I meet with young church planters frequently. I hope that continues. We had great experiences in two successful church plants, and it’s certainly in my heart. Currently we are working to plant churches in Chicago. I love the energy of planting. We need lots of new churches.
In this season of my life, God has called me into revitalization. We are positioning an older, established church, that was once in decline, to grow again. And it’s been amazing—and challenging—and rewarding—and hard.
God began to encourage my heart toward revitalization when I considered my home church—the one where I served in lay leadership until I was called into ministry late in my 30s. That church introduced me to Christ, helped me grow and I wouldn’t be in ministry today without them.
But that church has seen better days. (Thankfully, they are in revitalization now and a friend of mine pastors there.) What will become of the established church? That was a burning question on my heart, and God lined my heart up with a church in need of revitalization.
Now, after the experience of the last few years, when I meet with church planters, I often encourage them to consider church revitalization. I realize church revitalization doesn’t have all the attraction of church planting. I left behind my skinny jeans to enter church revitalization. And all God’s people said amen. But here’s the thing: The attraction in church revitalization is in the mission. And that’s hopefully the same reason anyone enters church planting.
Here are 10 reasons to consider church revitalization—even over church planting:
You love the thought of restoring history. Our church is over 100 years old. Wouldn’t it be a shame to see that history come to an end—if we can reverse the decline?
You are ready to go to work now. There are far more opportunities in church revitalization. I read that nearly 90 percent of established churches are in decline or plateaued. There’s work to be done immediately.
You like having an established base of financial support. The good thing about many established churches is that they have loyal supporters. Sometimes those are the ones holding out until the doors are closed—they never want to change—but many times those people are just waiting for leadership to take them somewhere better than where they are today.
You love intergenerational ministry. In an established church, if you start to reach younger people, you’ll see a blending of generations. That’s a beautiful experience. It’s been one of our favorites in ministry. And personally, I think it’s healthy and a very biblical model of church.
