One of the driving points in the recent correspondence to Evangelicals Now was that we needed pastors willing to go into small churches and commit to preaching twice on a Sunday and once midweek. The suggestion was that there was a reluctance on the part of younger potential pastors and that this was primarily because… Continue reading Revitalisation revisited
Tag: church revitalisation
How do you support a church without a pastor?
This was a question raised by Tim Wilson, pastor of Wheelock Heath Baptist church on Twitter. For context, Tim is involved with the Rural Project which is about supporting churches, plants and revitalisations in rural contexts, so similar to the kind of work I’m involved with in urban contexts. Here are my thoughts. I’m assuming… Continue reading How do you support a church without a pastor?
Revitalisation questions – looking to the future, what are the options?
The other day, I shared some questions that I would ask churches when they are looking for help with revitalisation. So, what next once you’ve answered those questions together. Well, what I find helpful is to talk through the full range of options that may be open to the church. Hypothetically at least these include:… Continue reading Revitalisation questions – looking to the future, what are the options?
Questions to ask when considering church revitalisation
Over the years I’ve had the opportunity to get involved in a few church revitalisation initiatives. Now the word revitalisation is potentially broad in its definition and could it could be suggested that every church will need an element of revitalisation from time to time if it is to stay fresh and relevant. So, when… Continue reading Questions to ask when considering church revitalisation
PTSD and church revitalisation
A little while back I wrote about how churches can experience a form of PTSD or complex PTSD. You see, a church can experience trauma leading to experiences and responses that affect the life of the church. Trauma for a church might include: A split where members of the church fall out, argue publicly and… Continue reading PTSD and church revitalisation
Church buildings close because churches die
It has been reported that 400 Church of England parish churches have closed in the last decade and 1000 in the last 30 years. This has prompted concern, not just, or so much from practicing Christians but non-believers too. See for example this by Michael Deacon in the Daily Telegraph. The primary concern of those… Continue reading Church buildings close because churches die
Thoughts on re-planting as a form of church revitalisation
Replanting is a little different to church revitalisation. There is a sense in which any church of any size could need and probably at some point will need a form of revitalisation to breath fresh life in. That might involve changes to personnel, culture and to teaching to enable renewal and/or reformation depending where the… Continue reading Thoughts on re-planting as a form of church revitalisation