Revitalize your church

There are many churches in America that need revitalization. These churches have been in decline for years both in attendance and finances. There is little ministry occurring outside the walls of the church building. The building itself has often been neglected. There is a sense of helplessness and hopelessness felt among many members of the congregation. Perhaps the church does not have a good reputation in the community. Few, if any, conversions have occurred in recent years. It is likely that the church has a revolving-door pastorate. People go through the motions of worship but without any sense of passion. No one is really interested in inviting their friends to worship there. Why would they? They're not even sure they want to be there any longer. If even some of these things sounds like your church, it needs to be revived.

The first thing that must happen for revitalization to occur in a church is that the church must admit there is a problem. I've encountered churches with nearly all the symptoms described above who would still not admit there was a problem. They are convinced that if everyone just tried a little harder or if they can find the right pastor that they can get over this slump they are in. Never mind that this slump has lasted 20 years. You cannot fix a problem if you refuse to admit that one exists.

Once a church admits it is in trouble, the pastor must provide the leadership necessary to bring new life into the church. All research I have seen points to pastoral leadership as the key to revitalization. He or she must possess the vision, the passion, the courage and the strength required to bring new life into the church. Revitalization is not easy, and not all pastors have the ability to lead such effort.

Not only does revitalization require strong pastoral leadership, it also requires a strong coalition of lay leadership. These individuals must be committed and forward-thinking. They may not always be found in the official leadership positions in the church. This in itself can create problems as elected leaders in the church may feel they are being set aside as a new coalition begins to lead the way.

Of course, revitalization will require that some things will have to change. As I've told more than one church: If you could grow by doing what you've been doing, you would already be growing. Since you are not, it's evident that something will have to change. I've never met a church yet that embraced major changes no matter how desperate their situation might have been.

With change may come the loss of members. While working with a congregation one of their lay leaders said to me and the others on the board that if they approved the change he and his family would leave the church. Immediately, I looked at the board and told them that was OK. I wasn't mean about it, but I explained that sometimes people are not comfortable with a particular change and need to leave. What they could not do was to allow that to prevent them from doing something if they really believed it was best for the church.

Do not start a revitalization process by thinking about how to grow the church. Start it by looking for ways to serve your community. Identify needs in your community and ask people to volunteer to meet those needs. In the book of Acts we read of the explosive growth of the church, but we also read how the church was ministering to people's needs. It was through that ministry that the growth occurred.

The final thing I'll say about revitalization is that it takes time. Seldom does a church enter a period of decline overnight, and neither will revitalization occur over night. It can take years, but it is time well spent if it brings new life to the church and enables the church to further the work of the Kingdom of God.