THE
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March/ April 2015 Vol 1 Issue 3
Revitalizer
“A Revitalization Retreat in Every Issue”
“The only magazine dedicated to Church Revitalization.” ~ Tom Cheyney
Church Revitalization in Rural America By Tom Cheyney & John Kimball
Book & DVD Resource Set 2
RENOVATE National Church Revitalization Conference
Speakers Include Tom Cheyney Bob Whiteel 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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March / April | Vol 1, No 3
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SATANIC FOOTPRINTS IN THE CHRISTIAN COMMUNITY By Greg Kappas
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UTILIZING MOVIES TO ATTRACT OTHERS AND GROW
A 32 BECOMING NEW GENERATION
By Joel R. Breidenbaugh
THE SEVEN PILLARS OF CHURCH REVITALIZATION AND RENEWAL By Tom Cheyney
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CHURCH
By Lee Kricher
THE VALUE OF COACHING IN REVITALIZATION ByJohn Kimball
INSIDE THIS ISSUE
UNDERSTANDING SCAFFOLDING MEMBERS By Rodney Harrison
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LET’S DO IT. LEADING IN SPITE OF FEARS By Ron Smith
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THE LEADERSHIP LINK… By Michael Atherton
NO CHURCH EVER HAS A PROBLEM IN A VACUUM By Rob Myers
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What is the Answer to the Decline or Death? By Jim Grant
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4 Things That Actually Matter in Student Ministry By Drew Cheyney
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The Critical Commitments of a Church Revitalizer By Tom Cheyney
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Survival Tips for a Young Pastor By Rob Arnold
48 Repurposed The Nehemiah Model: Nine Strategic Steps for Renewal By Darwin Meighan 55 “Get-er Done” Motivators for Church Revitalizers By Tom Cheyney 58 The Six Phases of Church Revitalization by Kenneth Priest 60
Revitalization is a Character Issue By Terry Rials
61 Formula for Developing Critical Mass By Tom Cheyney 62 8 Things We Have Learned About Ministries By Glenn Miller
revitalizer
LIBRARY “The only magazine dedicated to Church Revitalization.”
BOOK REVIEWS 57 Church Come Forth: A Biblical Plan for Transformational Turnaround, By Todd Hudnall 57 The Measure of A Healthy Church By Gene Getz
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THE
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Revitalizer Volume 1, No. 3
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.
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 publishibng a quarterly 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: Blocker: The Blocker is one who struggles with changes and methodologies. They will often work towards defeating something mainly because of possessing the ability to handle change. Change Agent: Is one who seeks to make changes in accordance with a pre-developed strategic plan in an effort to revitalize and renew a dying church. These individuals work towards engaging others in a new norm of growth and advancement while managing people’s resistance and anxieties. Church Revitalization Assistance Team: This team works to help the struggling church in decline to begin to develop tools necessary for the turnaround of a dying or plateaued church. It is usually made up of outside individuals from the church being assisted as it takes much energy and synergy that declining churches usually have not maintained. Stay connected, more is coming...
Stock images from ISTOCK Photo or where otherwise noted. Š Copyright 2015 Renovate Publishing Group
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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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What is the Answer to the Decline or Death?
What is the answer to decline and death of a continuing multitude of churches across all denominations in America? Now that you have the full question; I wonder what you have heard is the answer? Recently I have been fixated on what could possibly be done to turn the tide for Churches. I recent heard that churches are closing their doors at a rate of 40006000 annually. I have heard that upwards to 91% of all churches are plateaued, declining or dying. I read that the halo effect when conducting surveys has distorted the true numbers of committed Christ followers. There is debate even among researchers as to whether the church is really dying. If we couple with these facts the increase in crime, immorality, apathy and just plain rebellion against authority in our cities; it seems that America has a crisis on its hands. What the answer is depends on who is seen as the cause; some are toting a political cause to the nation’s woes. Others are blaming the bent toward immorality such as homosexual marriages as the problem. Still others would look at the Church itself as the problem. Reports outside of “Western” Christianity do not indicate Christianity as dying. While there is great conflict in other regions of the world, with many becoming martyrs; faith in Christ is anything but dead. The Church is the Bride of Christ; He said “He would build the Church
and the gates of Hell would not prevail against it.” [Matthew 16:18] I do agree that the Church will not be gone from the pages of history. However I do believe that there is a cleansing of the Church; a winnowing of the wheat and chaff. I put forth a number of suggested answers based on the theory that the Churches are the problem. Please note I said churches are the problem. It is no secret that the church has gone through many changes recently, not all for the good. The desire for “entertainment” seems to be the order of the day. Evangelism efforts are minimal, with upwards to 70% of all churches adding no one to the Kingdom of God. I often tell my church “there is too much world in the church and not enough church in the world.” I have agonized over the condition of evangelical churches. Many in the mainline denominations have waned for years, but now that the problem [closing churches] has moved into the Southern Baptist ranks, many are seeking answers. One answer could be Reformation. There are some that think that the Church is on the cusp of a Reformation like in the days of Martin Luther. It can be argued that the Church has lost its relevance and identity and that a full blown Reformation is the answer. Another possibly answer is Replanting. Replanting is basically placing another congregation in a failed church. This answer could also be
by Jim Grant
coupled together with the emphasis that continues to grow of planting as many new churches as possible. If the hope is plant more churches than the number that is closing; this would not be an answer but a soothing of the conscience. There is an attrition rate even within new church starts; estimates indicates that in five years after a church start, a little over half will still be open. Replanting a church in a failed area is usually done with a different ethnicity. While this might sound good, to put a beginning work in a failed area, to include giving it an old building doesn’t address the problem. A third possibility is Return. Many books and articles have promoted the soon Return of Christ as the problem. This view holds that all the problems in the world [America] that this indicates Christ’s soon return. This has taken a stronghold on many in the Churches; especially the elderly. I am saddened that more people in American churches are looking for the second coming of Christ, while others outside Western Christianity are waiting to hear of Christ’s first coming. It is easy to think of the church at Thessalonica, and how many had quit their jobs just to wait for the soon return of Jesus. It cannot be denied that Jesus’ return in eminent, but still that is no reason to quit working. A fourth work called Revitalization is put forth as a viable solution. Revitalization is the work of the Holy Spirit to renew the Churches who have languished in the more recent past. It requires that there was a
Continued on page 16 10
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
Understanding Scaffolding Members Revitalization is filled with burdens and blessings, happiness and hurts. One of the most painful hurts revitalization pastors will experience is the pain of faithful members and close friends who jump ship. Ironically, these are often the individuals or couples who made a significant contribution to the church and ministry during the early season of your ministry. During your onboarding as a leader, these members provided their encouragement, talents, abundant generosity, support and encouragement. Steve Sjogren and Rob Lewin address this reality in their book, Community of Kindness: … there are two kinds of people--many are there for just a season, and a few are there to stay long-term. This is a vital lesson to learn, because as a leader it is easy to become caught up in the nurturing of what we lovingly call the “scaffolding people.” Builders of physical structures use a set of scaffolding to erect a building. The scaffolding is not the building, but it is necessary for the construction of the building that will eventually emerge. As the building nears completion, the scaffolding falls away, leaving the permanent building standing. Although Sjogren and Lewin address this phenomenon primarily as it relates to church planters, I have observed scaffolding members are attracted to new pastors and churches that are in transition. Scaffolding members are best understood as home missionaries. Their contri12
butions to you and the church are often just what the doctor ordered. This often involves significant financial resources, time or talents. As a pastor, these members seem invaluable, so when they call to you announce they are leaving for another church or ministry, the unsuspecting pastor is caught off-guard. A common response is to convince them to stay. This is where a word to the wise is merited, as emotions are running high at this juncture. Any attempt to preserve a scaffolding member is ill advised. Scaffolding members can often be best identified in hindsight. However, here are some characteristics observed over the years: • They show up already saved, and eager to serve • They bring a long resume of former church affiliations • They show loose denominational fidelity. It is not uncommon for a scaffolding member to work with a liturgical church, then go to a charismatic church, then a Baptist Church and so on • They show above average hospitality or generosity • They frequently speak of the need and importance of belonging The last characteristics is interesting, because when they leave, scaffolding members will often say, “I do not feel important” or “I need to find a church where I belong.” Instead of letting scaffolding members send you
by Rodney A. Harrison to the funny farm, consider the following response when they announce they are leaving: 1. Thank them for their friendship and service to Christ and the church 2. If possible, and appropriate, publically acknowledge their contribution and future plans to the congregation. Once I understood the scaffolding principle, I was able to minimize the impact of their departure by publically recognizing their contributions and commending them to their next assignment. 3. Do not try to hold on to them. The danger is that you may be successful, for a season. Imagine leaving the scaffolding up after the building is completed. Scaffolding members who stay will become antagonists and vision hijackers. Let them go gracefully and allow God to accomplish His work through them in another church, trusting him to faithful provide for you and your church Rodney Harrison is the Vice President for Institutional Effectiveness, Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. Harrison is the author of two books on church planting and has written material for LifeWay Christian Resources and the North American Mission Board.
Elements Most Critical for a Church Turn Around! There are elements and ingredients, which are essential to the turning around of any church. This list can appear to be endless, since each situation is to some degree unique and unlike even a neighbor’s church. What bind these elements all together is the presence of the Holy Spirit and an openness of the people to the working of God’s Spirit.
future rather than relive the past. But this is easier said than done. It requires a new or renewed vision. This is another reason why a new pastor is often necessary. You must honor the past but not live in the past and new pastors can make an easier transition towards that outcome then those who have been there for a long time.
Here are some common elements most critical for church renewal:
Define Outreach.
A Pastoral Love for His People.
The role of the turnaround pastor is to be so committed to the people that they recognize his unconventional determination to be one of them, not simply a rescue expert. For a church to turn around the must not be allowed to develop a pastor-of-the-week syndrome. The pastor must be able to make an honest and convincing commitment to see the congregation through to the end, whether in success or failure.
Select a New Pastor.
In the vast majority of cases, the former pastor is too associated with and injured by the decline to be able to reverse it. A new pastor is usually necessary to create the climate and the plans for a successful resurrection of the congregation.
Release the Past.
It almost goes without saying that to survive and thrive, a congregation must focus on the
To reverse a decline caused in part by an inward focus of ministry, congregations must intentionally define what outreach the church will emphasize.
Equip the Congregation.
Intentional outreach will fail to renew a congregation if done only by the only the pastor and staff. Therefore, the laity must be trained for effective, targeted ministry. If the laity will not embrace their part of outreach the church is in danger of closure even before the revitalization efforts get launched. Select a Strong Leader. Declining congregations that hired chaplains, caretakers, healers, managers, administrators, or consensus builders fail to gain ground. The most critical skill of the revitalization leader is to help the congregation establish a new vision to which all can commit.
Hard Work.
The pastor and everyone else in the congregation must commit to working hard. This is not to say that Spirit has no role, but that
by Tom Cheyney
much effort is required to overcome the downward inertia.
There Must Be A Prayer Covering.
If people don’t commit themselves to prayer, they will not catch the vision.
You Must Preach Quality Sermons, Not Bible Studies.
Sermons need not be excellent, but they need to be more relevant and inspired than what they are likely to have been hearing during the later part of their decline.
Seek An Outside Perspective.
Access to objective, outside opinion is critical.
A Committed Core Group.
As well as a pastor willing to stay no matter what, there must be a core group of lay people with the same commitment. These are elements and ingredients, which are essential to the turning around of any church. While you might be able to eliminate one or two of them, usually the ones most often sought to be eliminated are those, which take the most work out of the laity. When those are eliminated there is little chance for a church to grow when the laity abandons the work of the ministry. ~ Tom Cheyney
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What is the Answer to the Decline or Death?
by Jim Grant
Continued...
time when the church was alive and accomplishing the Kingdom of God in their community. There is a problem with this solution; with such a high number of churches needing immediate revitalization; where do we get the people for the work? If there is only a select few for church planting and revitalization, it seems like a losing battle.
In conclusion, it is this writers opinion that Western Christianity needs both Revival in the Pews/Pulpits and People. But it also needs Revitalization in the Church. There must be clear preaching of the Gospel, there must be brokenness in the people. But there also needs to be a return to being the Church of God, not culture.
Revitalization is what I believe was the work of Jesus in His writings to the Seven Churches of Revelation. Once thriving ministries, these churches were warned to “repent and remember,” and to “to wake up and strengthen that which remains.” The church then and now were experiencing gross immorality and heresy. The churches appeared to relax their faith and befriend the World around them. This is not new, for Israel did the same in the Promised Land. Both examples failed, Israel went into captivity and many of the churches, although warned – died. Lastly, there is in my option of Revival. Revival is for the Church, not the Lost. One familiar with Church history in the Western world will recall the 1st and 2nd Great Awakenings, along with the Welsh Revival of 1904-5. The condition of the churches and the community were deplorable. It took men like Jonathan Edwards, Charles Finney, The Wesley brothers, Evan Roberts and Jeremiah Lanphier, to bring such a spiritual renewal. Western Christian is a mirror of the conditions then. It is obvious that America needs a revival. I have a saying; revive the people revitalize the church.
The Churches are dying because they are filled with dead, carnal Christians. Judgment must begin at the house of God. The world is the way it is because Churches/Christians are the way they are! When we quit crying out about everything else being the problem and admit our own sin, repentance and restoration become real. A restored, revived and revitalized church will change the world we live in.
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.
Innovation or Renovation? What we need in our churches today is not simply renovation of the old but innovation of something completely new. The whole ministry philosophy and ministry stricture has to be completely reshaped for the church to survive in the future! Churches rarely renew or revitalize themselves in significant ways unless they come to a point in time where the pain of supporting the status quo is greater than the pain of making changes and then they almost never voluntarily shift to an entirely new pattern for the present culture in which they are ministering! -- Tom Cheyney
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4 Things That Actually Matter in Student Ministry Having a successful student ministry is something ALL Student Pastors want, not just in a selfish way, but in an unselfish way as well. We desperately want hearts to be transformed and lives to be changed for God’s Kingdom. We want people to walk into our ministry and be wowed by what they experience. We would like our service experience to be the ‘hot spot’ for students. The complication for a lot of us though is we do not always have the facilities we need to wow people, or the budget desired to accomplish the dreams in our heads, or the team we are striving for to build deep sustainable student ministries. And it is because of this fact that we as Student Pastors need to make sure that at the least, there are 4 essentials happening in our ministries every week. The first essential ingredient you MUST HAVE is an intentional and diligent effort to connect students with other students and leaders. Connecting people is one of the primary responsibilities we have as leaders and it is something that healthy student ministries fight for both inside and outside of your weekly services. Yes it is helpful to have hype teams, choreographers, creative teams, top of the line worship experiences, $3,000 events, and etcetera, but at the route of every student’s deepest desires stands the wish to be noticed by people and to be shown that they matter. What separates healthy student ministries from dying or stagnant student ministries is a team’s ability to connect with students immediately. So how do you change your climate if this is not the case in your student ministry? 18
Well it is probably going to take a lot of conversations and probably some uncomfortable meetings along the way. You may have to ask your leadership to stop holding up walls or talking amongst themselves in the back of the room and start engaging with the ministry they are helping to lead. Maybe you will have to have a conversation, or six, with key students in your ministry and personally challenge and encourage them to start caring about the climate in their ministry. You might also need to recruit leaders who are amazing at engaging with a brick wall yet students for that matter. You could also have a couple series in a row that address and focus in on this elephant in the room. Whatever methods you choose to implement, just make sure of one thing: THAT PEOPLE ARE CONNECTED ON BOTH THE FRONT & BACK END OF YOUR SERVICE EXPERIENCES! Second, it is always helpful to have a student ministry that is not stuffy, plain, or outdated. I know a lot of us have to work with what we have, but you can always make a service experience more fun by thinking intelligently and creatively. Have events that focus in on the culture of the students we lead. Give away huge prize packs that draw student’s interest without breaking the bank by thinking resourcefully. Play a popular cover song from time to time that is relevant, and even better get a good dance crew who would be willing to be a part of your experiences from time to time. For that matter borrow ideas from The Tonight Shows creative team who, by the way, have some pretty intelligent
by Drew Cheyney
and audience involving ideas that are very engaging. Just to be clear though, it is okay to have fun in your student ministry; if you were a student again is not that what you would desire in the church you attended? Now it is about this point I may be pushing in on something that may be a little uncomfortable for you to think about. You might also not even have the experience in your current opportunity to do what I am suggesting, but if you want to focus in on what is really important in student ministry, then you also need to be willing to focus in on talking about the things that really matter in the lives of your students and presenting them in a manner that engages their hearts and minds. Andy Stanley, Lead Pastor of North Point Church & Author, says this about communicating, “To present the Scripture to a child or a teenager in an unengaging manner is to teach the very opposite of what is intended: Lesson #1: The Bible is Boring, Lesson #2: The Bible is Irrelevant, Lesson #3: Church is irrelevant… No wonder kids graduate from high school and disappear from church life for years. Or for Good!” Now this may be a little countercultural for you to admit, but we as pastors were called not only to teach and communicate, but to do so in a way that engages people. Meaning, it is important for us to not only share the gospel, but to talk about the gospel in a way that allows God’s word to be engaging week in and week out. Yes topics like homosexuality, addictions, & drama will make Continued on page 36
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Satanic Footprints in the Christian Community
I interacted with the broken pastor, who had given his all for the Kingdom and we discussed the pain of betrayal. I could see the hurt in his eyes‌the devastation that he felt for his family. As so many of you know, it is one thing for us to get betrayed‌it is another when our wife and our children feel it. We are at Easter season and we ought to remember that in the midst of the life, death, burial and resurrection of Jesus, he experienced deep, unparalleled betrayal. As a pastor and Christian influencer, it is critical in times of betrayal and remarkable hurt to process things internally and externally. For those of us who are not playing a game but want to genuinely follow Jesus and multiply disciples, pain and getting knocked on our can sometimes takes place and it is simply part of leadership and following Christ. 20
by Greg Kappas
Why should we expect differently? While I pitched baseball at Marshall University there were certain batters who crowded the plate and dared for me to throw inside. They wanted to control the at bat. I wanted to control the pitch and get the out. Good pitchers back the hitters off the plate by throwing the ball tight and into them. Sometimes, we simply knock them down on their rear. Fans cheer or boo‌myself and other pitchers just kept dusting them back or down. There is a strength of character and leadership that is needed to be an outstanding pitcher. You do not let pressure or fear get to you. A shaken pitcher almost always leads to a loss, unless the reliever that comes in is lights out. You love Jesus. Your work comes with pressure. Your ministry sometimes feels that the bases are loaded all the time. Your fellow pas-
tors, deacons and elders periodically (or more often) just get too close to the plate and dare you to dust them off or sit them down. Do not fear. Do not be afraid. Your character and ministry is more important than people controlling you and your work. But you say, “Come on Greg, I could be out the door in a day, week or month if I really stand up to these leaders.” I realize that. I have been in those shoes. I do not like it either, but I would rather go to sleep with a good conscience before Jesus Christ, than give in to the Controllers. Oh, you say that this is a matter of pride and we need to all be accountable…yes we do, but just evaluate how often you have been vulnerable and accountable, yet some of your leaders do not want to do the same. With the right spirit friends, this is not about pride; being too forceful…sometimes it simply is about Spiritual Warfare. Remember, Satan is still challenging believers and ultimately the Lord on “Who Has the Right to Rule!” The Theocratic Kingdom is always about the Son of God, God Himself, and Jesus Christ ruling. As his leaders, we have the opportunity now, in the near future and throughout our days here on earth and in His Messianic Kingdom to reign for Him here on earth.” Get that, reign for Him. Reign ties in with leadership. Reign is akin to royalty. Reigning for Jesus is a threat to the enemy of our souls and his evil cronies. So, when threats to the kingdom of darkness are evident, plotting goes on behind the scenes in the spirit world and through the people, even with your closest and most consistent pastors, deacons and elders. In the last few years, I have close friends of mine who lead
very, very dynamic ministries for Jesus. They love our Lord and people, yet have been undermined with similar patterns. Yes, Satanic footprints in the Christian community. The patterns are all similar, the names and faces different. Different steps overlap or come first, but they are all there. 1. “Pastor, I have some concerns about the church’s growth. Did we really need to take the Word of God that seriously and have church discipline with our friend? Aren’t we all sinners and deserving of extra grace? Word is getting out in the community that this is not a grace place.” 2. “Pastor, you are a good preacher and teacher. Sometimes you struggle with leading, let us as a board lead the church. We will take care of influencing the staff and training them.” 3. “You know there are a lot of people in our church body who are raising issues regarding our church’s health. We need to listen to them, but take it from me…they will not listen to you. They want me or us to be the appointed spokesperson. They do not want to cause problems and will not meet with you.” 4. “Sir, I think we should simply let unpaid elders lead this thing and let you all as staff, do the work of the ministry.” 5. “You and the other staff should not ever make more in your financial package than I do. Under my leadership I will make sure this does not happen.” 6. “Why are we so concerned about the lost that we do not spend as much focus on feeding the sheep.” 7. “Why shouldn’t we spend half our budget 21
on a nicer facility? Our next facility will be first class. The people will come when we build this.”
12. “We know we should have told you about this meeting, but we did not want you to be upset and cancel the meeting.”
8. “What does it matter if our staff are not trained formally…Seminary, Cemetery… you know that is the line...as new leaders are raised up within, we will downplay formal training…seems like this is really not needed as much today with all the content on the internet.”
13. “We were afraid that you would hand in your resignation.”
9. “A vision for another state, our country and the world? Come on, we cannot even stir up enough passion to reach lost people locally.” 10. “What kind of mission’s budget is this? We need to care for our current staff and then pay missionaries if funds are left over. We are irresponsible to pay those away first. Pastor, I just feel that we give too much to mission’s ministries and missionaries. I know you want to treat them both the same…but I do not see it that way.” 11. “Pastor, while you were on vacation, we decided to make SOME changes.”
14. “We felt that the pink slip was needed. We are all in agreement as your leadership that it is time for you to leave.” 15. “None of the key leaders would meet one on one, or one on small group with others and not honor you as a godly man.” 16. “We will outlast you…we will be here longer than you will.” There are many more like this… with wisdom in the Spirit, stand up for Christ. Be a man, pray, lead from the Word and put them on their can or dust them back. If not, you will be shaken and they will call for a reliever. Sounds like it is time for Psalm 18. Greg Kappas is the President of the Grace Global Network and Vice President of TTI
The Hard Reality of Church Revitalization!
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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.
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Utilizing to Attract Others and Grow by Joel R. Breidenbaugh
“Luke…. I am your father…. Join me and together we can rule the galaxy as father and son.” You may not have ever watched this classic line, but I would guess some nine out of ten readers know these words come from Star Wars (to be accurate, they come from Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back). Well-known lines from other movies include “Inconceivable!” (The Princess Bride); “Houston, we have a problem” (Apollo 13); “I’ll be back” (The Terminator); “There’s no place like home” (The Wizard of Oz); “You can’t handle the truth!” (A Few Good Men); and “If you build it, he will come” (Field of Dreams). Undoubtedly, you can think of many more classic quotes. Not only are these words memorable because of their brevity, but they also occur in popular movies. Hollywood and the film industry has capitalized on our image-saturated culture and made significant amounts of money doing so. The average church, on the other hand, has done little with film and video. I want to propose to you the opportunity to use movies to attract others and help your church grow. Now before you criticize my proposal, since you would never use such movies listed above in a church growth strategy, please hear me out. I’m not saying you should necessarily use those movies, but I will argue for using appropriate movies.
Movies with a Christian Message
Thanks to films produced by Sherwood Pictures and Pure Flix, Christian movies are growing in popularity. After obtaining the 24
appropriate license for public viewing (see below), churches can begin conversations around the following topics by showing such movies as • God’s Not Dead (2014)—creation vs. evolution • Fireproof (2008)—the commitment of marriage • Courageous (2011)—men as leaders in their homes • The Passion of the Christ (2004)—Jesus’ crucifixion You may want to add Do You Believe? (2015), which is just hitting theatres at the time of this writing. These movies will help you have meaningful discussions with others in your church and community.
Sermon or Teaching Series on a Popular Bible-Based or Faith-Based Movie
Whenever you plan your preaching, it would help for you to take notice of popular movies based on the Bible and/or the Christian faith. You can either underscore the biblical truth presented in the movie or you can correct wrong misconceptions. For instance, the movie Noah (2014), while inspired by the biblical story, took great liberties in portraying the actual account. Some preachers made the most of this inaccuracy and preached “What does the Bible really teach about Noah?” or “Who was Noah?” Such a sermon can draw some of the curious into your church. Likewise, Exodus: Gods and Kings (2014) depicted portions of the story of Moses, Israel’s deliverance from Egypt and crossing the Red
Sea. I took advantage of this movie’s popularity and taught a six-part series on “Exodus: Gods at War,” helping people see the big picture of the message of Exodus. Other films by Christian producers have even been marketed for churches to show and reach others through a follow-up study. Son of God (2014), taken from the widely-popular TV miniseries The Bible (2013), provides a church kit and allows churches to show the movie multiple times within a year and comes with a six-part small group study. Similar studies are offered with Fireproof, Courageous, and End of the Spear (2006). While most churches spread out small group studies over several weeks or months, you may want to plan a marriage weekend by showing Fireproof on Friday night, followed up by small group sessions on Saturday and Sunday. The same could be done for a men’s weekend, showing Courageous, or a women’s weekend with Mom’s Night Out (2014) along with the workbook Beautiful Mess: Motherhood for Every Moment, a six-part study based on the movie. Of course, you could do a multi-part study on films depicting Christian truths through metaphors found in various series of movies from The Chronicles of Narnia, The Hobbit, or The Lord of the Rings. These movies are especially popular with younger audiences and preachers can highlight the authorial intent of Aslan’s substitutionary death and resurrection as a picture of Christ, the enslaving effects of sin by the ring, the victorious return of Christ in Gandalf’s deliverance at the battle of Helm’s Deep, and much more.
Video Clips to Highlight Biblical Truth While different than showing full-length movies, you may connect more easily with audiences today through the occasional
use of movie clips. Though you will want to use discernment as to what to show (and endorse), I have found popular movies can highlight a particular biblical truth through a one- or two-minute clip. A few years ago, I preached a twelve-part sermon series on the Minor Prophets entitled “12 Angry Men.” I related God’s judgment and mercy through each prophet’s message. I began many of the sermons with a clip from 12 Angry Men (1957). I did something similar with a Christmas series entitled “It’s a Wonderful Life,” using a few parts of the popular 1946 movie. Over the years I’ve used clips from Star Wars: The Phantom Menace (1999), Amazing Grace (2007), Jonah: A VeggieTales Movie (2002), Matthew: The Visual Bible (1997) and many of the movies referenced above. Please read this carefully: the point is not to replace your sermon with a movie clip but to utilize a movie clip from time to time to highlight a biblical truth. We do it with stories all the time. Why not use visuals in an image-based society? After all, the visual effects of watching Jesus die on the cross had a major impact on the Roman centurion (Luke 23:47).
Resources for Legal Use of Movie Clips
Because of copyright laws, you cannot simply buy a movie and show it to the public. You must have the appropriate license to show the movie or the video clip. While obtaining the license costs a little money, it normally isn’t much. For example, my church has shown God’s Not Dead. It cost $100 for less than 100 viewers and $200 for more than 100 viewers for a one-time showing, plus the cost of the DVD. Other popular Christian-based films run between $99-300. On showing their movies, Sherwood Pictures notes, “While you 25
cannot charge for tickets, you can take an offering and make your Courageous Movie Event a fundraising event!” Depending on what movies and video clips you want to use, visit websites like cvli.com (charges an annual fee based on size to show many popular movies), LifeWay Films at lifeway.com, or christianfilms.com. For sermon video illustrations and ideas, see sites like screenvue.com and bluefishtv.com. While some church leaders neglect these laws so they can skip the fees, it is the same as stealing. Even if your budget is too small to incorporate a $100 fee, you might want to partner with another church to show it in your community or ask a church member to sponsor the event. More people are seeing the value of reaching others through the use of Christian film.
Conclusion
Since we live in a visual-based culture, let’s take advantage of some of the tools we’ve been given to reach others. Your church hosting a movie may be the easiest way for your people to invite their neighbors and co-workers. Your use of video clips in your sermons may help others see how relevant biblical truth is. And helping people understand the Bible is why we exist, because some can “handle the truth.”
Joel Breidenbaugh is the lead pastor of FBC Sweetwater where he has led the church in revitalization and renewal.
What Does Church Revitalization Mean? Every place I go people ask me for a definition of church revitalization. Church Revitalization is a movement within protestant evangelicalism, which emphasizes the missional work of turning a plateau or rapidly declining church around and moving it back towards growth. It is lead through a Church Revitalization Initiative, which is when a local church begins to work on the renewal of the church with a concerted effort to see the ministry revitalized and the church become healthy. Church Revitalization means that the local church knew how, at one time previously, to renew, revitalize, and re- establish the health and vitality of the ministry. One of the challenges for the laity in the day in which we live is that they have lost the knowledge of church renewal and no longer want to cultivate the skill sets necessary to see their church experience revitalization. Even more sad is when a congregation does not have the corporate memory that there was a day when the local church was reaching people for Christ Jesus and active as evangelistic witnesses into their community. ~ By Tom Cheyney
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Let’s Do It. Leading in Spite of Fears Feature Writer In the early years of my pastorate, I’m not sure I knew what fear was. I was a leading machine–or at least I thought I was. Here’s what I mean: as a young pastor, my eyes were wide open to the possibilities before me, and my heart was ready to fulfill the calling. I did not see a reason why the church I was leading could not and would not grow. As the years passed, I was surprised to discover that not everyone wants the church to grow. I was (and still am) shocked that many church members value the bylaws more than the Bible; in fact, some can quote from memory more sections of bylaws than verses of scripture. Many of our churches contain people who would prefer to die for the past and tradition, rather than reaching new followers and securing the church’s future. So, it did not take long before fear found its way into my heart and into my ability to make decisions. After a few bad business meetings, specially called meetings and learning of disgruntled, mumbling members who’d had “church in the hallways”, I developed a fear-based leadership style. Almost every leader I talk to struggles with fear. Fear is not something you can follow. Leading out of fear kills courage, slows progress and disables direction. More often than not, the pastor who leads out of fear will take their church in only one direction–the wrong one. One of the most difficult things about renovation is making the decisions necessary to move the church out of death and back into life. In many cases, former leadership tried to move the church but was met with resistance, and ultimately lost the battle. As a result, the people are now even further ingrained in their mindset, and ready to pose even stronger opposition to the next person who challenges them. As the pastor, you can clearly see the areas that need life. You are prepared to preach, lead and effect change. You are excited about what could be, and you are ready to see the blessings of God–and then fear strikes. 28
by Ron Smith
Let’s first determine if you are leading out of fear. You are leading out of fear, if: …You are sitting on a decision because you dread the talk, the comments and the backlash. …You can script out how bad it will go versus how much good will come from moving ahead. …You hesitate in meetings to discuss a new direction, idea, or element of the vision because you don’t want the drama. …You “lose it.” Fear makes us react in ways that are not pleasant. Fear turns nice guys into angry guys. We become critical, cynical and insecure. …You exist in your job of being a pastor, instead of thriving in the calling of being a pastor. If any of these scenarios sound familiar to you, congratulations: you have just successfully identified one or more ways that fear has infiltrated your leadership style. Now we can begin the process of learning to lead in spite of fear. The following are several practical concepts I’ve learned from dealing with fear in my own calling.
1. Rediscover the hope of your calling.
I don’t know about you, but I would never have picked the ministry out of all the choices at my college job fair. As a matter of fact, I picked the Marine Corp. When I am overwhelmed by fear, I have to remind myself that I did not choose this–God chose me. If God chose me, and God is sovereign, then I am in His hands. It always goes back to the calling. Psalm 56:3, “When I am afraid, I put my trust in you.”
2. Have a funeral for yourself.
As preachers, we can quote Luke 9:23 to a lot of people. It’s not always as easy to remember that this verse applies to us as well. Fear wants to resurrect the old nature in us. As followers of Christ, we have hope. But fear wants to drive out hope by resurrecting a sense of self. Whenever “self” enters the way of lead-
ing the church it’s always a disaster But it is by denying ourselves that we can prevent fear from bringing back the old “me” into a new day.
5. Quit making excuses.
3. Face fear and move forward.
We either have excuses or results. Here’s the truth: when pressed in life, we all find a way to get things done. The question is this–Is the church you pastor a paycheck or a calling? After years of training pastors, I have found that it all comes down to excuses. I have diagnosed so many churches for pastors only to give them a plan of action and have them make excuses for not acting on it. Fear makes it easy for us to make excuses. Excuses are trap doors that make it easy for us to exit when we are overwhelmed by fear.
Fear is like a fog: it envelopes your area, distorts vision, slows progress and robs you from seeing all that is around you. Isaiah 41:10, “Fear not, for I am with you.” Walking into fear is never as bad as you think it will be. Wow, that sure is easier to write than do. Every successful entrepreneur, CEO, pastor, missionary and Christian I have ever talked to has faced fear head-on. Fear is not selective in whom it chooses. Fear chooses everybody. Those who reject fear are liberated from its paralyzing effects. When we choose to act against fear, we move ourselves into a place were we can see what it was hiding. In the work of church renovation, the enemy does not want you to see clearly. The devil uses fear as a smokescreen. While renovating, some things will be foggy; but we press on to break free from the fog.
4. Be willing to stretch yourself.
When we speak of “change”, and “growth”, and “growing a church”, we speak of moving out of our comfort zones, stepping out of the boat, and going boldly where no church has ever gone. This kind of direction inevitably leads to some discomfort, but most people avoid discomfort like the plague. Churches that need renovation are very comfortable. Church is safe, predictable and convenient. Change will affect that comfort level, and this rallies the troops to save the comfort zone. “New” is scary. The question is–are you willing? Are you willing to trade short-term discomfort for longterm success? Are you willing to: Go, Teach, Baptize? Are you willing to love God and love others? Are you willing to build a boat, part waters, blow trumpets, and slay giants? Each of those events must have been fearful. Each of those events required men to stretch beyond themselves and lean on God.
Moses has forever removed the opportunity for any of us to go before God with excuses.
I love God’s response to Moses in Exodus 4:11: “Who has made man’s mouth? ...Is it not I the Lord?” Like my grandmother used to say, “Quit your pouting and start shouting.” I will confess that I am the first one that needs to read this article. After 23 years of pastoring, you would think I’d have this down by now. But, as is often the case any time we endeavor to grow, overcoming fear is easier said than done. As I said in the beginning, when I was young and eager I don’t think I knew what fear was. Maybe I need to return to those days when I was sure of my calling, convinced about God and sold out to make a difference. Let’s do this thing called church! Lead in spite of your fears! Ron Smith is the lead pastor of FBC Altemonte 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. 29
The Leadership Link…
by Michael Atherton
Pitfalls of Revitalizers Part 2
In the last edition of The Leadership Link, I spent some time looking at common pitfalls of church revitalizers. We covered two major pitfalls: 1. Revitalizers underutilize the power of prayer, and 2. Revitalizers fail to practice shared leadership/ ministry. Though it would be largely impossible to list out all the pitfalls of revitalizers, I would like to highlight a couple more very common pitfalls. It is my prayer, as you lead in revitalization, that the identification of these pitfalls will prevent you from making mistakes that others who have gone before you have made.
Pitfall #3: Failure to Protect the Unity of the Church The Bible likens the role and responsibility of a pastor in the church to the role and responsibility of a shepherd. Very literally, to the sheep, a shepherd is their leader, their provider, their guide, and their protector. Sheep will not rest unless basic needs in their life are met. This includes being free from fear, being free from friction or aggravation, being free from hunger, etc. Every day, sheep walk through the “valley of the shadow of death” and the shepherd is responsible to ensure that the sheep are not in want,” that they are able to “lie down in green pastures,” and are fearful of “no evil” (Psalm 23). As you consider the process of revitalizing a church, you must stop to consider the needs of the sheep. As the shepherd, are you aware that revitalization will often cause those in the church family to fear the unknown? The reality is that nobody likes change…including you! Change, or the notion of change, has the ability to bring out the worst in anybody. It was the Israelite children
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who would have rather died in Egypt as slaves under Pharaoh, than face the unknown realities of freedom. Often, church members express the same realities. They would rather live in the securities of what is comfortable, than to venture into the unknown. As a shepherd, are you aware that revitalization will often cause those in the church family to begin to turn on one another? As decisions are made, people begin to align themselves with one side or another. Lines are drawn, statements are made, feelings are hurt, and friction is abounding. This is how Satan divides a church. As a shepherd, it is your responsibility to ward off the attack of the enemy. Paul says that the body is one unit; it may have many parts, but it is one body (1 Corinthians 12:12). Your physical body works best when each part of the body fulfills its function and works in unity with the rest of the body. So it is in the body of Christ. Shepherds must protect that unity. As a shepherd, help your sheep process change, deal with change, and carry out change. We should be mindful, unity does not mean complacency. The revitalizer is compelled by God to help the church see and achieve a brighter future, a clearer vision, and a motivating mission. Therefore, a shepherd leader does not give the sheep what the sheep think they need; they give the sheep what the shepherd knows they need. In church revitalization, change is often necessary. However, we don’t have to sacrifice unity on the altar of expediency, pragmatism, or personal preferences.
Pitfall #4: You take Criticism Personally
Pitfall #5: Failure to Preach the Word of God
If you have thin skin, you might want to think twice before leading in a massive revitalization project. Despite your effort in keeping people unified through a revitalization project, there are some who will choose to go the opposite direction. When they make that choice, they will try and rally support and they will convince some to walk the road of dissention with them. At that point, get ready…
God’s Word is a story of revitalization. In fact, when you really stop to think about it, starting in Genesis 3 where we see man’s ruin, God begins the process of bringing about his remedy. The redemption of man’s heart is revitalization at its greatest. Yet, throughout Scripture we see great stories of revitalization. Consider Abraham, Moses, the prophets, Nehemiah, the ministry of Jesus, the disciples, the ministry of Paul…so many great examples of revitalization.
At Cornerstone, when we were in the process of merging two churches, there were very few areas of life that proved to be off limits from those who were in disagreement with what was happening. As a result, we got to deal with some of our best friends in the church starting a “stay where we are committee.” At the time, I did not think it could get much worse. But, I was wrong! Over a period of months, multiple attacks were leveled on my leadership, people criticized my wife, lawyers were brought in to make threats, a lawsuit was filed, and I got to read an article on the front page of the Denver post, outlining a litany of lies concerning myself and the merger. Yet, in it all, what I learned was that hurt people, hurt people. Though I was tempted many times to want to take the criticism personally, the reality was that many people were just hurting. They loved their church the way it was. They did not see the need for change. They did not want to give up their program, their philosophy, or their building. Who else or where else could they aim their criticism? By taking criticism personally, I would run the risk of taking my focus off of the task at hand and begin to get into the weeds, where I didn’t belong. Bitterness toward the offenders will cause you to fight a battle with those people, not the battle that is really waged against Satan. Listen to criticism, learn what you can, leave the rest, and move forward.
This may come as a shock to you, but many within your church don’t need to hear what you learned at your last conference or webinar. What people in the church are desperate for today is a word from God. People need to see revitalization through the eyes of God. Ironically, your greatest tool for revitalization is not a survey, poll results, outside experts, or current trends. Your greatest tool is Scripture and therefore, Preach the Word! Come back next month as we examine revitalization leadership through the life of Moses.
Michael Atherton is the lead pastor of the Cornerstone Church in Longtree, CO where he has turned around two churches through a church merger. 31
“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.”
~ Tom Cheyney
Becoming a New Generation Church by Lee Kricher In the fall of 2003, I became Senior Pastor of Amplify Church, an evangelical church in the eastern suburbs of Pittsburgh. I knew that the church had a rich history and had been used by God for decades to positively impact the lives of many people. However, weekend attendance had been in steady decline for many years. We could not afford our monthly mortgage payments so we had an arrangement with our bank to pay only the interest on the loan. The church building had been sorely neglected for years due to a lack of funds. But what alarmed me most was that the average age of those attending the church was just about my age at the time – 50 years old. My definition of a New Generation Church is a
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church with attendees whose average age is at least as young as the average age of the community in which the church exists. Since the most recent census indicated that the average age of those in the community served by our church was 35 years old, Amplify Church was definitely not a New Generation Church. We could not allow the presence of a handful of young families and children in regular attendance to blind us to the fact that we were one of the fastest dying churches in the city. There were a number of reasons that we used to help explain why our church was in decline. Our church was a victim of our nation’s post-Christian trend. Our church was in the Northeast U.S.
and nowhere near the Bible belt. In addition, we were located in the eastern suburbs of Pittsburgh where the city was not experiencing significant growth. When we considered our dilemma and the fact that our church already had a reputation in the community as a dying church, we were deeply discouraged. One viable option that was discussed was to merge with another church. Another option was to give our church building to one of the organizations that had expressed interest in taking it over. However, several of us had a conviction that God wanted our church to come back to health. We decided to put our hearts into becoming a New Generation Church. We were not interested in becoming a church that was only filled with young people or a church that would somehow devalue people like me in their 50s or older. Instead, we simply decided to do whatever it would take to become a church with attendees whose average age is at least as young as the average age of the community in which the church exists. This was not an easy decision. We knew that our approach to church had to change in many ways if we were going to lower the average age of our members and attendees by 15 years. Though our core beliefs and values would remain unchanged, everything else would be “on the table” for change – every program, every ministry, every tradition and every practice. These things had to be prayerfully evaluated with the assumption that a number of things would need to change.
Adopting a New Mindset
I was convinced that it would not dishonor our church’s past to consider changing the way that things would be done in the future. We honored the past by remembering and celebrating the many ways that God had used our church. But we could also honor the past by planning for the future so that our church could continue to positively impact future generations.
I was also convinced that any plan for effective change in the church had to start with adopting a new mindset. In some ways, every other strategy we would embrace hinged on this. While there were a number of changes we nimportant was this: We had to change from building our church around the statement “If it was good enough for me, it should be good enough for our children” to building our church around the question – “What will it take to reach our children?” This was a formidable challenge. Many or most of the people who were currently attending our church were OK with how things were. For the most part, our approach to church was very meaningful to them and had helped to shape their spiritual lives. It was only natural to think that our children and grandchildren should find the same approach to church to be equally meaningful.
The Change Begins
The members of our board and their spouses joined my wife and I for a “field trip” to visit North Point Community Church in Atlanta. It was important for them to see first hand the impact that a New Generation Church could have in a community. Each person read one or more books about church revitalization. The field trip and their reading along with our subsequent discussions had a big impact on all of them. Their mindset began to change. Most importantly, they began sharing their new insights with others in the church. I spoke regularly during weekend services about God’s heart for the next generation and our responsibility to build a bridge. I challenged church members to start thinking in terms of doing whatever it would take to reach the young people of our community. This happened not only during weekend messages but also in many small gatherings.
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The conversations that took place between me and board members and individual church members set the pace for a tangible change in mindset throughout the church. We were on our way.
It Took a While…
I would like to say that the journey over the following years went smoothly, but change seldom does. As it turns out, the concept of reaching young people was well received, but when things started to change in order to actually reach those young people, some people left the church and found a church that better met their preferences. As one person who left noted, “I am supportive of the goal of reaching young people but I didn’t think we would have to change this much.” Fortunately, not everyone left - and new people started to attend Amplify Church. Within two years the average weekend attendance doubled from 200 to more than 400 people. Within five years, our average weekend attendance exceeded 600 people. And ten years after embarking on our journey, the average attendance at those same weekend services had grown to more than 1200 people. Perhaps more significantly, the average age of those attending was just under 35 years old. We were transformed into a New Generation Church. And it all started with adopting a new mindset. Are the leaders and members of your church making decisions based on the statement “If it was good enough for us, it is good enough for our children”? If so, how do you think you can shift this thinking to the all-important question – “What will it take to reach our children?” Your ability to make the shift may determine the longrange viability and health of your church.
Lee Kricher is the Senior Pastor of Amplify Church, Pittsburgh, PA - amplifychurch.com and author of For a New Generation – foranewgeneration.com 34
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:
1. 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.
2. 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.
3. 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.
4. 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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4 Things That Actually Matter in Student Ministry - Continued
people curious to hear what you have to say, but long term impact will only be seen if you create ways to actively involve, engage, and challenge your students. Lastly, it is super important to have this final piece of the puzzle in your ministry. Understand pastors, you are going to fail in your ministry. You are going to calculate wrong, strike out from time to time, and miss the mark; but you are also going to succeed and have a lot of life change and wins as well. Whichever comes first, remember this, it is just as important for you to trust in your leadership and the direction they are leading your church as it is for them to trust you and the heart God has given you to lead students. So the final thing that truly is important in your ministry, is to have the kind of leadership that will trust you through your wins, and your failures. It is only then that you will be able to be the leader you need to be to accomplish connecting students, creating an environment that is fun, and talking about the things that not only catch people’s attention, but engage their hearts and minds.
Debunking the Excuses for Procrastinating in Revitalization By Dr. Tom Cheyney When I was in high school, I had come to realize I was settling into an outstanding pattern of procrastination. Often I would put off an assignment only to find my self slammed the few days before it was due because of other assignments and commitments! By the time I got into my second year of college I had outgrown my procrastinating posture. Churches sometimes are much like my high school lifestyle. They too can begin to stand out in the area of procrastination. Many a church needs to do something and they need to do it right away only to discover that by the time they get to it, the opportunity to make a change has come and gone and the opportunity is missed. As pastor leaders our reasons for putting off pressing action are as extensive as our aptitude for creative thoughts, but one of the more common excuses is: We need to just get ourselves out of debt at church first! May I challenge briefly and perhaps offer some words that will dispel the power of these ideas that often paralyze the local church? A little debt actually will not hurt most churches today! Most often if the 36
by Drew Cheyney
It is at this time you may be saying, “well that sounds great, but I don’t exactly have the leadership I need to connect everyone, the creativity to pull engaging fun elements off, or the experience to speak that candidly.” Well, you may be correct, but I would ask you, when is the last time you tried to recruit or invest into potential leaders? When was the last time you tried to plan enough in advance you could be creative? And lastly, if you feel God’s calling you to teach and communicate clearly to students, don’t you think you should figure out a way to engage them? Sometimes leaders, in order to have the ministry we were called to have, you have to be willing to stop focusing on everything going on and start focusing in on the top things that truly make the most impact. Drew Cheyney is a Student Minister and frequest writer on Revitalization through student ministry.
debt is tied to the financing of something that helps the church grow it is a safe investment. But take notice of what I am about to say! If your church fellowship is in a death dive as far as its regular Sunday attendance, it would be unwise to invest in this way. When you are not sure of ones future income base for the local church it could further cripple the church beyond any chance of recovery. Many unwise and untrained pastors often thrust a church membership into something, which requires large capital funds only to discover that they do not have the necessary members in the church in order to sustain the cost of the capital idea. Far too many churches get so over their heads in capital debt that it squeezes the life out of the ministry and work of the Lord in that church for a large number of years into the future. Eventually the minister moves on and leaves the church in a critical situation. That is usually when a church revitalizer is called to lead the church and make the hard and necessary decisions to give it the best opportunity for life again. One church which is led by a wise Church Revitalizer has taken six years to get it back on its feet all because a previous pastor and executive pastor had gotten it so in debt that it was about to go under. Today it is glory days but the previous six years were nothing but hard work and even harder decision making in order to bring the church out of unwise debt.
RENOVATE National Church Revitalization Conference
November 2-4, 2015 Orlando, FL
RenovateConference.org Aloma Church
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5
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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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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 Value of Coaching in Revitalization Let’s face it: revitalizing a local church is not an easy task. And it becomes even more challenging when the influential people of that congregation are resistant to the changes needed to breathe Christ’s life back into their church’s ministry. There are usually systemic patterns with which to deal that have largely contributed to the church’s current state. There may be a need for specialized training to develop areas of the church’s ministry that are lacking or altogether missing. And often, disciple-making has been all but forgotten. The value of a trained, experience revitalization coach cannot be overstated. The oversight and input by such a coach not only helps a pastor move his church forward in a sound revitalization process, he can also help the church’s leadership to avoid common pitfalls along the way. There are essentially four critical things a good revitalization coach brings to the relationship: assessment, objectivity, training follow-up and accountability.
1. Assessment
One of the most valuable components of the coaching relationship is a guided assessment process. Pastors and church leaders too often make the mis-
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take of doing their own ministry assessment and analysis. Even when an outside tool is used (for example, the Natural Church Development survey), they will try to understand results and implement changes on their own. This usually does not yield the desired results and then sours the congregation on the idea of assessment for the foreseeable future. But a guided assessment takes guesswork and assumptions out of the process. A coach who is trained in assessment (and especially who has been trained in the use and implementation of the tools and reports the church has commissioned) can help the church leadership to hone in on the most important findings, providing the greatest ministry return on investment when it comes to change and development. The coach can also help the church to put together a plan over time that continues to include additional assessment findings as appropriate for a greater, most lasting impact. He can answer questions, help guide the pastor and leaders over unexpected hurdles, and can provide perspective when reports are a difficult reality check.
2. Objectivity
Because the coach is not a part of the congregation being revi-
by John Kimball
talized, he can provide an outside, objective opinion on the church’s life and ministry. He can often see issues that “insiders” may miss – either because they are too familiar with the church’s systems or because they are avoiding painful realities. A good coach guides by asking investigative questions. And, like pealing an onion, such questions can be designed to dig deeper into policies, systems and issues that are derailing the church’s ministry. Truth is an important tool in any revitalization process and the coach knows how to gently wield this very powerful implement with surgical precision to expose and deconstruct those mindsets and systems that have become problematic, and can then help the leadership to establish new ones rooted in the lordship of Christ.
3. Training Follow-up
In most cases, the pastor and church leaders will be working through some kind of specialized training in revitalization to help them identify and address their own unique challenges. Good training processes will address key areas like ecclesiology, systemic issues, vision, disciple making, leader development, evangelism and intercessory prayer. For many pastors, such training is
often overwhelming and tends to include critical ideas that are not taught during a typical seminary degree program. When one adds to these dynamics the fact that most pastors working through revitalization also have many years of experience under their belt doing ministry in a particular way, it becomes important to have a coach to utilize that training and slowly help with its implementation. A good coach will help the pastor contextualize each aspect of the training to his unique congregational setting. In addition, a good coach will often add his own experience and make suggestions to help foster the needed change in the most widely-effective way possible throughout the church.
4. Accountability
One of the most important things a good coach provides is loving accountability. Even after successful assessment, training and objective insight, many churches still have a hard time keeping THE main thing the main thing. They make changes to their programs, their structures and even rediscover important truths but then struggle to actually help their people live out consistent intercessory prayer and disciple making. The accountability a coach provides helps to bring clarity to priorities and to give the initiative needed to implement them. The coach will ensure that the pastor and church leaders are leading the new revitalization “way of life”
by example. The coach will help the leadership to pay attention to kingdom fruit, avoiding the trap of a shiny new ministry hamster wheel that again causes the church to expend a lot of energy but to go nowhere. Accountability motivates. Coaching is helpful to all aspects of ministry: the pastorate, church planting, cross-cultural missions, youth ministry and more. The developmental characteristic of a coaching/mentoring relationship is both highly personal and organizational. Pastors often find they end up being better husbands and fathers as well as better pastors when they are in a coaching relationship. It makes a substantive difference. But when it comes to church revitalization, I would say that coaching is nearly always a necessity. Navigating the waters of change is always challenging, and certain personalities can make that change seem impossible. An experienced coach will know what to do when the going gets tough. Let me close with some personal encouragement: I am a coach (both with the Conservative Congregational Christian Conference and with The Praxis Center for Church Development), but I have also received coaching. In fact, I have a coach guiding me right now through the process of planting a brand new church. I know the value of coaching from the pastor’s perspective and I cannot imagine leading
a church through revitalization without someone experienced by my side to guide me. If you feel like you’ve been spinning your wheels in church revitalization, finding a coach may be your best answer. In most cases, your association or denomination will be able to help you. But if not, there are many parachurch organizations out there that provide what you need, including the Renovate Conference (email them at info@ renovateconference.org for more information). Don’t go it alone. You’ll be amazed at the difference a good coach can make.
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.
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Survival Tips for a Young Pastor By Rob Arnold At a recent denominational meeting, I was told that a church in our community terminated a young pastor after only six months. News of this kind always brings a twinge of sorrow to my heart, especially when it involves a young minister. Inevitably, more experienced pastors will comment that if the young pastor had simply heeded some friendly advice or recognized the warning signs he could have avoided his loss. The probability that a young pastor will lose his job is unusually high. According to Thom Rainer, about 1.5 percent of pastors have lost their jobs each year due to forced terminations, which is not terribly high. If, however, 75 to 89 percent of your church is over 60, you are three times more likely to fire the pastor, and if you have virtually no adults under 35, the church is even more likely to force terminate the pastor. Additionally, Rainer warns that if the pastor is under 30 years old, the church is three and half times more likely to let the pastor go, and ‘three and half times’ is a huge statistical variance. Rainer’s statistics serve as a warning to young pastors and prompts the question, “What can a young pastor do to improve his odds?” I have been in the ministry for 31 years and had some narrow escapes of my own, so I have five tips or suggestions for you to consider for improving your odds at surviving and thriving in your first years as a pastor. 44
1. Do your homework.
An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Knowing a church’s history before you arrive can spare you a pound of heartache. Their track record serves as an excellent indicator on how a church will treat you. Do not fall into the trap of being so eager that you fail to discriminate between churches that respect their pastors and the churches with histories of serial pastor abuse. Contact the associational director. Talk to pastors in the community, and if possible, talk to one or two of the previous pastors. Keep in mind, though, that there are two sides to every story. The previous pastors’ mistakes may have laid landmines that will derail the effectiveness of the next pastor. A search committee will neglect to share the history that subtly affects every area of church life, so unearthing that history may be the difference between your failure and success.
2. Make a long-term commitment. Successful
church renovators avoid the “quick fix” and make long-term commitments. Know the church’s strengths and weaknesses and count the cost. Remember that any great work will require a substantial investment of time and energy, because nothing of eternal value happens in the Kingdom of God without blood, sweat,
and tears. Are you going to be a hireling who runs from problems or the shepherd who loves and feeds God’s sheep? As you go into a new church, do not make the stipulation that significant change must happen immediately. Change takes time, and older churches are weary of young pastors with unrealistic expectations who use their church as a steppingstone to “better” churches with more people and larger salaries.
3. Earn the trust of the church members.
Being the pastor of the church does not automatically imbue you with their trust or authority. If you assume that your authority is automatic with your position, you will discover you are sadly mistaken. Trust in a church must be earned. Furthermore, if the church has suffered through a string of ineffectual pastors, it will be more difficult for them to trust you. To complicate the situation, usually there are lay leaders who have stuck with the church through the hard times, and they may possess de facto pastoral authority. If they are reluctant to yield that authority to you, you will have your work cut out for you. You must be willing, therefore, to communicate in word and deed a sincere love for the church, a competence in church polity, and a desire to maintain Christian unity. If you do so over time, you will slowly earn their trust and assume the mantle of authority.
4. Move slowly when presenting new ideas. When you attempt to lead an old, established church through
change and revitalization, timing and your packaging are critical. An idea, no matter how great, is doomed to fail if packaged and presented poorly. The most common mistake you can make is to move too fast. Remember, a member may think about church once a week, while you think about church every day. Since this is true, a rule of thumb is that for every day you spend ruminating on a new idea, give the congregation one additional week to mull it over. Consequently, if you spend one week pounding out a new idea, allow seven to eight weeks for the congregation to assimilate the same idea. This involves an open-door policy of allowing them to talk to you in private and ask questions. You may think this is excessive, but church members need more time to digest new ideas. Additionally, present your ideas one at a time. If you overwhelm a congregation with new ideas and they will reject them all. Be assured, you must become an expert in timing and packaging. Your ideas may be flawless, but package them poorly and present too quickly and you will experience heartache and failure.
5. Recognize the warning signs. Churches do not intentionally set out to fire young pastors, but problems naturally arise, and if the young pastor and leaders cannot resolve conflict constructively, a forced termination looms
on the horizon. A floundering ship will send up flares, and a church in troubled waters will give off warning signs. Learn to recognize, therefore, those warning signs and be proactive. Decisive measures can calm fears and keep conflict from escalating. Successful pastors and church revitalizers realize that churches are full of imperfect people with personal agendas. There are power brokers, sacred cows, and the dysfunctional baggage from previous pastorates in every church. Every congregation, no matter how godly, has potential minefields that the new pastor must learn to navigate if he is to survive and prosper. Godly pastors will seek the help and guidance of more experienced pastors or denominational leaders. In contrast, however, if you refuse to seek advice and you ignore the warning signs, you will exhaust the patience and good will of the godliest church. Your ability to adapt, seek help, and respond constructively to the warning signs will determine your level of effective leadership. You can add to this list, I am sure, and obviously, these suggestions are contingent on your prayer life, your level of personal integrity, and your time in God’s Word; but these five suggestions can help you thrive and flourish in an aging church that is in desperate need of strong pastoral leadership, change, and revitalization.
Rob Arnold, is the lead pastor of Lockhart Church and is a frequent breakout leader for the Renovate National Church Revitalization Conference in Orlando. Rob has a heart for bringing the young back to the son and see a renewed relevent church.
Do Something in Church Revitalization! Fix the Hole!
The plateaued and declining church needs to do something. Church and denominational leaders need to do something. We have spent enough time ringing the bell, shouting that there is a hole in the boat. It’s time to fix the hole. The more I study the existing church, the more convinced I am that the people in the pews want to see their churches turn around too. There is some disagreement on what must happen, but I would say that most are ready for some positive change. Here is some sage advice: First and foremost, pray about church revitalization and seek God’s face for this undertaking. Second, affirm your pastor and his leadership in the church. Third, get to the point that you and your pastor can speak about your circumstances openly and at length with the church. Nothing is worse than attempting to effect change without the help and support of the congregation. Fourth, don’t be afraid to ask for outside help. One dangerous consequence of pride is the inability to ask for help from others.
Fifth, address the opposition that comes from revitalization biblically and immediately. Terry Rials
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CHURCH Revitalization Conferences
Cost: $20
September q Northeast Houston Baptist Church
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
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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
BAPTIST WORLD CHARITIES.COM 786-255-3054 / 305-388-8059
Estelle Myers, C.E.O. & Women’s Revitalizer
“Baptist World Charities is happy to participate in Revitalization Magazine! Our team is ready to help you REVITALIZE your church through Missions and Evangelism!” Rob Myers, Pastor, President, Revitalizer & Men’s Mentoring Leader http://pastorrobmyers.wordpress.com V.P. Dr. Franco (M.D.), Medical Missions
Our Motto is: If I can go, I will go… If I cannot go, I will send… But I refuse to sit and watch! Thomas Myers is an amazing 24 year old Evangelist who will travel to your church and help bring Real Revival to your congregation! His relevant and inspirational messages from God’s Word will help to “Re-set” your church.The alters are full when he gives an invitation. He can be booked for weekend Revitalizations through our website.
Join Dr. Bob & Estelle as we Launch: Teachers On Mission with the Haiti Initiative. Join us as we Teach God’s Word in the University of Haiti’s Education System in North Haiti!
Take your Church on a medical missions trip or help serve in Orphanages around the World!
Thomas Myers, Evangelist
Dr.Bob Brumley, PHD Educational Missions
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REPURPOSED THE NEHEMIAH MODEL: Nine Strategic Steps for Renewal Repurpose means to use or convert for use in another format or product. Repurposing happens when something has very little or no value, or is only worth throwing away, is suddenly restored and used for significant purposes. Repurpose is exactly what Nehemiah did in the city of Jerusalem. He repurposed broken-down gates and walls. He repurposed a community of faith that was far from God. Repurposing is a powerful word of hope for churches which have either plateaued, are in decline or might even be on the brink of death. Some people today would consider many of these churches to be of not much value, perhaps only to be thrown away. Instead, it is the passionate desire of Jesus to do a life-transforming work that only he can do - returning his people once again to a right relationship himself and to the mission to which he has called his church. In the Old Testament book of Nehemiah, under God’s leadership, Nehemiah himself leads the people in a timely, miraculous strategic effort to rebuild the gates and walls of Jerusalem in just 52 days. Shortly after this project reached its completion, an even greater miracle occurred as God brought renewal to their lives spiritually. According to Aubrey Malphurs, “Strategic planning is the process 48
that a point leader uses with a team of leaders on a regular basis to think and act as to design and redesign a specific ministry model that accomplishes the Great Commission in their unique ministry context.” In addition to the Scriptures, there are also many practical reasons for utilizing strategic planning in church revitalization: 1) To discover the church’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats 2) To develop an intentional process for “making disciples” in the church, 3) To align the church’s ministries—getting people and ministries focused and on the same page 4) To create an environment for revival and spiritual awakening 5) To develop and implement spiritually healthy change which glorifies Jesus Christ 6) To craft a compelling vision that is simple to grasp and yet has powerful clarity 7) To empower the pastor, church staff, leadership, and people to serve with excellence 8) To be a greater impact and influence in reaching the community for Christ 9) To develop a strategy that regularly evaluates and improves the ministries of the church 10) To be fully used by God as a church locally, regionally, nationally, and globally to share the Good News of Jesus Christ. Nehemiah provides nine transferrable and timeless principles for today’s revitalizers as they
By Darwin Meighan
lead strategic planning and much needed spiritual renewal in their churches.
Step 1: Relentless Prayer
(Nehemiah 1:4-11) Drawing from Nehemiah’s four months of relentless prayer, there are four prayer principles which stand out - all of which prepare the revitalizer for leading strategic planning and renewal in the church. The four principles are: 1) Recognize who God is – God is high and exalted. 2) Repent of all sin (brokenness). 3) Recall the amazing promises of God. 4) Request help from God for success.
Step 2: Recognize God’s Window of Opportunity
(Nehemiah 2:1-10) The second step for the revitalizer is to discern God’s window of opportunity and timing for moving forward with the process. A window of opportunity is a relatively brief period of time during which an opportunity must be seized or it may be lost. In Nehemiah 2:110, as he stood before the King, Nehemiah seizes his God-given opportunity, moving forward toward the project which awaited him in Jerusalem. Following the example of Nehemiah, through much prayer, the church strategic planner and revitalizer first discerns God’s will and his timing in the process. Second, he understands God has positioned him for such a
time as this. Third, while praying, he is also planning for the Godsized project at hand. Prayer and planning go together. Fourth, the leader acknowledges God’s providential hand of favor and provision, which ultimately leads to success in renewal.
Step 3: Recovery: Getting Beyond Life’s Ruins
(Nehemiah 2:11-20) In this third step, the leader is tasked with the responsibility of inspecting and examining the unique ministry context to which God has called him to revitalize. Questions to consider at this step of the strategic process include, “What really is going on in our church?” “How did we arrive here?” “What would God have us to do?” “What do we really know about the community God has called us to reach?” A thorough examination at this stage uncovers the honest, brutal facts – creating urgency for God’s people to change, therefore, propelling the church forward in the journey toward the next step of strategic planning and renewal.
Step 4 - Releasing the Power of God’s Team (Nehemiah 3) Fourth, the revitalizer prayerfully pours his efforts into forming a strategic planning team. In chapter 3, Nehemiah provides an example of the synergy, teamwork and collaborative environment God uses, to bring about
renewal in the church. Several team principles must be considered: 1) Every team member does play a significant role in God’s game plan. 2) God’s team best accomplishes his work shoulder to shoulder. 3) God strategically positions every team member for maximum impact. 4) Together make the commitment to finish the God-given task.
Step 5—Refocus: What to Do when Attacked by Spiritual Opposition
(Nehemiah 4:1-23) Throughout the Jerusalem project, Nehemiah and God’s people were met with external and internal opposition. Likewise, the strategic planning team, in their efforts to revitalize the church, they will be met with strong opposition from the enemy. When opposition does come, Nehemiah offers several key weapons for overcoming it. First, is the spiritual weapon of prayer. Prayer must be the forefront of every church’s renewal and strategic planning efforts. Second, keep doing the work. Stay focused on the task of revitalizing the church. Satan will do everything possible to distract and discourage God’s leader and God’s people from experiencing renewal. Third, assign watchmen to pray, while the strategic planning team continues the work. Finally, in the midst of opposition, practice unity, for the purpose of seeing renewal become a reality.
Step 6—Resolving Relational Conflict God’s Way
(Nehemiah 5:1-13) Churches who find themselves in need of renewal, over the years have developed unhealthy and unacceptable patterns of behavior for resolving relational conflict. During Nehemiah’s project, major conflict broke out. When this occurred, Nehemiah chose to deal with relational conflict in a scriptural manner. Church revitalizers must sharpen their skills for leading change, while also navigating and managing conflict God’s way. Managing conflict God’s way includes: 1) Yielding to Christ’s leadership and control. 2) Praying and working with the goal of restoration in mind. 3) Resolving conflict privately. 4) If necessary, resolve conflict publicly. Resolving relational conflict scripturally is a necessary component for church renewal and revitalization.
Step 7—Reaching Life’s Goals: Enduring Principles for Finishing Well
(Nehemiah 6:15-16) In just 52 days, miraculously, with the help of his God, Nehemiah led God’s people to rebuild the gates and walls of Jerusalem. Nehemiah chapter 6, verses 1516, says, “So the wall was completed on the twenty-fifth of Elul, in fifty-two days. When all our Continued on Page 56 49
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No Church Ever has a Problem in a Vacuum “Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you. For just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others.” – Romans 12:3-5 This next verse in Romans gives us a solution to the preceding chapter’s dilemma. We basically have to call people to revival. This calls for a deep self-assessment, which can be brought about by Biblical convicting preaching, along with edification from pastors and church staffs. It is our job to unify and build up the flock of Christ. We cannot help people until they see that they need help. One of the things that helps people to make a decision, is for them to understand that they are impacting other people. For instance, I find that a lot of people are more willing to make decisions when their families are impacted negatively, or when they are in crisis. During these times they see the need for change, because the consequences of their behavior in the crises on the people they love, becomes clarified. This is one of the things that I love about our Recovery program. The first step is to get real and honest with yourself and own your problem. These same
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principles that we see in our roles as Pastors also exist within the Church Family. Revitalization is Recovery for churches! No church ever has a problem in a vacuum. While that unit of believers (the church) is not healthy, people all around her are not impacted by her purpose. Here is a harsh pill to swallow: many churches would rather die white, die black, die southern, die latin, die Haitian, die Chinese,Vietnamese, Etc...than to live racially unified for the gospel of Christ! There are lots of comfort stats to make the american church feel better about her segregation. One of them is the trend to say that a multicultural church exist when 20% of your church is other. This is a false stat read. This does not work for two reasons. Some churches are racially open, but are in communities that only have 2% of their population as other than their homogenous footprint.They are ready to mix, they just don’t have anyone yet to mix into the milkshake, so to speak. Others pat themselves on the back, because they have reached their 20% quota, so the mixing can go to the back burner. What you have to do is read you community stats; Nelson Searcy calls this “Exegeting the community.” If your community is basically for now all one race, but is trending to mix (which by the way is the case for all of North America), then position your churches attitudes now for the
by Rob Myers
“browning of america.” The other false read is when your at 20% in a community with a school system that is at a 40-60% mix. At that point 20% is from 1/4 to 1/2 of your goal. If the church is not reaching out to others, and is racially homogeneous in a heterogeneous society, then you have to sit down and give yourself an assessment and figure out why you are where you are. Our passage tells us that with the faith that we have, we can figure it out. God wants us to work together as a body, with strengths and weaknesses offsetting one another. In order for that to happen, we have to face our problems and address them. In the old days, they used to put blinders on race horses, so that they would have to depend on the jockey to guide them as to when to burst for the finish line. Over time they found that the best-case scenario is for the horse not to use the blinders, because the horse is able to learn in conjunction with the jockey, how to pace itself and when the horse can see the field. Without the blinders the horse tends to get competitive and won’t let up. Churches that do not learn how to open their eyes and work together as a team, are extremely limited. Usually this can be seen in the very area of their lack of vision. The blinders of homogeneity force a single-mindedness
that is not open to receiving all types of people. This can work for a time when the community itself is not mixed, but will begin to fail as the community diversifies. The homogeneous church will also struggle in the area of world missions because her learning curve places her so far behind the churches that are heterogeneous, that many of the things that they will do on the mission field if not considered useless, will be considered downright offensive. We as pastors have to force the mix up, so that our churches are equipped and able to reach multiple people groups around the world. Churches that are weak in this, can usually partner with churches that are strong. The stronger churches are usually more than glad to help churches that want to improve their mission’s outreach.This is why you should come and bring your leadership team to the Renovate conference in Orlando this fall and learn how to read or exegete the stats; learn how to personally guide your people through racial bad habits and learn how to hire for the changing demographic (P.S. There are major pitfalls to avoid in the hiring process). I look forward to seeing you there!
Rob Myers, is the lead pastor for Miami Baptist Church----A vibrant multi-cultural church of over 700 in attendance located on the main East - West corridor of South Miami. He is a frequent breakout leader for the Renovate National Church Revitalization Conference.
“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. The nose of a bulldog is slanted backwards so he can continue to breathe without letting go! -- Tom Cheyney
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REPURPOSED THE NEHEMIAH MODEL: Nine Strategic Steps for Renewal (continued) enemies heard about this, all the surrounding nations were afraid and lost their self-confidence, because they realized that this work had been done with the help of our God.” This historical, climactic moment provides several insights for revitalizers who desire to finish well their God-given tasks: 1) Pray continually 2) Commit to God’s purposes 3) Live passionately 4) Plan thoroughly 5) Include people 6) Be willing to persevere, many times even at great cost.
Step 8—Revival: Can It Still Happen Today?
(Nehemiah 8-10) Although God had already performed the mighty work of rebuilding the city’s gates and walls, he had an even more significant work to do, that of, repurposing and bringing renewal to his people spiritually. In Nehemiah, chapters 8-10, genuine revival breaks out. These same components of revival are also essential for renewal to transform the hearts of God’s people today: First, is a renewed hunger and thirst for God’s Word. Second, is the spiritual cleansing that occurs as God’s people cry out with prayers of genuine repentance. Third, the behavior and actions of the people begins to consistently match their beliefs. Out of genuine renewal, God next calls his church to covenant together, an outward expression of once
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again allowing God to have first place their lives and in his church. These three signs of revival become evident in those churches in genuine and purposeful pursuit of God’s path of renewal.
Step 9—Repurposed: God’s People Celebrate!
(Nehemiah 12:27-47) When God does choose to repurpose, revitalize and to bring about renewal, this is great cause for celebration in the church. Revitalization leaders today must lead their churches to celebrate wins together, no matter how small or large those wins might be. From the 12th chapter of Nehemiah, six celebration principles arise from a renewed people of God: 1) Purpose - Celebrate who God is and what he has done. 2) Preparation - Get ready to meet God in worship. 3) Praise - Fill God’s house with the praises of his people. 4) Power - The far reaching impact of joy and praise. 5) Provision - Responding with gratitude and thanksgiving to our God who gives to us in abundance. 6) Person - Worship and celebrate the person and work of Jesus Christ. Regardless of your church’s current spiritual condition, no situation is not hopeless. There is amazing hope in Christ Jesus for every church today. Repurposed, The Nehemiah Model for strategic planning and renewal is
By Darwin Meighan
worthy of every church’s prayers, consideration, and pursuit. The passionate desire of Jesus is that his people would return to right relationship with himself, to right relationships with one another within the Body of Christ - while at the same time also demonstrating in their daily lives faith and obedience, toward fulfilling God’s great strategic plan and mission of “making disciples.” Prayerfully seek God’s plan for renewal. Do it – act now! A downloadable manual,“Repurposed” The Nehemiah Model: Developing a Strategic Plan to Revitalize Your Church, is available via email: pastor@litdbaptist. org 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.
revitalizer
LIBRARY
Church Come Forth: A Biblical Plan for Transformational Turnaround The majority of American churches are stalled or in decline. Church Come Forth is a strategic model for renewing and revitalizing plateaued and dying churches into prevailing and growing congregations. Todd Hudnall nails it. Down and out? Out for the count? This book is Biblical, Hands-on, and Authentic. Hudnall walks the reader through the spiritual journey of a comeback church.
The Measure of a Healthy Church In a world of competing voices about what church is all about, Gene Getz, with the wisdom God has granted him over decades of ministry, provides a solidly grounded and thoroughly biblical approach to how God assesses the strength, health, and maturity of a local church. He provides a solid definition of the church as he states that the “standard of measure by which the church should be defined (Is it centered on Christ? Does it display the fruit of the Spirit? Is it growing in its ability to display faith, hope, and love?).” This is a good updating of the
This work is truly a biblical cry for transformational turnaround. I highly recommend this book to any pastor wanting to be part of leading the church through spiritual transformation. It is God’s desire to renew His church and most church leaders will find this plan a Godsend in effectively revitalizing their congregations. Having extensively researched the subject, consulted with many other turnaround leaders and having led churches through the process,
some actually implode and burn out. Few actually turn a church around so that it becomes healthy, vibrant, and Spirit directed. Todd Hudnall has led three churches through this process. He writes as a practioner, coach, and friend. Bibliography: Hudnall, Todd. Church, Come Forth: A Biblical Plan for Transformational Turnaround. Nashville: CrossBooks, 2014.
Todd is uniquely qualified to provide insight on this vital subject. Church Come Forth is loaded with great advice that is tried and true. In my opinion, leading a church through revitalization is the most challenging. Many leaders become discouraged and quit in the process;
2001 edition. This is one of only three books on the market that approach church health from a biblical or theological point of view which is rare for church health or church growth literature. We need more books like this concerning church health. This should be required annual reading for anyone in the ministry, laypeople or leadership. Getz cuts straight through all the ideas of men to show what God has revealed as the standards of excellence of spiritual maturity of the body of Christ. Bibliography: Getz, Gene A. The Measure of a Healthy Church. Chicago: Moody Publishers, 2007.
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The Six Phases of Church Revitalization
In working with churches in revitalization, I have observed some attitudes which are outlined below as six phases of revitalization or six stages a church and pastor may go through on the path to revitalization. Not every church will go through all six phases and some will spend longer in one phase than others. ;However, a church in decline does experience several of these phases on their path to recovery. As you read this article, I pray you will consider if your church is in one of these phases, and if so, determine what it will take to move your church through revitalization?
Phase 1: Disbelief
“We are not in decline; God is simply pruning us for future growth.” This is one of my favorites, not that I do not believe in pruning. The Gospel of John is clear on this. The follow-up question I have is, “How long do you think God needs to prune?” I’m no horticulturist by any means, however, I understand pruning happens one time, during a particular time of the season. Once pruning has occurred, then progress happens during that plants growing season. Yet, many pastors and churches continue to call themselves in a pruning season for many years. In Southern Baptist Convention
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life, the denomination I am most familiar with, we simply look at the Annual Church Profile of the congregation to see the “years of pruning.” At some point, the pastor and church need to acknowledge, there is probably more here than a season of pruning; especially when the “pruning” has lasted for five, ten, or more years. This produces a declining church.
Phase 2: Anger
Anger is also known as the blame game. Pastors may blame the congregation for not being missional and open to the community. The congregation may blame the pastor for “not doing his job and witnessing to the community.” I am reminded of a great line in the John Wayne movie “Big Jake”; Wayne’s character, Jake says to the bad guy, “your fault, my fault, no bodies fault.” Thus giving way to the issue; it does not matter who is at fault here, action is needed. Anger and blaming one another accomplish very little. Pastors and congregations need to focus on the unity of the church and come together to address the issues present.
Phase 3: Depression
Merriam Webster defines depression as: “a state of feeling sad;” or “a serious medical condition in which a person feels very sad, hopeless, and unimportant and
by Kenneth Priest
often is unable to live in a normal way.” This begins the “emotional slump” that is experienced. The “depression” sets in over the pastor and members not being able to see any light at the end of the tunnel and uncertain with this few people left, “how will anything ever get accomplished?” This emotive slump leaves many in the church feeling a since of hopelessness and sometimes a desire just to limp along for as long as they can, until they need to close the doors.
Phase 4: Acceptance
This phase truly begins the revitalization mindset. Starting with the pastor acknowledging there is a problem and beginning to analyze options for recovery. The pastor will begin researching what has attributed to the decline. Without placing blame, he can now seriously determine a path to overcome the obstacles. The pastor may call other pastors that have led a church through renewal or seek outside consultations. He then begins discussions with key leaders to acknowledge, “something must be done,” in order to turn things around and develop executable steps for change and growth.
Phase 5: Resolve
In this phase, the pastor and church decide they will do what-
Multiplying Churches Training Developing Church Planting Centers in the Local Church
April 30 - May 1, 2015
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ever it takes to see the church turn around. This is the most difficult phase of revitalization. When it comes to doing whatever it takes, some are simply not willing. Sometimes they have tried things in the past or they feel they are too old and too tired to continue. There could be any variety of factors. However, if a pastor does not lead his church to adopt the mindset of doing whatever it takes, then the church will not revitalize. Moving forward will not happen without the desire to do all the church can for the cause of Christ.
Phase 6: Revitalization
In this phase, the church is moving forward on a strategic process to see new life. Determining if a church is revitalized is subjective at best. I have worked with churches that did not see numerical shift, but have seen culture shift – which is most important; i.e. having a desire to be missional and open. I believe longevity is the key to determining a revitalized situation. Even if there is not any present numerical shift, if the culture shift is becoming more missional, it will ultimately
result in a numerical increase. Some churches do experience numerical growth, but if the culture shift does not coincide with it, the future of the church may have a shortened life expectancy. A strong leader can step in and grow a church, but church growth and church revitalization are different. This culture shift is the key. If the church only grows, and the culture does not change, then when the strong leader is called to another church, the present church will likely experience decline again. We must strive for culture shift within the congregations to consider revitalization as being effective.
So What?!
Where does this leave you and your church? As a pastor, are you
experiencing and in one of the stages above? Can you lead your church through the phases in order to bring about revitalization? Do you need help? Let me encourage you to do a couple of things: 1. Ask someone who has been there for advice. 2. Go to a conference such as Renovate (renovateconference.org) or a local church revitalization conference for encouragement and training. 3. Contact someone in your region, or the Renovate network; Tom@renovateconference.org for assistance. Churches that succeed actually follow through! Let me encourage you to do so today.
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. 59
Revitalization is a Character Issue Of all the necessary components of revitalization leadership, I believe that character is the most important. For the past several years, I have worked on church revitalization with pastoral leaders in all sizes of churches and in various stages of their church life-cycles. One important observation I can share is that character, or the lack of it, is one of the prime causes of churches being in their condition. Character is also a prime indicator of whether a church can climb out the hole that it has dug for itself as well. Think of character, the representation of one’s integrity and passion, as the broad base at the bottom of a pyramid. It comes first; without it, nothing else really matters. Character is the foundation that that supports everything else in revitalization ministry. Upon that foundation of character rests personality, which includes disposition (one’s usual attitude), professionalism, and approachability. Above that level rests one’s education, knowledge, and experience. Finally at the top, representing the smallest component of them all – is one’s skills and abilities. I am frequently asked what skills are required, or what do revitalizers need to know as they lead their churches. More and more, my answer is less about their skills or knowledge, and more about the character that is required to lead such a venture. So, let’s talk about character from the biblical perspective, the work ethic perspective, and then the personal diligence perspective (assiduity). Ezekiel’s oracle to the wicked shepherds ought to be considered in our understanding of 60
the character of leaders. God declared His dissatisfaction with the shepherds of Israel. The shepherds were guilty of three grievous crimes that I see duplicated in modern ministry. First, the shepherds were providing for themselves and ignoring their flock (Ezekiel 34:1-3, 1819). In essence, the sheep were getting what was left over after the shepherds had provided first for themselves. The shepherd exists for the flock; the flocks do not exist for the shepherd! Second, the shepherds neglected the pastoral care of their flocks (Ezekiel 34:4). They did not care for the sick, treat the sheep with broken bones, or even pursue the scattered. They had adopted the philosophy that so many pastoral leaders have adopted – it is easier to get new sheep then fix or go after old ones! The third crime was that they did not protect their sheep. The sheep were easy prey because they were scattered. Pastoral leaders rationalize it this way – some sheep fall prey because there are predators. In reality the sheep were prey because the shepherds were too busy feeding themselves to notice those preying on the sheep. Shepherds exist to deal with the predators; sheep should never have this concern. As you know, a good work ethic is essential to a successful anything! If you do not like to work, then do not plan to go into church revitalization. It is grunt work, non-glamorous, tedious, and wonderful! Borrowing from my Oklahoma roots, revitalizers are plow horses, not show ponies. If you go into revitalization work, forget short work days, frequent
by Terry Rials golf outings, long vacations, and taking off when you want. Revitalizers need work gloves, not golf gloves. Troubled churches are in need of one thing, and a lot of it – your time. It takes time to process and cultivate the vision that God gives you. It takes time to build the necessary relationships. It takes time to develop the leaders that you will need in the future. It takes time to cast your vision and allow it to take root in the people. It takes time for God to transform your people into usable vessels. It takes time to address the problems, conflicts, and opposition that will present themselves as you begin working on your project. We mistakenly assume that because Nehemiah rebuilt the walls of Jerusalem in only fifty-two days that we can hurry into (and through) the revitalization process. The reality is that the whole work, of which the walls were only a tiny part, lasted thirteen years. Nehemiah heard the news from his brother in 445 BC and the book ends as he institutes the religious reforms in 432 BC. Most of those thirteen years cannot even be accounted for in the pages of scripture. What was Nehemiah doing? Working. In the same manner, we can only account for a few days in Jesus’ life. What was the Lord doing the other unaccounted days? He was working (see John 4:34; 17:4). The third requirement for revitalization character is personal diligence. Diligence describes the attention and care required to accomplish something. A synonym for diligence is assiduity, which may be an even better way to describe what is required. Assiduity is persistent personal attention.
Formula for Developing Critical Mass Pastoral leaders often lack this quality. We attribute our lack of diligence to medical conditions, such as A.D.H.D., or to personality types. Some things may simply bore us. However, the fact remains that some things have to be done; as tedious as they are, they have to be done. Though well-intentioned, we tend to hop from one great idea to another, just as a frog hops from one lily pad to another. Or we are like the little kid we take fishing that cannot even sit still long enough to keep his line in the water. I was recently helping a pastor in a revitalization project with his church. He asked for some help with the first few steps, so I prescribed four simple activities that would get the project off to a great start. Each of the assigned projects would require less than one hour to complete. We spoke again two weeks later, and he informed me that he decided that he was only going to do one of the projects. As of last report, he still has not completed that one either. I believe his church is failing in part because he is not even able to do what is expected. Jesus had the same problem with His disciples when He returned and found them sleeping. “Could you not keep watch one hour?” Leader, sit down, slow down, and hunker down. This is going to take a while. Take a deep breath and firm up your personal resolve. Develop this character quality in yourself. Make yourself start revitalization and then make yourself stick to it. Church Revitalization will reveal your character and build your character as well. Look again at
the pyramid example. Of the four categories in the pyramid, the only one that is a good predictor of effective results is CHARACTER. Your “gift of gab” will only take you so far. Your charismatic personality will wear thin in your second decade of leading the same group (believe me). Your years of experience, your numerous degrees, and your highly developed skills mean nothing if there is not passionate, persistent character to go with them. 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.
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.
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8 Things We Have Learned About Ministries Miller Management Systems has worked with over 1,400 churches and ministries over the past 26 years. I have personally had the privilege to serve on multiple church staffs, two seminaries, and have and continue to serve on multiple ministry boards. There are some key principals we have learned over the years that, if embraced, just might help your church renovate and revitalize.
1) Some things must remain the same.
At some point in the process, the church should identify what it will take a bullet for, or what it will die for, and decide on what must never change. These become, or are built into, your vision/mission and core values. This should not be a very long list. Keep it short, simple, and biblical.
2) Some things must change. Governance, leader-
ship, management, staff, pastors, budgets, programs, ministries, methods, buildings, and locations can and should change and adapt as necessary. Items in this category run their course, or live their normal life cycle of usefulness. Churches that refuse to acknowledge and take action in these areas tend to suffer a slow death.
3) The future is uncertain and contains risk. Regard-
less of prayer, our best laid plans, and our best human efforts, things happen. We must realize that God is in control. People change, they make mistakes, they stumble and sometimes they fall, but God remains the same. A certain amount of risk will be re62
quired to grow and expand God’s Kingdom.
4) There will be failures.
by Glenn Miller tries, people will be added, they will grow spiritually, and finances will increase accordingly.
Churches that are moving forward and are in motion and impacting the community will encounter friction and occasional failures. If your car never leaves the garage, you can be relatively certain you won’t get in a wreck!
8) Stay the course.
5) We can’t do everything. Let God be God and be
• Don’t grow weary in doing good!
6) God’s will, will be done, on earth as it is in heaven! He opens doors or
These are not intended to be “end all” solutions, but they are principals to help guide leadership into revitalizing your ministry. While the temptation in revitalization is to go for the flashy changes, a new name, new website, social media, podcasting, blogging, contemporary music, and the latest and greatest outreach programs, without good leadership and administration not much will change. The church may grow for a time, but without good administrative practices the growth will not be maintained.
obedient to what He has called you and your church to do. No more and no less. If the devil can’t destroy your ministry, dilution is the next best strategy. Rifle vs shotgun.
windows of opportunities for churches and we either take advantage of them or He will use someone else or some other church or ministry. His will, will be done!
7) Quality brings quantity. You don’t try to grow fruit
on a tree before you grow a strong trunk, healthy branches, and corresponding leaves. All of those help create healthy fruit. You need to feed the tree, not the fruit! By providing quality minis-
• Stay focused • Don’t get disillusioned • Don’t get discouraged • Don’t get impatient
To prepare for revitalization, and hopefully grow a strong and healthy ministry, we must first be organized in such a way that we can responsibly steward that growth. In the coming issues we will explore other key administrative topics that will help your ministry revitalize! Ph 4:8.
Willow Bend Community Church 2541 Henley Road Lutz, FL 33558 (TAMPA, FL)
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RENOVATE National Church Revitalization Conference
Speakers Include Bob Whiteel Tom CheyneyMichael Atherton Ed Stetzer Paul Borden Ron Smith Bruce Raley Terry Rials Paul Smith
November 2-4, 2015 Orlando, FL
RenovateConference.org Aloma Church
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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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