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Ever wonder if you’re ready to lead a church to revitalization? Today we cover eight reasons you may NOT be ready.
Today’s Listener Question:
FROM MARGARET
Our church is struggling to find a new pastor. I think it has to do with our current situation. The church has declined over the past few decade and has seen several pastors come and go. We just need a pastor who will stick it out here but can’t find one. Why is it so hard to find and keep pastors in a church that needs revitalizing?
Episode Highlights:
- Hiring a young pastor is not a magic bullet for church revitalization.
- A typical church revitalization takes more than five years.
- A pastor leading revitalization has to be a pastor with a long-term perspective.
- If you don’t ask for help, you often don’t get it.
- Pastors need to know how thick their skin is before entering into church revitalization.
- Taking risks means there will be significant change
- We need more wise, risk-taking pastors.
The eight reasons some pastors aren’t ready for revitalization are:
- It usually takes a long time
- It requires facing reality
- The pastor could lose his job
- It often requires asking for help
- It requires a thick skin
- It means you may hurt some people you love
- It requires perseverance and tenacity
- It means taking risks
Resources mentioned in this episode include:
- ChurchReplanters.com
- Church Answers
- Replanter Assessment
- Find more resources at the Revitalize & Replant page at ThomRainer.com
Revitalize & Replant is sponsored by the North American Mission Board and ChurchReplanters.com. More than 10% of churches in North America are at risk of closing and the North American Mission Board is committed to reversing this trend by decreasing the death rate of existing churches while simultaneously increasing the birth rate of new churches. To learn more about what it means to become a replanting pastor or to explore resources for replanting and revitalization in your own church, visit ChurchReplanters.com.Submit Your Question:
Do you have a question about church revitalization or replanting for us to use on the podcast? Visit the podcast page to submit your question. If we use it on the show, you’ll get a copy of Autopsy of a Deceased Church and Reclaiming Glory.
Thanks for another wise and insightful episode. There is such amazing denial and deception going on in so many churches. “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.”
Pastors also leave when they realize the congregation is not ready to pay the price for revitalization to happen. For some people revitalization means going back to the good old days.
Not easy, but necessary.. Our church just sold aging / traditional / neighborhood building to go portable. Hardest / best thing I’ve done in ministry!!!
I was given this advise before entering the ministry: “Develop the hide of a rhinoceros and the feathers of a duck.”
Were about to enter our third year of a revitalization. It’s like turning as aircraft carrier., but slow is the way without ignoring to make the necessary changes. Build a team and consensus at the same time. It is not for the faint of heart!
I somehow was led into a revitalization ministry with a small church in our town. Hardest thing the Lord has ever put me in. I think revitalization is often not a strong enough or gospel enough term. God is leading, moving and working in hearts and it is slow, agonizingly slow and painful at times. I think it requires a death and resurrection on several levels and we’re seeing some of that but still more to go. Prayer and complete dependence on Him is the only way. There are so many walls you run into…decades of human tradition and preferences…baggage in relationships between long time members…clueless new members and visitors, mismatched gifts and roles in entrenched leaders…I could go on, but everybody here knows the rest!
Heaven help Us! Yes Rico, you have said it all! My husband & I are just 4 months away from the completion of our 3rd year in this “revitalization”…and it ain’t no joke!