The shift has been staggering. According to statistics from the Gospel Coalition, the Southern Baptist Convention lost 435,000 members in 2020; 410,000 in 2021; and then 484,000 in 2022.
In total, the [Southern Baptist Convention] has lost more than 1.3 million people in just three years, which is why church revitalization is a major focus of the North American Mission Board. Through its church replant division, NAMB is providing resources and encouragement for those planting new churches or revitalizing old ones. The Revive Summit, held Sept. 12–13 at Hope Community Church in Birmingham is part of the effort.
“Because the conference is targeted toward revitalization and revival, the teams at North American Mission Board and Birmingham Metro Baptist Association wanted to host the conference at a church that is working toward revitalization,” said Jacob Simmons, pastor of Hope Community.
“Hope Community Church is all in on the work of revitalization,” Simmons continued. “We are a product of God’s work, bringing new life to God’s people. We’ve asked several of our senior adults to volunteer for this event so that they can tell the story of Hope to our conference goers and so that we as a church can continue to learn and listen to others on how to do this work better.”
Goal: Healthy churches
The first speaker for the conference was Richard Blackaby, president of Blackaby Ministries International. He described the experiences of his father, Henry Blackaby, pastor, author of “Experiencing God” and church revitalizer.
One church where Richard’s father was pastor wanted to keep its community — prostitutes, drug dealers and gang members — out. He helped them realize that only through bringing the community into the church would it flourish.
Just as that church became healthy, he was called to a church that had a three-way split, noting that “to split in three ways, they had to have a special skill set.”
As that church began to thrive, Richard’s father heard about another church with only 10 people. Many thought that he shouldn’t waste his time, that the church needed to die anyway.
Not believing that any church “needed to die,” he and his family moved and started over again.
Richard Blackaby grew up with this mindset. He knows the struggles firsthand. He learned from a young age that “you become a great man or woman of God in the hard places.”
Possibilities
He encouraged focusing on possibilities, not on problems.
“If you’ve got God in your church, you have everything you need,” he said.
“Don’t apologize for what you don’t have. Look at who you serve. Serve Him like He’s the awesome living Lord of the universe,” Blackaby said.
Joseph R. Crider, dean of the School of Church Music and Worship and professor of church music and worship Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas, led the worship and spoke during a session.
Saying that “Christian worship is about the relationship,” Crider pointed out that God didn’t call Christians to gather around the music, which is something that continually changes through time and is different for various cultures.
Services need to be focused on the Word of God, not the music or a personality. There’s a danger of equating being moved by a song instead of being moved by the Spirit.
Crider also encouraged pastors to be the “lead worshipper” and not spend the worship time looking at notes or getting ready for the sermon.
“Worship is not vicarious,” he said. “No one can worship for you.”
Speakers
Other sessions included:
- Frank Lewis, revitalization pastor of Tusculum Hills Baptist Church in Nashville, Tennessee, shared three practical points about jars of clay — that God brings glory to Himself through the treasure inside, that our response is gratitude and that even Paul had critics and enemies and was subject to physical and emotional issues. Remembering that jars of clay are breakable, clergy self-care is a spiritual discipline that can’t be ignored.
- Bob Bickford, associate director of replanting for NAMB, relayed that Clifton said to expect “significant spiritual attack and deep, dark depression” when leading small, dying churches. He ignored this warning and was diagnosed with clinical depression. However, he learned that even in suffering, God is present and powerful. The good news is suffering is for a season and “in the middle of great struggle comes great comfort.”
- Mark Clifton, senior director of replanting for NAMB, spoke on the diagnosis of a dying church. He said that many leaders of dying churches will ask, “What is a good program to add?” or “How do I find a great personality to hire?” or “Should I add a youth ministry?” However, what is needed is for the remaining members to show they care about the youth, not simply to add youth activities. They shouldn’t resent the community for not coming to church; they need to love the community because of Christ.
- JimBo Stewart, replant specialist for NAMB, said that dying churches are not just a pastor problem, a strategy problem, a leadership problem, a culture problem or a generational problem. It’s primarily a spiritual problem. He also said that “we confuse caring for the organization with caring for the body.”
Breakout sessions included:
- Richard Blackaby — “Increasing Your Fruitfulness.”
- Rick Fisher — “Powerful Praying Church.”
- Joe Crider — “Why Do We Gather?”
- Frank Lewis — “Steps to Expositional Preaching.”
- JimBo Stewart — “Essential Characteristics of Effective Replanters and Revitalizers.”
- Bob Bickford — “Windows of Revitalization.”
- Joe Crider — “What’s at Stake on Sunday Mornings? Scripture-Guided Worship.”
- Frank Lewis — “Preaching through Philemon.”
To learn more about the status of replanted churches, click here. To learn more about NAMB and its replanting focus or to ask for an evangelism kit, go to www.namb.net/church-replanting/.
Books and Resources
- “Flickering Lamps: Christ and His Church” by Henry & Richard Blackaby; Blackaby Ministries International 2015
- “Reclaiming Glory: Revitalizing Dying Churches” by Mark Clifton; B&H Publishing 2023
- “Return to Me: God’s Plea and Promise to His Church” by Claude V King; Lifeway Press 2020
- “Pastoral Friendship: The Forgotten Piece to a Persevering Ministry” by Michael A G Hayden, Brian Croft, and James B Carroll; Christian Focus Publications 2022
- “Rhythms: Finding a Biblical Rhythm Moving from Surviving to Thriving in Ministry” by Pastor Andy Addis; AddiMedia 2023
- “Come to the Lord’s Table: A 28-Day Devotional Guide” by Claude King, Andrew Murray; Lifeway Press 2006
- “On Preaching: Personal and Pastoral Insights for the Preparation and Practice of Preaching” by H. B. Charles, Jr.; Moody Publishing 2014
- “What Your Pastor Wishes You Knew” by Dr. Chris Crain; BMBA 2022
- “God is Not Done: How Any Church Can Find Purpose Through Revitalization” by Josh Cook; BMBA 2022
- “Baptist Beliefs” by E. Y. Mullins, edited by Dr. Chris Crain; BMBA 2023
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