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5 Phases of Church Renewal

This entry is part 2 of 4 in the series church transformation

Turnaround and BeyondAs I continued to read through Ron Crandall’s book, he gives a list of principles for church renewal and revitalization from the ages of church history.  It may seem like a no-brainer, but at least observations through church history back it up.

1.  Personal renewal.

Renewal of a church begins with renewal of the individual.  Sometimes that might be a dramatic and decisive experience such as a conversion moment at a church service, or answering an altar call or responding to the invitation to receive Christ.  I had that moment of conversion myself when I was still in my teens.

For others, such as those who grew up in a church it might be a deepening of faith, where you know it’s yours and not that of your parents.

But all of us go through spiritual dry seasons, and there are those events that bring a fresh wave of personal renewal.  Some have found them at events like the PRMI Ignite weekend, Cursillo, Walk to Emmaus, Presbyterian Pilgrimage, ABIDE, Tres Dias, Lay Witness Mission and so on.

2.  Corporate Renewal.

A new awakening in the life of a church — there is a new cooperation among believers wanting to fulfill the vision of God for the local congregation, a new sense of praying into God’s vision.  Sometimes it might be a more dramatic revival.

3.  Conceptual Renewal.

This is a stage where the people of a congregation receive the fresh vision of what God wants to do with the congregation.  Old models are challenged, risk taking becomes more normal, and often churches will begin to rethink what they are about.

4.  Structural Renewal

With a fresh vision old programs fade.  Old structures are laid aside.  The church begins to reorganize itself to respond to the new direction that God is leading.  Any form that is helping the church to find its new life and be faithful to its history should be kept.  Any that deny the new fresh fire from the Spirit should be modified or retired.

5.  Missiological Renewal

A church needing renewal is overly inward focused.  As churches turnaround, experience renewal and revitalization, the church begins a new focus on mission and service to the world.  Sometimes renewal begins here. . ..


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Theories of Church Transformation

This entry is part 1 of 4 in the series church transformation

Turnaround and BeyondThis week and next, you’ll be reading about small church transformation, particularly the role of evangelism, based on a study of small churches first done in 1995 and then updated in December of 2008.  These first few posts setup some of the background and are meant to be in small blog-size portions for easy consumption.

Church Transformation and Renewal

In Turnaround and Beyond: A Hopeful Future for the Small Membership Church, Ron Crandall takes a brief look at renewal in church history and also highlights some observations from current research on leadership. In broad strokes he offers the contributions of these disciplines to small church renewal and revitalization.

Church Transformation and Renewal from Business Leadership

Church transformation is more than merely renewing or producing a good organization through competent leadership.  Crandall puts forth a couple of lists that indicate the role of leadership in church renewal

  • Bias for action
  • Being close to the customer (genuine interest)
  • Encouraging autonomy and entrepreneurship (delegating authority)
  • Engaging productivity through people (treat people with high expectations and affirm excellence)
  • Being hands on and value driven
  • Stick to the main goal
  • Simple and lean management structure
  • Balancing the tension between creative chaos and disciplined adherence to values

Furthermore, Crandall lists some dynamics of renewal cleaned from business leadership studies.

  • Flexible and intuitive planning
  • Empowered leadership
  • Friendly facts, congenial controls
  • Listen to best ideas available
  • Teamwork and trust
  • Stability in motion (Confidence)
  • Positive Attitudes and Attention
  • Causes and Commitments (Vision)

Transformation and Renewal from Church History

Crandall’s observations are based in Howard Snyder’s Signs of the Spirit: How God Reshapes the Church. The key point he walks away with is

The first and perhaps most critical beginning point for renewal is to understand that the church has an inborn tendency to grow. Growth is in its genes.  Whatever its pathologies every church has a vital urge toward its own health and renewal.  The reason for this is simple and simply profound:  The church is the body of Christ.  The very Spirit of Jesus is at work in his church, always prodding and drawing it toward life and renewal.”

10 strategies for small church transformation

From Synder’s work, Crandall draws out

  1. Begin with life.
  2. Don’t attack entrenched institutional patterns.
  3. Seek to pastor all the people.
  4. Build a balance of worship, community and witness.
  5. Provide small groups and home meetings.
  6. Affirm the ministry of all believers.
  7. Move toward the biblical model of leadership.
  8. Help the congregation discovery its own identity.
  9. Work to ensure that financial stewardship authentically reflects the church’s mission
  10. Help the church catch a kingdom vision.

Crandall has studied others who have contributed to the field of small church renewal and has seen that

“the emphasis is on the importance of open and visionary leadership,
the creative use of all persons’ gifts and
the humble heart of a servant leader.”

What does the transformational study of turn around churches reveal?  That’ll be tomorrow’s post.  To get it automatically, sign up for the RSS feed.

Order your copy of Turnaround and Beyond: A Hopeful Future for the Small Membership Church Direct from Amazon.

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How One Church Re-engaged the Neighborhood

What can we do to survive?

Thus began a conversation ten years ago with a dying church in a transitional neighborhood that wanted to re-engage the community.

The church invited me to do some Evangelism Consulting with them about launching a new worship service.

Missional Community

The average age of church members was 60, and they wanted more young people.

They were in survival mode and needed something new to get new people.

Is a new worship service the way to Re-Engage?

The pastor wanted a new worship service.

The congregational elders didn’t.

The leadership was divided.

I needed to help them see beyond that debate and led them into a brainstorming process.

How they re-engaged

Out of that brainstorming process they decided to do a block party.

A block party was one of many ideas they tossed out in the brainstorming session.

The leadership team was energized to carry it out.

Church members got excited about the block party and began praying.

Members hung door hangers around the neighborhood.

Members invited the local community to come.

Pastor helped with the momentum building.  (See How Pastors Lead Congregational Evangelism #4).

They had food, games, inflatables, and so on.

It was a big event that spurred some new invitations and energy.

How the Block Party Re-engaged the Church

As a result of that block party 10 years ago (and its continued annual repeats) this church has discerned the neighborhood needs.

They have re-engaged the community.

They have launched several new ministries to reconnect with the neighbors:

  • Preschool (now with an annual budget larger than the church’s).
  • Meals on Wheels.
  • Neighborhood Watch
  • And other ministries.

This church has become much more missional in it’s mindset and has lots of new vitality and energy to serve.

As a result, they’ve focused less on the attractional elements and more on the missional elements to help them re-connect with the neighborhood.

See Moving from Attactional to Missional.

Here is the next step:

Now they are being more intentional about actively sharing their faith along with serving the area.

This is where more intentional evangelism training will come into play.

The church needs to engage with actions, but also be able to explain how they are different than the rotary club.

See Is Neighborhood Outreach Evangelism?

Let me ask you this?

What outreach did your church do that helped you re-engage the neighborhood?

What were some fruits that developed out of that connection?

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