Revitalizing the Declining Church with Dr. Desmond Barrett

Revitalization Rewards found in this episode:

1. The Jesus Measurement: People matter more than position.

2. The Jesus Measurement: Everyone is called to ministry.

Revitalization Rewards found in this episode:

1. The Jesus Measurement: Life change by seeking forgiveness of sin.

2. The Jesus Measurement: Restoration through the blood of the Lamb.

Revitalization Rewards found in this episode:

1. Evaluate the property for potential.

2. Enhance what you have for what could be in the future.

3. Engineering a comeback from creative solutions.

a. Raise awareness

b. Raise funds

c. Begin to tackle tasks

d. Complete the plan

e. Celebrate

Revitalization Rewards found in this episode:

The UP Process:

1. Get up, don't give up.

2. Catch up, don’t fall further behind.

3. Show up, don’t stop trying.

Revitalization rewards found in this episode:

1. Be a learner.

2. Be a thinker.

3. Be a doer.

Revitalization Rewards found in this Episode

1. Preach the Word

2. Pray Fervently

3. Reach Your One

4. Discipleship and Development

5. Community Commitment

Revitalization Rewards found in this episode:

1. Remove barriers.

2. Reseal the churches commitment back to Christ.

3. Reinstate an outward focus.

Karl Vaters writes: How good is your church doing at greeting and keeping guests? If you’re like a lot of churches, you know you could do better.

I talked with Desmond Barrett about how small churches can do a better job at reaching, welcoming, and keeping guests. Desmond is the author of Helping Small Churches Win Guests: Preparing to Increase Attendance, which is a short, but very practical book that pastors will find great benefit in.

Desmond and I talked about:

• How to reimagine the church facility from the parking lot to the pew
• Why sharing updates about facility improvements is attractive to guests
• Why so many pastors and church leaders resist doing what needs to be done
• Why “we just need to attract young families” is never the answer
• The good news that new Christians are not looking for programs, they’re wanting to live on mission

Karl's Books mentioned in the podcasts:

De-sizing the Church

Small Church Essentials

Revitalization Rewards found in this episode:

1. Disruption clarifies the vision.

2. Disruption clarifies the mission.

3. Disruption clarifies and creates opportunity.

4. Disruption clarifies and establishes principles to serve the community.

Revitalization Rewards found in this episode:

1. Limit the scope.

2. Limit the time.

3. Limit the ask.