How can you know if it’s time for you to revitalize your church or write its eulogy?
A reality that we face today is how to know when a local church is a good candidate for revitalization or for closing. In determining best practices for a church to carry out its mission, leaders must answer the following question: Will more people be reached for Christ by keeping this church open and leading it through a revitalization process or by closing it and investing those resources in another ministry that is bearing Kingdom fruit?
Seeking objectivity for this discussion, I conducted several months of research to discover what criteria would help church leaders make this decision in a godly and objective manner. It is important to note that all of this presupposes seeking the Lord, praying for the leading of the Holy Spirit, and submitting personal agendas to the Lord for His greater Kingdom purposes.
1. Leadership
One hundred percent of the people interviewed in this research identified leadership (pastoral and lay) as the most critical element in making this decision. John Maxwell has long affirmed that “everything rises and falls on leadership.” It is critically important that both pastoral and lay leadership are strong in order to move a church that is “stuck” into a revitalized life of effectiveness. It takes leadership, commitment to the mission and strong ability to lead people to change patterns that have been established over many years, and perseverance to lead through resistance that will come.
2. Geographical Location
Several people interviewed made statements like, “If we didn’t already have a congregation in this location, does the surrounding community have enough potential that we would plant a new church here in the future? If not, what does that lack of potential say about the likelihood that this congregation can be revitalized?”
One church that I recently consulted with was in a community that had less than 500 people within three miles of the church, and that population was declining. It would be difficult to think that this church could be revitalized and led into an effective ministry.
3. Community Demographics
A history of church conflict may continue to impact churches long after the initial disagreement(s) took place.
What is the makeup of the community? It is helpful to interview organizational leaders in the local community to help you better understand where the community is headed. Another resource for learning about your community can be found at http://www.perceptgroup.com. This organization makes available studies of your community, providing solid data to better understand who lives in your community, the challenges they are facing and the religious practices of the people.
