Leading Church Revitalization

Pastors. We need them. Big time. Strong, humble, visionary yet convictional pastors can be tough to find in the church these days. And yet the need for these types of leaders is greater than ever. This is particularly true when it comes to helping replant and revitalize dying churches. As we watch record numbers of congregations closing their doors each and every week all across our country, we are constantly reminded of the leadership crisis in which we find ourselves. We need pastors who can lead healthy change in a declining church with passionate vision and a shepherd’s heart. The question is: Where do we find them? In this episode we will talk about how your church can raise up and send out the kind of pastors and leaders dying churches desperately need through the development of a church revitalization internship or residency. Yes, YOUR church can do this!

Let's continue to talk about seven key ingredients for developing leaders in our churches. Last week we looked at 1-4, today we will consider 5-7: #5. Give freedom to try and fail, #6 Saturate with encouragement, and #7. Give feedback.

Most of us feel on a gut-level that developing and deploying leaders is the right thing to do. But just because we share that conviction doesn’t make it easy. How do we do it? Where do we begin? This week and next we will be considering seven important aspects of creating a leadership development culture in your church.

Regardless of the size of your church, we as pastors must be intentional to make the development of healthy leaders a top priority. Here are five reasons why.

So, what exactly does it look like on a day to day, week to week basis, to lead a declining church with the Word? Let's get practical and consider several different ways we must lead.

As with any struggling organization, in order to lead change effectively, we must first determine who or what holds the power, authority, and greatest influence in a congregation. Remember this: whomever or whatever has the most authority and greatest influence in a church is the “force” that actually makes change a reality. We can have the greatest vision, the clearest strategy, the finest programs, and the best communication and still not be effective in leading change in a healthy way, if power and authority lie in the wrong place or in the wrong hands.

Declining churches need pastors who faithfully preach the Word of God, week in and week out. Today we talk about some practical ways to continue growing as a preacher in church revitalization.

Particularly in churches needing to be revitalized, God uses the faithful, expositional preaching of His Word to bring real hope, real conviction, and real transformation to a congregation. The benefits of expositional preaching are many...for today, let’s consider five of them.

God's people need to be fed good food from God's Word that comes through the weekly diet of faithful, expositional preaching. So, what exactly is expositional preaching? And why is it so important? Let's talk about it....plus, let's consider 5 types of sermons that fall short.

Revitalized churches begin with revitalized pulpits. Healthy, God-honoring church revitalization cannot be sustained over the long haul apart from the steady anchor of a faithful, biblical pulpit. This episode is the first of several, in which we will be talking about the importance of preaching in church revitalization. Today we talk about the most important thing....what do we preach?: We preach the Word!