what to expect in the next ten years. It’s impossible to accurately predict the future. For example, in the 1883 World’s Fair, a group of futurists attempted to predict what the world would look like

by Terry Rials 100 years in the future. They predicted that in the year 1993, there would be a telephone in every city in America! About the only solid prediction about the future of the church is that things are going to change and change a lot, even if the Lord returns!

We are seeing a grave resistance to change in the church. It is not surprising that we are resistant to change because we have fond memories and emotional attachments to wonderful times in our church life. All of us are used to our ways of doing things. We are accustomed to how things work and where our responsibilities lay. In their fascinating book, Flight of the Buffalo, James Belasco and Ralph Stayer look at a new business model where ownership and leadership of business transfers to the employees. They say, “Change is hard because people overestimate the value of what they have—and underestimate the value of what they may gain by giving that up.” Church leaders often ask me what they have to do in order to experience revitalization in their churches. I remind them that it isn’t what they do that is important; it is what they are willing to give up. In my opinion, the frustration of always having to learn new things is the chief complaint about change, but actually disciples are called to be learners, life-long learners. We should always be willing to learn something new!

The church needs to find a new motivation to change. It has been said that people change for two reasons, they have learned much or they have been hurt much.

Put another way, change only

Does Your Sunday Morning Bible Study Measure Up?

By Tom Cheyney

occurs when we learn the consequences of our failure to change, or when we have had enough of the pain of staying the same. I do not enjoy visits to the dentist, but recently I had a problem that was so painful that I anxious to get to his office for treatment. The pain was excruciating and I wanted something to change. I totally understand why Tom Hanks’ character in Castaway was willing to remove his tooth with an ice skate! Look around you – the church is hurting; some 90% of churches are plateaued and declining. It is time to get motivated and change. I still encounter church leaders who are skeptical of even having a website for their church, a technology in its third decade of existence! I’m convinced we’ll not reach millennials without embracing the digital age because that’s how they communicate. Have you ever wondered why there are no stage coach dealerships in your town?

It is because there is no demand for their product. Kodak declared bankruptcy after 128 years of operation. They once set the pace of innovation in industry, but they died because they were stuck in the 35mm film business in a digital world and refused to change. Successful businesses know that they must change to keep up with an ever-changing marketplace. They also know that they have to change faster than their competition. In case you haven’t noticed, the world is in competition with the church for the attention, time, and affection of you and your family. We had better embrace the change. Why can’t we beat the world to the punch?

Someone once told me that the greatest leaders in history were those who saw inevitable change coming and embraced that change quickly and capitalized on that change when it arrived. There are certain theological and moral limits to that concept for Christian leaders, to be sure, but the sentiment of that thought should resonate with us. I am willing to embrace the inevitable change coming to the church. I’m ready to help address the lostness of the first post-Christian era in American history. I ready to face the impending persecution that is coming to the New Testament church by the hostile forces of religion and culture (I think). I know this will be difficult with an ever-shrinking and aging population with fewer churches and fewer resources. The church had better embrace change because change is coming, of this I am certain.

Terry Rials serves as the Senior Pastor of the Crestview Baptist Church of Oklahoma City, and he serves as the Church Revitalization Team Leader for Capital Baptist Association in Oklahoma. He is a frequent conference speaker and teacher, leading church revitalization efforts in his state and nationally. You can contact Terry at terry@cbcokc. org.

Have you taken the time to assess your Sunday morning Bible Study efforts lately? Here are eleven ideas that will help you assess your weekly outreach efforts through the morning Bible Study arm of your church:

1

Of the complete number of persons who visited your church during the last quarter, how many have joined the Sunday School or are coming with some degree of regularity?

2

If the percentage of one-time newcomers is high, do you have any information or feelings about why they do not return? What is sending them away never to return?

3

Are the newcomers being presented the opportunity and encouraged to join the Sunday School the first time they visit your services or Bible study?

4

When a person visits the Sunday School, how soon is he or she contacted personally by someone in the specific bible study they attended?

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By what means are these individuals contacted and how often?

How sensitive are your church members to meeting, greeting, receiving, and helping newcomers to feel comfortable?

7

Ask a few visitors to explain what happened this past Sunday in this respect.

8

If a newcomer arrives ten minutes before Sunday School is due to start, how is he or she likely to be welcomed?

Is anyone even there?

9

How effective are your teachers and church members at helping newcomers to feel comfortable during the class session?

10

How effective are they after the class session is over making them feel welcomed?

11

In what ways were newcomers encouraged to be involved in the actual Bible Study experience?

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Why Can’t People Change?

It has been said that people and organizations will not change unless, or until, the “pain of change” is less than the “pain of the existing state.” It is both true and sad that most of us are motivated by pain or the avoidance of pain!

by Glenn Miller

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Resistance to potential changes can be fostered by a lack of trust in leadership, a prior bad experience in the current organization, or at a previous organization. If a change “looks” or “feels” like a prior bad experience, it will naturally be resisted.

In this article, we are going to examine the reasons why people avoid change Fear of failure in the new in hopes of generating ideas on how environment is also a powerto address these change “resisters” in ful de-motivator. If it cannot our church. be discerned how the individual will fare in the new environment, Why Individuals Resist this will also increase resistance to Change: change.

A small percentage of the popuPeople are fearful of a potential lation has a predisposed attitude loss of status/job security/wagagainst change of any kind under es/benefits, yes, even volunany circumstance. Researchers tell teers! While the fear of job loss and us that it can be as little as 2% and as wages and benefits is completely high as 10% of the population (seems understandable, surprisingly, loss of higher in some churches!) It is partly titles and status outranked a loss of due to personality, and can also be income in research studies where due, in part, to prior negative experijob shifts have taken place. Don’t ences. underestimate the power of folks wanting to “save face.”

A fear of the unknown, aka “what’s going to happen to me?”

It could be poor timing in conThis is a powerful de-motivator junction with events outside when dealing with change. By nature, of the organization. This is an we tend to look at things from our often-overlooked reason behind self-serving perspective first, and the resistance to change. Frequently, organization second. If the impact we propose a simple change to a of change on our situation cannot be ministry and the response is dispromeasured or determined in advance, portional to the actual change. This that adds to the resistance we feel and could be the proverbial “straw that act out.

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broke the camel’s back.”

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Fear of losing relationships with friends, staff, ministry constituents and/or supervisors can play a large role in resisting change in churches. Changing those whom we relate with can cause a high level of anxiety and a sense of loss.

8

A lack of personal gain. Unfortunately, because we are all human, if we don’t see how changes will benefit us, we tend to resist it. Biblically, we ought to all be servant leaders, serve others before ourselves, place other’s needs before our own, etc. But the reality is that people often place their own needs first.

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We just don’t see the need for change – sometimes people don’t understand the need because for them, the status quo is working just fine. Why put effort into making a change when, from their perspective, it isn’t needed?

Before we try to make changes in ministry, we should at least attempt to deal with why people resist change.

Discuss these points, talk about how to address them, and agree to work on them together. In the next issue we’ll discuss why churches as a whole don’t change!

CHURCH Revitalization Conferences February e Criswell College

September q Northeast Houston Baptist Church

Cost: $20

Time: 9am-4pm

This conference is open for pastors, associational leaders, and church leaders alike. This will be a day of intense conversations centered around strategic topics relating toward revitalization of the local church. If you are uncertain if your church is in need of revitalization, believe you are in need of revitalization, or simply interested in hearing more, then you are invited to join the conversation.

Speakers: Ted Elmore

Pastor/Church Relations Assocociate SBTC Praying for Revitalization

Nathan Lorick

Director Evangelism SBTC Revitalization & Evangelism

Alan Stoddard

Senior Pastor, FBC Ruidoso, NM Preaching for Revitalization

Craig Etheredge

Jim Henry

Senior Pastor, FBC Colleyville Revitalization & Discipleship

Pastor Emeritus First Baptist, Orlando Florida Encouragement for the Revitalization Pastor

Randal Lyle

Kenneth Priest

Senior Pastor, Meadowridge Church Ft. Worth Revitalization & Multicultural Ministry

Director Convention Strategies SBTC Introduction to Church Revitalization

Terry Turner

Senior Pastor, Mesquite Friendship BC Revitalization & the African American Church

Register: sbtexas.com/revitalization 63

RENOVATE National Church Revitalization Conference

Speakers Include Bob Whitsel Tom Cheyney Michael Atherton Ed Stetzer Paul Borden Ron Smith Bruce Raley Terry Rials Paul Smith

November 2-4, 2015 Orlando, FL

RenovateConference.org Aloma Church

95

40

5

5

5

1000+

Church Revitalization Workshops

National Church Revitalization Speakers

Breakout Session Opportunities

Main Sessions by Revitalization Practitioners

Pre-Conference Intensive Subjects

Fellow Church Revitalizers Working Together

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