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The Lazarus Endeavor: A Basic Introduction for those Considering Church Revitalization and Renewal In this edition of GOBA’s E-magazine I want to provide you and your church with a basic introduction for considering church revitalization and renewal. Your association has helped and is helping many churches across central Florida and want to provide you some basic information regarding the need for revitalization and renewal. Do you remember the popular breakfast cereal of your childhood? It may not sound all that mature hearing that your Executive Director and missionary strategist loves the sound of the Kellogg cereal Rice Krispy’s. But it has an amazing sound and one that if you listen carefully actually fits the promotional plan behind the popular cereal. It was 1

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The Lazarus Endeavor: A Basic Introduction for those Considering Church

Revitalization and Renewal

In this edition of GOBA’s E-magazine I want to provide you and your church with a

basic introduction for considering church revitalization and renewal. Your

association has helped and is helping many churches across central Florida and

want to provide you some basic information regarding the need for revitalization

and renewal.

Do you remember the popular breakfast cereal of your childhood? It may not sound

all that mature hearing that your Executive Director and missionary strategist loves

the sound of the Kellogg cereal Rice Krispy’s. But it has an amazing sound and one

that if you listen carefully actually fits the promotional plan behind the popular

cereal. It was popularized by three gnomic elves designed by Vernon Grant the

illustrator in the 1930’s.

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The names are onomatopoeia and originated from the radio ad promoting the

product. Onomatopoeia is a word that phonetically imitates or suggests the source

of the sound that it describes. The first character appeared on the product's

packaging in 1933, Grant then added two more and named the threesomeSnap,

Crackle and Pop. Snap is always portrayed with a baker's hat and Pop with the

military cap of a marching bandleader. Crackle's red or striped stocking cap leaves

his occupation ambiguous. Corporate promotional material describes their

personalities as resembling brothers. Snap is the oldest and a problem solver,

Crackle is an unsure "middle child" and Pop is a mischievous youngster. Churches

today need a little of the old-fashioned snap, crackle and pop to get them going

again.

Here in central Florida we have 34 churches in GOBA, which are currently in a state

of plateau neither growing nor declining. Additionally we have 30 other churches

that are facing either rapid decline or are have been in a state of decline for many

years now. A bit of good news is that we have 84 churches that are experiencing

growth at this point in time. The others are not at this point in time able to be

determined if they are healthy or facing a plateau. If you are not acquainted with our

Church Revitalization Assistance Team here in our association we invite you to

inquirer more about it from our website or the office.

What Does Church Revitalization Mean?

With that in mind let’s start with the questionwhat doesChurch Revitalization

actually 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

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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 wish to

cultivate the skill sets necessary to see their church experience revitalization. Even

sadder is when a congregation does not have the corporate memory that there was

a day when the local church was reaching people for Christ Jesus and active as

evangelistic witnesses into their community.

The Need for Church Revitalization and Renewal Has Never Been Greater!

The hard reality in North America is that most churches and most if not all

denominations are in a state of decline. The membership within these churches and

denominations are plateauing and what used to pass for involvement and activity

within churches is deteriorating. While all of this is happening, the rank and file of

the church appears powerless to assemble the strength that is needed to get the

churches growing again. Kevin Ezell, President of the North American Mission Board

of the Southern Baptist Convention declares, “We must keep our denominations

focused on the ministry of rebirth and redemption, not on the business of enforcing

rules and rituals.”14 In 1990 an editor for the Wall Street Journal Wade Clark Roof

published an editorial article entitled, “The Episcopalian Goes the Way of the Dodo,”

where he argued the decline of mainline denominationalism and its effect on

Christianity.15 With the turn of the twenty-first century sustained growth within our

churches is an intermittent exception while decline seems to be more of the

pronouncement. The mainline denominations, which Roof referred, are still in the

midst of severe decline and serious deterioration. Stuck in the status quo, new wine

cannot be poured into the same old wine skins of outdated mindsets. A new sense of

urgency is required for lasting change. Change is required and the church, which is

14 David S. Dockery, Ray Van Neste, and Jerry Tidwell, Southern Baptists, Evangelicals and the Future of Denominationalism, (Nashville: B&H Publishing Group, 2011), i.

15 Wade Clark Roof, “The Episcopalian Goes the Way of the Dodo,” Wall Street Journal, July 20, 1990.

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in the need of revitalization and renewal, cannot escape making changes. Will we

allow the church of America to become mirrors of the churches all across Europe

that find themselves empty urns holding the obvious, we must not.

According to Leadership Journal, 340,000 churches are in need of church

revitalization today.16 Ninety-five percent (95%) of churches in North America

average 100 or less. Over eighty percent (80%) of American Churches are in decline

or on a plateau. Each year approximately 3,500 churches die in North America.17

Within our own Southern Baptist Convention the annual death rate averages

between seven and nine hundred!18 Studies have shown that churches typically

plateau in attendance by their fifteenth year, and by year 35 they begin having

trouble replacing the members they lose.”19 In North America, fifty to sixty churches

close their doors every week. Among churches of all sizes, growing churches are

rare! In fact, they only make up about “20 percent of our churches today. The other

80 percent have reached a plateau or are declining.”20

In a study of more than two thousand churches, David Olson exposed that 69

percent of our churches in America have reached a plateau or even worse are

declining.21 Jim Tomberlin and Warren Bird declare that “80 percent of the three

hundred thousand Protestant churches in the United States have plateaued or are

declining, and many of them are in desperate need of a vibrant ministry.”22 The

majority of these churches have fewer than two hundred people in attendance and a 16 http://www.ctlibrary.com/le/2005/fall/8.24.html. Accessed 3/20/11.

17 Warren Bird, “More Churches Opened Than Closed in 2006,”Rev Magazine, July-August 2007, 68.

18 “Annual Change in the Number of Southern Baptist Churches 1973-2009” Center for Missional Research, North American Mission Board, SBC. Alpharetta, Georgia.

19 “Churches Die with Dignity”Christianity Today Jan. 1991, Vol. 36.

20 Stetzer, Ed and Warren Bird, Viral Churches: Helping Church Planters Become Movement Makers, (San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2010), 60.

21 David T. Olson, The American Church in Crisis (Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing, 2008), 132.

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large portion have fewer than seventy-five weekly.23Our Southern Baptist research

arm within the denomination; LifeWay Christian Resources, in cooperation with the

Center for Missional Research from the North American Mission Board conducted a

study based on churches five-year change in total membership. This study reports

that 28.1 percent of our Southern Baptist Convention churches are growing, 43.9

percent are in a state of plateau, and 28 percent are in decline.24

A more recent series of studies were conducted by Bill Day; Associate 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 where he reports that currently there are less than seven percent (6.8) of our

SBC churches which are healthy growing churches. That means 3,087 of our 45,727

SBC churches are healthy.25 Leonard Sweet states that the declining mainline church

has faced a “double whammy of postmodernity and post-Christendom.”26

The Lost Population of North America

The estimated population of the United States and Canada was over 341 million at

the last Census. Of these, an estimated 255 million are considered unsaved.27 This

means that nearly 75 percent of the North American population is without a saving

22 Tomberlin, Jim and Warren Bird, Better Together: Making Church Mergers Work (San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2010), xvi.

23 “Fast Facts.” Hartford Institute for Religion Research. Retrieved from http://hirr.hartsem.edu/research/fastfacts/fast_facts.html#sizecong.

24 Annual Church Profile data, LifeWay Christian Resources, Nashville, TN.Compiled by: Center for Missional Research, North American Mission Board, Alpharetta, GA.

25 Bill Day. The State of the Church in the S.B.C. (New Orleans: Leavell Center for Evangelism and Church Health, 1/3/2012). C.f. Appendix Two.

26 Leonard Sweet. So Beautiful: Divine Design for Life and the Church (Colorado Springs: David C. Cook, 2009) 20.

27 Source: http://factfinder.census.gov/home/saff/main.html?_lang=en and http://www.statcan.gc.ca/start-debut-eng.html

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knowledge of Jesus Christ. These are extremely conservative estimates. George

Barna says: A church cannot be turned around until a contingent of people is so

firmly committed to the ministry of the church that they will sacrifice almost

anything for the good of the church, to the glory of God!28

Battered Bones and Busy Believers:Things we need in order to have revitalization in our churches (Ezekiel 37:1-14)!

God’s people desperately need a biblical Base for church revitalization! Many

Christians today actually attend a local church, which needs to consider learning and

practicing the various principles for Revitalizing Churches.

Church Revitalization is important because so many churches are diminishing,

declining, detaching, dying 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.

In the town of Sedlec in the Czech Republic there is a famous cemetery that dates

back to the 13th century. Some 40,000 people who died from the Black Plague in the

14th century and in the Hussite wars in the beginning of the 15th century were

buried there. Around 1400 a Gothic church of All Saints was built at the center of the

cemetery. Underneath it a chapel was built as an ossuary to hold the bones

unearthed in mass graves during the construction of the church. This church of

bones contains the skeletal remains of these 40,000 people. It is literally a church of

bones.

Some churches have cemeteries on their properties.Your church does not have to

have a cemetery to have broken bones and dead bodies all around. If we do not keep

evangelism as a top priority we will even have some pews occupied by individuals

with dead spirits. If we are honest sometimes the whole assembly of people can feel

dead.

28 GeorgeBarna.com

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The hand of the LORD was upon me, and he brought me out by the Spirit of the LORD and set me in the middle of a valley; it was full of bonesEzekiel (37:1 NIV).

Now Ezekiel was not in California, but it could have been called Death Valley. What

he saw was not flesh and bones, but bones. He saw the dried bones of formerly busy

people who had other things to do besides walking close to God! You know the

story: The Hebrew people were living as exiles in Babylon. Nebuchadnezzar and the

Babylonian army had destroyed Jerusalem and forced the people to live in Babylon.

They were far from their home, they were lost, and dried up, wondering if their

identity as a nation was nothing but a corpse. They were remindful that a couple of

hundred years before, their fellow Hebrews, who had lived north of them, were

defeated by the Assyrians, taken into exile, and never heard from again.

Churches today as well as individual believers today can begin to acknowledge the

truth that life can get dry. Often our busyness in a thousand other things besides the

ministry and work of the local church and association can cause us to feel

fragmented and shattered. When churches become dry and believers become dry

towards the Lord it is so discouraging! Did you know that discouragement is one of

Satan’s extreme tools for destroying churches and individuals (because few people

know it belongs to him.)When a church gets discouraged and begins to decline:

People quit praying, people quit giving, people quit attending, people quit

worshipping, and people quit looking to Jesus. What we are left with is busy people

and broken bones, which are dry.

The potential for a church to get bone dry should always concern us.

Bone yards are graveyards. In some respects churchyards would make great

cemeteries. We might be organized, uniform, perfect in appearance, yet there is no

transformation, no willingness to change for the good of the community, and no

courage to stop listening to the complainer and start running with the runners!

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Ezekiel declares in verses 2 & 3:

“He led me back and forth among them, and I saw a great many bones on the floor of the valley, bones that were very dry. He asked me, "Son of man, can these bones live?"

Now dry bones is in my opinion, as dead as you can get! About as much life as a

piece of Legos.

Notice that these bones are not still moist with decaying flesh but the emphasis is

that the bones were VERY DRY. It is one thing to believe God for a miracle to heal the

sick or maybe even to raise a person who has died recently like Lazarus. You would

think the answer had to be “NO”. But Ezekiel hesitates and declares:

"O Sovereign LORD, you alone know" (Ezekiel 37:3b NIV).

Here is the question for all of us: Can you revitalize your church and bring back life

into your church if you are spiritually dry, emotionally discouraged and physically

dead?

May I share a few things we need in order to get the vitality back into our churches

and into each and every one of us.

We need to GET A FRESH WORD FROM THE LORD

Then He said to me, "Prophesy to these bones and say to them, ’Dry bones, hear the word of the LORD(Ezekiel 37:4 NIV)!

Can you imagine a more difficult assignment: Preach to a bunch of bones? Now that

is a tough congregation! I know the name of that church and so do you. It is known

as Bone Yard Baptist Church.

Is it not interesting that these “Dry bones” did not get a dry sermon? What they got

was a divine word from the Lord. They did not receive a word from an economist,

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nor Dr. Phil, nor Rush, not a personal ad, but they received a divine word from the

Lord. Ezekiel was called to be God’s mouthpiece, not delivering Ezekiel’s message

but the Lord’s. Each of us who are preachers of the Gospel, have that same calling. If

ANYONE can speak to dry inanimate objects and have them respond, it is the Lord

our God.

Now notice that:

He spoke to wind peace be still.

He spoke to the waves part so my people may pass

He spoke to the Rocks and they brought forth water.

He spoke and they heard and responded.

Should it not also be true that the bones would hear? The Word of the Lord is a word

of life. As the hymn writer stated: Sing them over and over again, wonderful words

of life.

Listen church: Whatever it is that you face, whatever your circumstances, God has

something to say. Can these bones live? We need to GET A FRESH WORD FROM

THE LORD

Yet more is needed.

We need to GET TOGETHER

So I prophesied as I was commanded. And as I was prophesying, there was a noise; a rattling sound, and the bones came together, bone to bone. I looked, and tendons and flesh appeared on them and skin covered them, but there was no breath in them(Ezekiel 37:7-8 NIV).

Now notice they begin to click together making a rattling sound like Legos coming

together. The scripture announces: They got together! The foot bone was connected

to the anklebone. The anklebone was connected to the shinbone. The shinbone

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connected to the knee bone and on it went! They come together into a complete

skeleton.

Some people are the backbone of God’s church and association through supporting

ministries. Some people are the leg bones of God’s church and association, capable

of doing the heavy lifting, while moving the church forward. Some people are the

hands of God’s church and association with the ability to touch others. Some people

are the jawbone of God’s church and association able to speak the Word of the Lord.

Some people are the Kneebone of God’s church and association able to bow in

prayer. Some have a keen ability to listen to people who need a friend.

Now God has no room in church revitalization for mere wishbones. These are the

folks who wish things were different, but are not willing to work to bring these

things about. Secondly, God has no knuckle bones in church revitalization. You see

these people everywhere. They are willing to fight everybody and every thing in

order to get their way.

Each of you imagine that you have been given one single part of a Lego. Individually,

a single part of a Lego is not very significant. But I have seen them put together to

make some very impressive things. Carry your imaginary Lego with you this week

and use it to help you remember that you are a part of a greater whole, the local

church and the association of churches known as the Greater Orlando Baptist

Association.

On June 1, I will begin serving my third year as your Executive Director of Missions. I

love working with all of our churches. It is such a blessing to be your EDOM and to

lead you into a new and exciting opportunity for the future.

Some churches allow me the opportunity to work with them planting churches all

across this wonderful association. Other churches I have the blessed responsibility

to work with them in an effort to assist them in the revitalization and renewal of

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churches. God has blessed many of our churches needing renewal. Some listen and

will allow God to begin turning around their church. Others will not embrace the

changes necessary to see the lost come back into their church.If you are a regular

part of our monthly Church Revitalization Assistance Team trainings you hear me

talk about why it is so necessary that churches in decline do not allow the critical

mass necessary to revitalize the church fall below 35 adult participants. Some

churches just simply wait too long before they are willing to consider the need for

church revitalization and renewal.

Chuck Colson said that when people asked what church he attended, he said he did

not just attend a church, he BELONGED to one. Then he named his church. You do

not just attend an association meeting you belong to the Greater Orlando Baptist

Association. Thank you my dear GOBA for allowing me to lead you and serve you as

your area missionary strategist.

The scripture says: “Can these bones live?”

We need to GET A FRESH WORD FROM THE LORD. We need to GET TOGETHER.

We need to GET GOD’S SPIRIT!

Then he said to me, "Prophesy to the breath; prophesy, son of man, and say to it, ’This is what the Sovereign LORD says: Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe into these slain, that they may live’" (Ezekiel 37:9 NIV).

I will put my Spirit in you and you will live, (Ezekiel 37:14a NIV).

Notice that these bones find their very life in the acts of a God who can actually

revive the dead. The local church stuck in rapid decline may also find its very

renewal in the wonderful miraculous acts of God. Ask anyone else can these bones

live? And the answer is clear. NO WAY.Yet it is God who is able. It is Jesus whois

willing and it is the Holy Spirit who is anxious for any church to seek Him again.

While the people of Israel felt that their hope was dead in Babylon, God was able to

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say, “You will live.” When Jesus Christ was rejected and reviled, flogged and finally

killed on a cruel cross, God was able to say, “You will live.” When the early church

faced opposition and persecution of such intensity the desire was to make

Christianity extinct, God was able to say, “You will live.” When we were “dead in our

trespasses and sins,” God was able to say, “You will live.” When we are crushed by

guilt, without vision, overwhelmed, under attack, stuck in a barren place, at the end

of our rope, when we have no place to go, when we are without hope, God is able to

say, “You will live.” Regardless, if you are spiritually dry, mentally discouraged, or

physically disconnected from God we can still hear God say, “I will put my spirit

within you, and you shall live.”

As Rick Warren says in the Purpose-Driven Church, “You will never know that God is

all you need until God is all you’ve got.”

This passage within Ezekiel challenges us to open ourselves to the life-giving power

of God’s Spirit. God is not into dead things. He brings life to everything He is about.

Church Revitalization and Renewal is the Lord’s way to give life. As you read this

passage may you begin to read it through the eyes and ears of the prophet Ezekiel?

God is just might be saying to you in the days to come: Be my mouthpiece for Church

Revitalization and Renewal. Deliver my message for Church Revitalization and

Renewal. Go to those churches, which are dry and lifeless and let them know that there

is hope.

May I ask each and every one of us reading this primer: Is there dryness deep down

in your bones? Is there a dryness that will not go away? Is there athirst, which

cannot be quenched? We need to:Hear the Word of the Lord, Get together, and we

need to Let God’s Spirit do what it alone can do.

The Seven Pillars of Church Revitalization and Renewal

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Working in the area of Church Revitalization will lead you eventually 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.

Revitalization

Perhaps the easiest pillar to address, 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

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America that average less than 100 weekly in church attendance would be ill

advised! Those who serve and those who attend theses 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 churches

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-

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visioning strategy works to help churches dream new dreams and accomplish new

goals that lead towards regrowing 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 of 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 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 fit 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 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

renewal 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 top draw God’s

people back towards health and vitality.

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Reinvention

This fifth pillar of Church Revitalization deals with tools and techniques necessary

to assist the church 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 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.

Restoration

This sixth area of Church Revitalization deals with things a church and a minister

must go through when circumstances necessitate that a restoration process is called

for! Things such as:

Gaining a new and fresh understanding of the new prospect for the church is vital if success is in the churches future.

Inspiring new prospects with a vision that is both compelling and motivational. Prospects seek to be inspired and not drugged down in the world in which we live in.

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 time!

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Restarting or Repotting

The final Pillar of Church Revitalization is the hardest and often only happens once

the churches 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 to 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 strategy) is for an

unhealthy church to once again begin growing and to engage in a renewed vision

that is demonstrated in ample demonstrations 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. Until the church is ready to make drastic changes, it is useless to

become involved. There are tens of thousands of churches like this all over America:

Some are Baptists, others are Methodists, even in the Assembly’s you can find them,

Presbyterians, the Lutherans have them, Congregational, Christian, and many

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others, waiting for a mission-minded congregation to get involved in offering “new

life.”

One startling phenomena is that 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.

Things to Be Relinquished in Church Revitalization and Renewal!

When you begin working in the area of church revitalization there will be at least

three to five things depending on how your church is structured and the polity it

works within that will need to be surrendered by most participants if your church

has a chance of revitalization and renewal. Notice I said a chance! Letting go of two

out of five will not cut it. Giving up three but holding on to two might still mean your

churches demise! In working with churches I have found that there will be five

areas that must be given up if your church is going to move towards a revitalization

mindset. The five things that need to be relinquished in most churches when

beginning to move towards church revitalization are: Charge, Change, Charter,

Church, and Control.

Let’s take a brief look at five things churches need to relinquish if they are going to

be open to church revitalization:

Who is in Charge?

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The call for revitalization often begins with the first item that needs to be

relinquished within the church and that is who is leading the revitalization effort!

Most if not all-successful revitalization efforts are lead by a single solitary leader

directing the cause. It might be the pastor who has heard from God and has been

renewed or it might be a new leader whom God raises up to assist the church. Often

churches get stuck with an array of leaders (both public and some private) all trying

to do their thing and lead in the way they believe is necessary. As churches in need

of renewal and revitalization begin to decline there will often become a little bit of a

power struggle with long time members and those who are called (or think they

are) to lead the effort. Who is going to be in charge of the renewal effort is a big deal

and yet it is one of those initial things that can or could stall any real effort towards

revitalization!

Giving up the Change ($)

Perhaps the hardest area for the church in need of revitalization to relinquish is that

of letting go of who runs the financial arenas of the church! This is because the

continual decline of the church has lead to an extreme caution towards the use of

money within the church. Those who have been there for a long time will often

resent the use of finances on new ideas that have never been tried before! There has

become a protective mindset of keeping what dwindling funds we have. People of

habit in churches cannot see other things and this shows up often when a new idea

that could help the church attract new prospects costs an amount that those

“holding on” are unwilling to accept. When you the work of revitalization, you will

encounter this aspect and how you deal with it will either allow the church to move

towards renewal successfully or it will be hindered in anything it does. Some of this

struggle in a historical review of the church might be one of those reasons why the

church constantly struggled to do anything new in its ministry.

Letting Go of the Charter (Constitution stuff)

The churches charter (legal constitution & bylaws stuff) is another area that is hard

for the existing church to let go of. Though it is not a document that is utilized daily

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there is still much difficulty for long time members to see the need to examine the

documents and perhaps adjust items should there be a need. Adjustments to these

“sacred” documents, is a no no in some churches. While it is not a sacred document

many view them as such. There are churches that are hindered in their growth by

what they thought was a good idea one hundred years ago! Examples such as no

one can teach a Bible study class until they have been a member for five years might

have been a good idea one hundred years ago, but now it is simply part of why your

church cannot attract new prospects. Your charter documents might need to be

updated and yet some will struggle in this area. Some individuals within the church

are more aware of the constitution then they are aware of what the Word of God

declares.

The reins of the Church

Long time members of a church, even one that is in rapid decline fine it hard to

relinquish the reins of the church. Only a small percentage of churches in need of

revitalization can do so at this point! If a church is going to be revitalized it must

allow the new leadership to do things that will allow it to draw a new group of

prospects.

If the church refuses to let someone else lead, it will make the eventual funeral of its

members only a prequel to the eventual funeral of that local church. Within the

western mindset there appears to be a dangerous and infectious thought that it is

actually all right to allow God’s church to have a funeral just like its members. That

is not why God plants and grows churches! HE wants them to thrive and not die. He

wants life and to have it in abundance!

We are the ones in Control

Where the first item dealt with the one who is in charge as in a single leader, this

last item focuses on who will come alongside the leader and help him grow the

church. New blood needs to be infused into the revitalizing church! New leaders

need to lead the new programs and work with the various ministries to give it new

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energy (For more on this check out The Repotting & Restarting Strategy for

Revitalization by Tom Cheyney). Long time charter members often find it difficult to

allow new and might I say it younger leaders to take over the control of the church.

Even those who are tired and have grown weary might give over control in word

only yet retain the veto power brokers should the church actually take off in a

direction that long time members are uncomfortable with.

Can you do it?

The question that first needs to be considered is to what degree are you as a church

willing and open to see if you can restore and revitalize your church? Can you work

towards new ideas and activities that can help you get off the plateau and get

growing again? Are you willing to let new leaders lead even if you don’t like some of

the changes in order for the church to get healthy and begin growing once more?

These are some of the challenges that need to be discussed and considered when

working towards initial steps towards new health and revitalization.

Components that Hamper Church Revitalization and Renewal

In most churches in need of church revitalization or one of the other Pillars of

Church Revitalization there are some elements, ingredients, or instruments that

become components that are either already encumbering or will eventually

encumber the churches efforts to revitalize its ministry. Once a church becomes

burdened with the need to begin its renewal efforts a careful look at some of the

possible components that hamper most churches would be helpful! What do you

think are the primary components that hamper, burden, and hinder most churches

from becoming’ revitalized or engaged in effective ministry and evangelism? Let’s

take a look:

Number One – A Church Which Possesses A We Can’t Do It Mentality!

I have seen far too many churches and church leaders today in need of renewal who

have a mentality that says they are not up to the task of revitalization or simply not

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willing to stretch in order to become ready for the journey. Some church leaders

and some churches for that matter have a very insecure view of whom they are and

what it is that God desires for them to accomplish. This low self esteem by either

the pastor leader or the congregation, as a whole is a huge component that will

encumber any churches revitalizations efforts. When the members of a

congregation are the ones who demonstrate this challenge it will be extremely

difficult to turn the church around if not impossible to do so. God can do all things I

know for sure and yet it is usually the people of the church that God chooses to work

through so if they have a defeatist mentality and low esteem it will encumber the

possibilities of a great renewal work.

Number Two - A Church Membership Unwilling and Reluctant to Work Hard!

If you are going to begin the task of church revitalization there is a large

commitment that must be made to the work necessary. I tell most, if not all, of my

churches I consult with, that if they are not willing to work hard and commit a

minimum of at least one thousand days then they should not try to turn around their

church! When a church membership desires to let the church just slide further and

further into desperation and decline it is saying that it is unwilling to do the hard

work needed to get it growing again. I have even seen some church memberships

that see nothing wrong with letting a church die if all of the original members have

passed away. The thinking is almost stated but too cowardly to actually make such a

claim that since we are all dying while you do our funerals pastor please do the

churches as well. Now what type of called of God minister wants to do that? And yet

some might not say it but they coast week after week into poisonous patterns that

demonstrate they are fine with it. Church Revitalization takes hard work by both

the laity and the leadership! Anything less is not what the Lord had in mind for the

New Testament Church!

Number Three –Lead Pastors Who Do Not Know How To Lead

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Closely interconnected to number two above is when a lead pastor refuses to lead

the church towards church renewal. If the leader is unwilling to lead in the

churches revitalization efforts perhaps it is time to get a new leader! In fact, my

experience has revealed that there are a higher degree of these leaders out there

than we would like to admit. About 30% of the 100% of the churches that need to be

revitalized will be revitalized by it present leader. With that in mind it is not a

surprise that there are leaders who simply refuse to lead a church into a renewal

effort. If you have heard me speak to seminaries before on this subject you now

know why I say that training our young future pastors in church revitalization

techniques and principles is a must since most of them will be going into churches in

need of revitalizing and these churches will need a energetic leader to lead them!

Only about 5% of these seminarians will be going into healthy vibrant churches so

let’s change the challenge by preparing these young leaders for future successes in

areas God has not let go.

Number Four- A Church Which Is Closed to “Outsiders,” “Sightseers,” and

“Visitors”

If you have ever visited a church where you knew from the first moment you

entered the facility that you were an outsider and were less than welcomed, you

know what I mean by this phrase! Many churches have never been taught how to be

a sightseer or visitor friendly church.The result is that most visitors feel a sense of

coldness and anything but welcomed when they visit these churches. You take a

church that desperately needs to be revitalized or renewed and often you will

discover a church that has become unwelcoming to those who just might be part of

the solution to revitalizing the work. One church we visited as a family a few years

ago in Atlanta was so locked up with only the rank and file that even our kids said to

us when we finally got back in the car and began talking about our experiences,

“That was the worse church we have ever been to Daddy!” What they meant by this

was they were not even welcomed in the youth departments and that is usually the

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one place that everyone feels welcomed. When a church essentially closes itself to

outsiders it is hurting any potential of turning the church around! If you want to

begin one of the little nudges towards revitalizing the church begin by leading your

people to discover the importance of opening the church to outsiders, sightseers,

and visitors.

Number Five– A Church Which Has An “Us” versus “Them” Attitude

Matriarchs and Patriarchs in churches easily can fall into an “Us” versus “Them”

type of attitude. As a Patriarch you have guided and actively participated in the

various functions of the church. As a Matriarch you have similarly invested in the life

of the church usually by following the stronger desires of those serving as active

patriarchs. When a church begins to become engaged in the process of church

revitalization, often the very first groups of participants in the church who feel

threatened are the Patriarchs and Matriarchs! It is frequently hard for people who

have served diligently for many years to begin to incorporate new people into the

leadership decisions of a church. Part of that is that they feel new people are saying

that what they did was not good or right and part of it is the insecurity that once you

commence into the process of revitalization and begin dealing with all of the

unknowns it is just hard for them to handle. Part of renewing any church usually

includes broadening the circle of power and participation and a wise church

revitalization leader would do well to share that kindly, often, and without apology.

Number Six– A Church and Its Leadership With No Vision for the Future

Church Revitalization is something that most pastors and young seminarians have

not been trained! It is quite difficult to lead a congregation into revitalization if you

have not first been trained or presently have a revitalization coach helping you

navigate the path towards renewal. Creating a healthy compelling vision for a

church in need of revitalization is a bit more difficult than it is for the healthy church

or even the new church plant! Part of this is because there have been so many

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visions offered in the past that were not finished or did not come to fruition that the

rank and file, no matter how small it is now, have become callous towards any “God

given vision” due to past performances. Thus it is difficult to get people to rally

around a new vision when they are experiencing “Vision Fatigue” from all of the

previous visions that did get carried out. Any church revitalization pastor would do

well to receive a little coaching in this area before he rolls out the next plan that

most laity will receive less than enthusiastically.

Number Seven- A Church That Has a Fear of Change and Taking Risks

New churches love taking risks because they are new and everything is a risk!

Young churches that have been around for periods longer than twelve years have

often become entrenched a little. Still older churches that are twenty years old or

more, have a fear that develops mostly out of comfort with the previous state of

affairs in the church. These types of churches are often challenged when it comes to

renewal and revitalization. People of habit and churches of habit do not respond

well to change and often will have problems seeing a new or possible reality.

Usually it is the catalytic types who thrive on change while the rest struggling with

various degrees towards change. Churches of habit cannot see other possibilities.

Change often frightens people. People do not relax well in the midst of change. It

makes them anxious. Realize you are trapped in a routine. Become aware of what

you have tried in the past that has not worked. Become willing to let go of what has

not worked while honoring previous attempts.

Number Eight- Power Cliques Amongst the Congregants

“Not in my Church!” an elder member might say. “We have been doing it this way for

forty years now and I see no reason the stop doing it the way we have always done it”

another might say. Another component that often hinders the process of church

revitalization is when power brokers and power cliques begin to operate within the

church. New ideas and new methodologies are often squelched in these types of

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churches simply because the power brokers did not think them up! I often say to

the churches I am coaching in revitalization: “If you are not willing to invest a

minimum of 3-5 years in the process, don’t seek to revitalize your church!” Part of

that is because I know it will take time to gain the trust and cooperation of the

power brokers within the church. Cliques usually follow tenured leaders that have

little to do with the real leadership of the church. Winning these individuals will

take some wins under your belt before they give you their approvals.

Number Nine– Shortage of Finances and Stable Church Stewardship

A big hindrance to church revitalization is a shortage of financial resources

necessary to begin to turn the church around towards a growth and health

mentality. Many a church that was once vital and had steady resources necessary to

see the work advance, now by the time it finally considers the concept of church

revitalization, is strapped with the inability to provide the necessary resources

needed to move the church towards renewal. Be careful not to wait until the very

last moment of the churches life before you make the decision to restart and

revitalize the church. If you do, you might discover you have few resources needed

to move into the process and see the church advance once more. Critical mass once

lost is extremely difficult to regain.

Number Ten– An Apathetic and Burnout Church

Ministers can become burned out and churches can find themselves that way as

well.Indifference in a fellowship is a very dangerous component that impedes

church revitalization. Have you ever been in a church that was spiritually

exhausted? I have! In these churches there is so much effort placed on trying to ride

from one peak to another peak of activity, that the church never takes a moment to

catch its breath and eventually it wears the laity out and they need a rest. That rest

will come in one of a few ways:

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The first way it will come is through a wise church revitalization leader

seeing the early signs of burnout within the laity and taking the necessary

steps to allow it time to recharge its batteries. If you are always pushing hard

as a pastoral leader it will either take a constantly renewing number of

volunteers replacing those who you have burned out or it will take a slowing

down for a few months to allow your hard charges to catch their breath!

Many a leader in renewal and revitalization efforts understands the Law of

the Ninety Day Push. Here is the idea in brief. Work hard with your laity for

three months and then slack off a bit (about a month) and get ready for the

next ninety-day push. Most churches can facilitate three well thought out

evangelistic pushes per year without burning out your leaders and causing

apathy to become rampant.

Another way is for the people to take a sabbatical from service. When you

have worked and worked and worked it is easy to get burned out a little and

become indifferent. Even while the Holy Spirit is energizing you our human

frailty can cause us to grow weary. When a church needs to begin the

renewal process having a worn-out group of volunteers, can mean trouble.

Active members who are the strength of the work will often seek to impose

an “in service sabbatical” just so they can refuel their batteries. That usually

means that the leader has done a poor job in developing, enlisting, and

apprenticing new leaders that could come along side of the present leaders

and give them a few weeks or a month to catch their breath.

Lastly a departure from the church by key laity who has served faithfully is a

sign of burnout and apathy. Burnout on the volunteers and apathy on the

leaders to hear the danger call and do something about it is sure sign of a

church preparing to loose key lay volunteers! Usually there will be a clarion

call for some time off from the deeply committed to recharge their batteries.

When it is not heard, volunteers begin to feel trapped and think they are

faced with only one last option, that of leaving the church. A wise church

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revitalization leader understands that the rank and file may all actually be a

little burnt out and that it necessitates the apprenticing of eventually lay

leaders who will either start new areas of ministry or take over those things

that are presently going on.

These are some of the components that hinder church revitalization. If attention is

not given to these areas it will hamper the possibilities of future success and

renewal. Such impediments can halt your efforts for renewal and revitalization

keeping the church from engaging in effective evangelism and healthy ministry.

What Does Church Revitalization and Renewal Look Like for the Laymen?

Laity often want the successes of church revitalization and renewal yet believe that

it can be done by a church revitalizer over the rank and file lay person within the

church. May I say something to our lay people about the need for church

revitalization in most churches? Please listen to me kindly if you are a layperson to

what I am about to say!

As a layperson, you have more to do with the church you attend in its

present state then you often will take credit. Whether the congregation,

which you belong, is thriving, booming, plateauing or declining, it is

ultimately up to you and your fellow members.

Pastors are called to equip the saints for the work of the ministry and they can teach

you, inspire you, train you, lead you, and encourage!But when the rubber meets the

road, your church’s health and spiritual condition is a function of how you and your

fellow members relate to one another, to the community in which the church is

located, and to how they respond to God’s leading within their lives.

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John 10:10remind us: “I came that you might have life, and have it abundantly.” We

need to be reminded that we are the church!When a local church is spiritually

journeying as a church:

Church members willingly work together

The community finds hope from the church

There is a sense of belonging and togetherness

Members easily and frequently forgive others

The laity find their individual and corporate sense of purpose

God’s leading and direction is appearant to everyone

Your present spiritual leader serving as your pastor can be the greatest minister and

preacher, but his message only has the power to the extent that those followers of

God within the specific local church live it and practice it with each other!The best

pathway towards church revitaliztion is when your members and the community in

which it ministers notice and experience God within their midst.This is usually seen

as the church experiences a new desire to journey with God in achieving the Lord’s

desire for the world.

Many blame Donald McGavrin and the Church Growth Movment for leading churches

down the path of the bigger is better complex. These churches emphasized that

greater and growing numbers of congregants meant that the church was healthy

and that they were experiencing a vibranancy that equated into growth.The Church

Growth Movement did raise the bar in relation to what does equal a healthy

church.Some may question their ideals and much of the work of church

revitalization stems from that movement being unable to sustain its philosophy

built around numerical growth. The discovery was that it was not sustainable and

plateau or decline begain to creep in.

As a layperson please consider your answers to the following questions:

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What is your church’s purpose?

What difference does your church make within the community it is

placed?

Are the congregants showing Jesus to their community in tangible

ways?

Is the membership growing spiritually and do they have a hunger for

the Lord?

Does the church want to get healthy again?

Will it take the steps necessary in order to allow room for God to re-

enter the process for revitalization and renewal?

The desire to see the church grow once again is not the main reason churches seek

assistance in church renewal. I have worked with churches all over North America

and a few in Europe in church revitalization and the big discovery about why

churches begin to seek support for revitalization is a great surprise. The main

reason is that they fear the church is dying, near death, lost the critical mass needed

to sustain the church, or the members have waited too long to do something about

the decline!

A reduction in the church’s ability to offer ministries usually prompts its

desire for church revitalization. The desire to avoid the death blow of a

church compells many congregations to consider church revitalization

efforts.

Yet, most laity find it hard to allow someone to assist them and reveal the very

things that caused their decline.

A Quick Revitalization Lesson:

When a local church refuses to trade its fear of closing the door for a desire to see

life come back within the congregation, the church revitalization experience will end

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promptly as soon as the danger of death has been eliminated. What happens next

may mean another recycle of decline until it is bad again.

Church Revitalization is focused upon the renewal of the membeship as they begin

to consider and understand their individual relationships with the Lord, their

community, and the purpose of God for the local church to be located where it has

been placed.Churches only experience renewal when their people experience

renewal!

Preachers of the Word are called by the Lord God and even with their individual

giftedness,church renewal will not happen unless the laity is willing to experience a

new and better journey. If the laity refuses to change, refuse to repent of

unconfessed sins, which are keeping the church from experiecning God’s blessings,

there will be no impetus for renewal. If the under Shepherd is not allowed to lead

the flock by the laity, church renewal will not happen.

What is there about your church that would excite the community about becoming

actively involved in your ministry?Your response to this question reveals much!If

your response is just so you can keep your church open, your congregation has

failed to embrace the need for revitalization and renewal. If prospective prospects

are only important to you for what they bring to you, it will be hard to be embraced

by those who need your message.Lost people need Jesus.The salvation message is

the message of the church.Often the declining church looks at the community, as

they are their salvation; yet refuse to develop styles that draw outsiders.The real

issue for the church facing plateau or decline is that it has lost its understanding of

the real mission and purpose for that individual ministry.

We are to connect the community to the church through the glorious gospel

message. We serve the community where we are placed. When a church is more

interested in self-preservation, it develops a barrier towards the community it is

called to serve, which declares our needs are more important than your needs. Many

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a church is not interested in serving it’s community until it is in trouble and then it is

done for survival reasons. People will see right through this approach and feel

cheapened. My friend Ed Stetzer, President of LifeWay Research states that, “a key

issue in congregational deterioration is the failure to introduce new members to

disciple-making and equip them in the disciple-making mission of the church.”

Real-world Steps for Leading a Church Off the Plateau

With any primer there is a need for some last words of practical advice so here is my

list of practical things you could do to begin leading the church off of its plateau:

Make prayer a big thing up front and not as an after thought. A prayer

covering is critical and it must be first and foremost. Revitalization efforts

move forward on its knees.God works through the fervent prayer of His

people.

Renew, reinvent, and refresh your churches mission statement so that

everyone can catch it! Keep it short so it can be embraced with ease. Work

together on this statement and make it theirs as well as yours.

Keep personal evangelism on the front burner and lead lost people to Christ!

Light a salvation candle when some gets saved! Remember the responsibility

for keeping evangelism a top priority is the senior pastor and no one else!

Keep your commitment to evangelism public. Share the plan of salvation in

your new members class. Give your church fellowship handles for doing

evangelism. Work hard to include all age groups in evangelism.Allow

evangelism to become the driving force in revitalizing your church!Make

reaching people the new priority. Keep the fires of evangelism burning.

Form the Church Revitalization Assistance Team within your church.

Openly and outwardly display to your community your love in specific

practical ways that demonstrate this love. Conduct Special Evangelistic Events

that will create awareness of your churches love for the community. Become

known as a church of compassion for its community.

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Develop a working strategy for the present, near future, and long-term

growth. Work on ways to accommodate growth. Connect the laity to the work

of ministry.

You must see the vision as a possibility and then lead your people to see it as

a possibility as well.Cast a gripping vision of what the church could

become.Do the groundwork to achieve the vision must be done.

Within your organization structure begin new classes and programs to meet

new needs.

Allow God to provide for the financial resources needed for the church.

Add services early and often.

Build relationships as early and often as possible.

Train staff and laity.

Utilize the media to help you share your story.

If you cannot implement all of these steps, begin where you can and then plan for

the future.

Wrapping it up!

What type of Church Revitalizer are you seeking to be? All of us are wired in

different ways. Each one of us has various idiosyncrasies that while they may work

for us individually might not work for someone else. Far too often we catch the

peculiarities over the talents anyway. But as Church Revitalizers for church

revitalization and renewal we would do well to understand the sort of leader we

are.

The Problem Resolver

The problem resolver is the type of church revitalizer who develops plans to unravel

the difficulties change generates. A Church Revitalizer recognizes timing issues and

is adapt at communication. Those who are wired as a problem resolver are able to

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find alternatives, which can be offered to the whole group, which will be effective for

church renewal.

The Catalytic Stimulator

The catalytic stimulator is a church revitalizer who often introduces change by

expressing dissatisfaction with the status quo. When I think of the scriptures

perhaps the best example are those who are blessed with the gift of being apostolic.

It is more of a creative discontent then it is a guy who wants to whine about

everything. The stimulator inspires others to creative discontentment as well. They

are good at asking questions and willing to lead.

The Early Pacesetter

The early pacesetter is a church revitalizer who is more likely to embrace and

implement a new idea before others embrace the concept. Typically the early

pacesetter is very entrepreneurial, idea people, and is non-bureaucratic in their

nature and generally they are very supportive of the change process needed for

church revitalization and renewal.

The Resource Connecter

The resource connector matches needs with available resources to keep the change

process going in church renewal efforts. They are able to connect the process of

revitalization to economic, or physical resources as well as important individuals.

The Information Deliver

The information deliver are those individuals with strategic information for church

renewalthat provide it in a timely matter to those who lead change. The gift they

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bring to the pastor serving as a church revitalizer is timely, useful and helpful tools,

which will advance the church renewal efforts.

The TransformationAssociates

The Transformation Associates are those parties who silently or outspokenly share

the concerns of those who lead change and provide supportive roles to the church

renewal efforts.

The Systems Implementer

The Systems Implementer coordinates the church renewals systems for change with

the other church revitalizers. They can see the big picture, identify needs and

develop the process to handle critical steps at specific points in the process. They

often have the gifts of administration and pastoral care. The systems implementers

are very likely to be at ease with handling various levels of conflict and adapt at

conflict resolution.

These seven types of church revitalizers are the most common. While each church

revitalizer has a unique style and contribution to the process ofchange in a

revitalization effort understanding these styles and their contributions can help in

understanding the role that God has for each person He has called to facilitate

revitalization and renewal within a local church.

Take a few moments to review and analyze the revised cycle of church revitalization

and renewal, which has been adapted from Robert Dales work To Dream Again. The

gold wording along the outside of the loop is the original work by Dale and the

adaptation has been added to further the ideal of revitalization and renewal. Red in

the middle of the loop on the left side signifies the development of the church and

the right side indicates the churches transisition towards plateau or decline. The

blue on the outer portion of the diagram denotes the six stages a church moves

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through in the course from birth to decline. Incredible changes have taken place in

the past hundred years. We are experiencing more change than ever in history. The

rate of change is so great that we barely catch our breath before another blast of

change slams into us.The starting point for unfreezing a stuck church is the

development of a solid community of faith that includes spiritual leaders, the

absence of major conflict, trust in one another, and a desire to connect with the un-

churched world. Revitalization and transformation is difficult. If it were not so

difficult you would already be doing it.That is why we need support and guidance

along the way as we prayerfully seek to revitalize the local church. Church

revitalization takes some time.Nearsighted consultants believe it can be wrapped

into a six-month period.I have discovered that if you are not willing to invest a

minimum of 1,000 days you should not get into the effort of revitalization and

renewal.

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Ways the Greater Orlando Baptist Association Church revitalization assistance team can help you and your church!

Our Lord loves the local New Testament Church and it is His desire to see it grow!

Everything that must be done in the area of church revitalization cannot be

accomplished in a few hours on the Lord’s Day!

How GOBA can assist you:

Individual Monthly Consultation with Pastor from EDOM or CRAT

Group Consultations with Pastor and Key Leaders

Church Renewal Weekends focused around the laity

Caffeinated Conversations Peer Learning Groups (Small groups of 5 pastors

per group meeting monthly)

Coaching monthly through RENOVATE Church Revitalization Coaching

Network and GOBA’s Church Revitalization Assistance Team

Group accountability and coaching with a monthly electronic resource

provided church pastors and their key leaders

MP3s of Dr. Cheyney’s national forums and seminars to review at your own

leisure.

What is required of you and your church if you are accepted into the church renewal

program:

Make attendance at coaching meetings and equipping events a top priority

for your schedule.

Pray regularly for the members of your Peer Learning Group.

Consider and be open to new methodologies, ideas, and insights as you grow

as a Church Revitalization Leader.

Seek to utilize the key learning’s in your local church expression.

Hold other Peer learning group members accountable for their participation

in the Church Revitalization process.

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Read and study all church revitalization materials assigned for each Church

Revitalization Peer Learning meeting.

Maintain the confidentiality of the Church Revitalization Peer Learning

Let me know if you have any questions or email me @: [email protected] or

[email protected]

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