Revitalization Work
The work of revitalizing a church is among the most important—and most difficult—ministry assignments in North America. Where a church planting effort has a way of engaging excitement from many given its start-something-from-nothing nature, the work of revitalization often has a more dire starting point of discussion and discernment, one where the congregation feels the depressing effects of decline.
Decline is often obscured by denial, and one of the initial challenges is that most revitalization efforts are not recognized as needed from the outset. Often, a pastor retires or moves on and the remaining leadership adopts a narrative something like this: “We just need to find a young pastor with a young family—someone who can preach and lead well—and people will come back.”
In today’s world, this is rarely the case—for a variety of systemic reasons. In the cases where a new leader arrives and initial momentum and fruit is clear to see, it often does not last. New people who begin to be a part of the church assume new approaches and paradigms for ministry and community only to find they are viewed as outsiders by the remaining core. The remnant of the church view the newcomers with suspicion, people who are threatening a longstanding way of life that is inwardly focused, missionally selfish, and lacking the depth of true community newcomers are seeking.
This reality, and a myriad of other signs of decline, does not mean a church is beyond hope, nor that the path forward is unknown. After all, just as the Father sent the Son, the Father and Son have sent the Spirit, and the whole of the Trinity sends the Church into the world to cooperate with their redeeming work!
Every church experiences seasons in which it loses clarity around its mission in, for, and with the community. In these moments, the church is wise to unite—guided by its leaders following the lead of the Holy Spirit—to discern what God is doing both within the congregation and in the surrounding community. The goal is not simply survival but joining God on his mission as a living outpost of his Kingdom.
Central to this process is answering the question, “Why do we exist as a church?”
This requires distinguishing between what we do (Sunday worship, small groups, programs, etc.) and who we are becoming in light of the teachings of Jesus. Too often, churches become attached to how they do things, so the work of revitalization can be nothing more than “finding people who like how we do church and get them to join us.” Conversely, what if we first asked God, “Who have you called us to be in this community, in this time, and how do we cooperate with the Spirit to become those kinds of people?”