Monday’s Catch: ‘The Future of Church Revitalization’ And More
The Future of Church Revitalization: What the New Wave of Pastors Will Look Like
hurch revitalization is not new. In one sense, it is as old as the church itself. The New Testament is filled with corporate calls to repentance, renewal, and reform. If ever a church needed revitalization, it was Corinth, a chaotic congregation filled with controversy.
What is newer is the formal study of revitalization as a ministry discipline. For years, these churches were more often described as “comeback churches” or “turnaround churches,” and the work was often misunderstood. Many assumed revitalization was either a proving ground for young pastors or a temporary stop on the way to a more desirable ministry assignment. But that understanding is changing. We now know far more about what it takes to lead a struggling church toward health. We know more about the actions required, the strategies that matter, the metrics worth watching, and the spiritual warfare that often comes with the work.
And increasingly, we are learning that revitalization is not just about methods. It is also about the kind of leader who is willing to walk into hard places and stay long enough to make a difference. At Church Answers, we have hundreds of interactions with revitalization efforts every year, and a leadership profile is beginning to emerge. The new wave of church revitalization leaders is not defined by any one age bracket, personality type, or ministry style. But they do share several common characteristics.
Do Younger Churchgoers Want More Liturgy?
What’s going on here? Why is this report showing a significant minority of millennials and Gen Z believers wishing there was more liturgy in their church’s worship services?
To me, it makes sense. Just think about the world younger adults have grown up in. Their whole lives they’ve been told they must invent themselves, define their own truth, and curate their own identity. The drive for self-expression and identity-performance is exhausting. Adopting ancient elements in worship says: “You don’t have to reinvent the wheel. You don’t have to come up with all the words on your own. The church was praying before you got here, and she’ll keep praying after you’re gone.” For people worn out by the pressure to be original, to pray the words of our forefathers and mothers in the faith is to settle our knees into the grooves of a prayer bench weathered and marked by the tears of those who have gone before.
Plant Churches to the Ends of the Earth
Christ’s scattered flock demands missionary church planting. Consider three truths.
Why Have (Most) Churches Stopped Using Spiritual Gift Inventories?
Thom reviews the history of a tool that received widespread use for three decades. He looks at the reasons why it has almost faded away.
Tennessee Bishops to Governor: Accountability Doesn’t Require More Death
All three Episcopal bishops in Tennessee appealed to Gov. Bill Lee on October 1, urgently asking him to commute the death sentence of Christa Gail Pike after a botched execution attempt left her alive and in critical condition.
Also See: Tennessee bishops call on governor to commute sentence after inmate’s botched execution
Seeing the Truth in Tennessee
What a botched execution does is take away the disguise. We have spent a long time making state killing look like medicine: a gurney, an IV line, a sedative with a clinical name, a curtain for privacy. The whole setup tells us that nothing violent is happening here, only a procedure. When the procedure fails, we see it plainly for the first time. It is a group of people in a room trying to make a woman stop breathing, and failing. My mother did in a Jeep Cherokee what Tennessee did by accident on Wednesday night. She described the thing truthfully, and once you’ve seen it described, it is hard to un-see.
Also See: ‘Bring back the electric chair,’ Tennessee GOP candidate urges after botched execution
United Methodist Church Split: The Aftermath
A look at the period following theUnited Methodist Church split and the effects that it has caused.
A Church Split Doesn’t Just Divide a Congregation, It Can Cost People Their Faith Forever
800 years on: Why St Francis of Assisi still captivates the world
4 October is St Francis’s Day, when Christians around the world remember the life and witness of Francis of Assisi. This year’s observance has particular significance, marking the 800th anniversary of his death. This is the story…
Also See: St. Francis Among the Anglicans
The Pastoral Burden of Never Having “Off Hours”
Josh and Sam discuss how to avoid the “always available” trap of shepherding a congregation. Unfortunately, many pastors, if not most, are never truly “off.”
Before You Ask AI, Remember What It Means to Be Human
Artificial intelligence is advancing quickly, and like every powerful technology, it will almost certainly bring consequences we can anticipate as well as those we cannot. At the same time, I don’t believe fear should be the defining posture of the people of God.
Perhaps there is a better question for us to ask. Instead of simply asking, “Should Christians use AI?” maybe we should ask, “What kind of people is our use of AI forming us into?” That is ultimately a discipleship question.
3 Shifts To Help Students Thrive in Their Faith
There’s no better way for students to thrive in their faith than to get their eyes off themselves and onto Christ and His mission.
Practicing Whose Way?
Since publication in 2024, Practicing the Way has made some serious waves, selling over half a million copies within the first year of release. John Mark Comer presents his model of ‘apprenticeship to Jesus’ as the solution to the “problem of the so-called human condition” (p. xv). The book is for those investigating the Christian faith, those wanting to take their faith more seriously, and those who feel stuck in their Christian growth.
Comer’s books, podcasts, and sermons have had an impact on Christians I know here in Australia. In some ways, the book’s success is hardly surprising. Comer, a former pastor in the secular city of Portland, demonstrates a clear grasp of our cultural moment, as well as the ability to persuasively engage with a younger Christian audience. However, I ultimately found myself disappointed with the less-than-helpful answers that the book provides.
Fostering Connections in the Community and Church Through Sports
Josh Jordan, Family Life Pastor, from First Baptist Church Covington, LA joins Jess and Thom on the show to discuss how his church has used Upward Sports to engage families in their community.
How to Talk to Strangers
This is not a perfect list, but here are a few tips I’ve picked up. I hope they prove helpful.