Diagnosing the need for church revitalization is often the hardest step. And in my experience as a strategist, most seem to wait till it’s an emergency, stage four kind of diagnosis to make the call & begin to plan. I’ve mentioned a few great tools to use in diagnosis before (Here & Here). Like all health issues, the sooner you make the call & begin to address the problems, the better off you’ll be.

Here’s another great list for diagnosis to go over with a leadership team:

4 Types of Churches in Relation to Life:  

1. Declining – Struggling to make budget, recruit leaders, & influence the community. Leaders are tired, frustrated, struggling to believe & dream.

2. Existing – Stable, Making Budget, celebrating each others milestones, harvesting low hanging fruit. Little passion for the lost & little knowledge of the church in the community.

3. Adding – Slight growth each year, a few passionate & fruitful leaders on a pedestal in the church & community. Growth rate probably below population growth rates. Inviting friends to church is easy. Some new people being reached, but transfer growth still a much greater %. Momentum is up and down with the calendar.

4. Multiplying – Growth at multiple levels – inside church & in the harvest fields, influence growing in the community, new leaders each year. A belief that something great is happening permeates the leadership. New people being reached in the community. New ministries springing up. Momentum makes work seem like play.

Questions: 

• Which describes us?
• Which will describe us in 5 years?
• Where do we want to be?
• How can we get there?

DoWeNeedChurchRevi – PDF Download

_________________________________

If 80% of churches are declining, 98% probably are included in declining, existing, & adding. Few are multiplying. 

In our Association, only 3.3% of the population attend a Southern Baptist Church, around 7% an evangelical church of any kind. We found that if we wanted to double that to 6.6% over the next 10 years, we would need to add over 16,000 worshippers to our current 11,000. Truly Multiplying churches are needed! But so few of us have ever seen it. We’re very content to add.

One of my fav books on this is Bob Roberts The Multiplying Church (My Summary Here).

“The highest demonstration of maturity for a local church is when it multiplies. Only something alive can reproduce, and it will do so only if it is healthy.” ~ Bob Roberts