Note: In 2025 we launched “The Revitalization Playbook.” The “Playbook” is similar to the ones used by football coaches on the sidelines. The coach’s playbook contains all the plays that the coach is confident that his team can run. Conditions on the field determine which play he chooses next.
In my “Playbook,” knowing that every church is unique, we began with five “scripted” plays (appropriate for any church in need of revitalization,) followed by fifteen “optional” plays. I mentioned in the “Playbook” that some of the plays (chapters) were going to get longer in subsequent editions and that completely new plays were going to be added as I worked with pastors in their in-need-of-revitalization churches. It has since been my joy to work with Revitalization Cohorts, as well as individual pastors who are also “deep in the weeds” of revitalization projects.
Because of what I’ve seen and heard, here’s the second of which will likely be several additional plays for the “Playbook.” I am praying that you are blessed and helped.
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I have to give some credit where it’s due: I’m grateful to a joyful pastor’s wife from northern Minnesota for pointing out that this basic and effective strategy should have been in the playbook.
I actually first heard this back in the 1990’s when the church I was pastoring was going through some difficult days. We had just lost a number of people. It wasn’t a “split,” I insisted, because in a split the folks who leave organize a new church. But it was a “string” of departures. The first family who left inspired the second family to leave who influenced the third family to leave who gave the fourth family the idea that maybe they should leave and…I think you get the picture.
We were a hurting unit. One of the things which a wise denominational leader encouraged us to do was to celebrate and rejoice in every good thing we could. We did just that and it helped immeasurably. In fact, while we were still saying goodbye to some of the dearly loved people who were the tail end of the “string” that was leaving, there were other folks, brand new to our church, who had no idea that anything was wrong and saw our congregation as healthy and happy.
That’s the grace of God and we knew it and we were grateful for it.
So with that said, let’s get right into some simple, down-to-earth,
SUGGESTIONS FOR GETTING STARTED:
(1) Get back to preaching the gospel on Sunday mornings. I’m not suggesting that you’re not doing so now; you probably are. But, sometimes, sound evangelical, Bible-believing churches can just sort of “move on” to other subjects or “deeper truths” than the gospel of Christ. There’s nothing deeper, of course, than the gospel itself, but some of us get the idea that the gospel message is too elementary to be focused on year after year.
The recent movement to return to a major celebration of the gospel and to “preach the gospel to yourself every day,” has been a wonderful step back towards the glory of the cross of Christ. A fresh new sermon series, or even a congregation-wide emphasis involving classes or small groups, might be just the high-powered, high-protein return to gratitude and joy that your church needs. May I suggest?
* A journey through the Epistles of Paul to the Romans or the Ephesians
*A study of the Epistle to the Hebrews
*A journey through any of the gospels
*A study on the “Great Big Words Of The Gospel,” such as justification, expiation, imputation, adoption, regeneration and sanctification.
(2) As the songwriter put it, “Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus.” Rejoice in the gospel and rejoice in the One of whom the gospel speaks: the saving, redeeming Son of God. I was humbled recently hearing a brother introduce the Epistle of Paul to the Philippians. I have preached through that wonderful letter several times with several different themes. This preacher simply declared that “Philippians isn’t about joy or rejoicing; it’s all about Jesus Christ.” I instantly realized that he was right and that I’d been at least a bit “off” in my teaching of this book.
Come to think of it, back when I came to Christ through the witness of a group of people I called “Jesus Freaks,” we were all excited about Christ. Not heaven, not the millennium, not the second coming, not the church and definitely not politics. We were excited about Christ. At the time, an advertising campaign was saying that Coke was the Real Thing. We were countering that Jesus was the real thing, and we were right, and he still is.
(3) Do more joyful singing on Sunday mornings and talk about the meaning of the songs. At least for a time, stop worrying about pleasing the “seekers;” sing the songs that your own hurting people love to sing. Have someone share some of the stories behind the songs and/or their rich theology.
(4) Find some new ways to get out into the community and share your faith in Christ. Almost everyone finds evangelism to be just plain scary. Unless you’re one of the few pastors who is truly a brave, bold, consistent, insistent proclaimer of the gospel, somebody who typically leads the airline passenger stuck next to him to faith in Christ, get up front and tell people the truth:
- Sharing the message of the gospel to individuals is scary.
- But sharing the message of the gospel is one of the most encouraging, invigorating, joy-producing, hope-inspiring things that you can ever do.
- And sharing the message of the gospel makes you feel like a brand new, excited Christian.
Follow up your confession with some new opportunity for your people to share their faith. Methods that work effectively are so much a function of the time and place where you’re living and serving that I won’t presume to tell you which is right for you in your context. I only know that it will revive the hearts of your people if they overcome their fears and start talking to people about Christ.
Whatever method you choose, you (if you’re the solo or senior pastor) will need to lead your people in this effort. It will never do for you to tell them, “I’m too busy to do this but you need to do it.”
(5) Have your people who have returned to sharing their faith – even if they are few in number – get up front and tell some stories of their evangelism adventures. Some who would be resistant to doing this live might be willing to share a few words on a video which can be shown on a Sunday. The video quality doesn’t need to be great. If the words are spoken in sincerity and the video quality is sub-standard it will be received as refreshingly real.
(6) Pray more than usual on Sunday mornings. Many churches in our day – in an effort to please “seekers” who don’t understand prayer and aren’t usually present anyway – have largely forsaken the ancient tradition of serious, congregational prayer. I think this has been a mistake.
Look at the gatherings (when did we start calling them “services”?) of the early church in the book of Acts. They prayed. It’s hard to tell how many people led in prayer; it may have been one or it may have been several. My point is that their prayers were anything but perfunctory, repetitious, “seeker-friendly,” or focused on “outer man” needs such as healing, new jobs or relationship challenges. In contrast, the Apostles focused on inner man needs (as in Ephesians 3:16). They prayed for the “big stuff” like the Kingdom of Christ and our need for the boldness to proclaim the gospel.
I’m not suggesting that you ignore the heart-felt requests of hurting people in your congregation, but let’s put these “little problems” (in comparison to God’s big, Kingdom program) in their place. You’ll observe that the “daily bread” request in the Lord’s prayer is brief and follows world-class concerns like the hallowing of God’s name and the arrival of God’s Kingdom.
(7) Have people share their salvation stories – one per week for a while would be great. Again, using video – along with some coaching or editing – works great.
(8) Have people tell stories of God’s blessings in their lives. One per week or at least one per month for a while would be powerful. You will need to clarify that you – or someone else who dares to say “no” – will select the stories and story tellers.
(9) Get involved with children. Everything I said about getting people back to sharing their faith applies here. Getting down on the floor with little children, telling them about Christ, is the right thing to do and a refreshing thing to do.
(10) Show each other how much you love each other. A fresh new emphasis on loving each other as a church family can help to heal the wounded. Anything that promotes little (or big) acts of kindness will help restore the spirit of your church.
(11) As with another “play” in this book, rediscover your riches in Christ.
(12) Do something loving for the people who left. Start by praying for them. Your prayers can help your folks see their departed brethren as brethren, not enemies, and could lead to other loving, healing ministries in their behalf.
(13) Preach/teach about forgiveness, reconciliation and God’s work of the “restoration of souls” (as in Psalm 23:3). This might take a while and involve some trauma, but bitter or resentful people cannot double as rejoicing, celebrating people.
(14) Go do something out in the community that demonstrates the love of Christ. The possibilities are almost endless. It’s okay to start small. One of the severely damaged congregations I served as interim pastor began with giving away free, cold bottles of water during an Arizona, Independence Day parade. It was a “little thing,” but it was great for our hearts.
