It is no secret that the local New Testament church today is in a pickle! Memberships are souring and the ability to reclaim former members has become a thing of the past. The hard reality in North America is that most churches and most, if not all, denominations are in a state of decline. The membership within these churches and denominations has plateaued and what used to pass for involvement and activity within churches is deteriorating. While all of this is happening, the rank and file of the church appears powerless to assemble the strength that is needed to get the churches growing again. There are more churches that die annually than are planted. Many more are declining than are growing. A small church can be defined as one in which the number of active adult members and the total annual undesignated budget are inadequate relative to the church’s current organizational needs and expenses. It is a church struggling to pay its minister, heat or cool its buildings, and find enough people to assume leadership responsibilities to take the church into the future. In this new work Tom Cheyney and Steve Sells both seasoned Church Revitalization leaders offer help for the church that I in threat of closing its doors. Tom leads The Renovate Group and is best known, besides his books on church revitalization and renewal, as the Founder and Directional Leader of the Renovate National Church Revitalization Conferences all across the nation. Steve is the founder of Operation Transformation that helps revitalize churches in the region around Charlotte.Life After Death: A Strategy to Bring New Life to a Dead Church, is a journey of hope for the local struggling church that is facing hard decisions in light of its future and what it will do to ensure a Gospel lighthouse remains in the community where it was placed for many more years until Jesus comes to take all of us to Glory. Take the journey with those in your area who are working to revitalize churches for the sake of Christ. Become willing to embrace the opportunity for your church to survive rather than close down in failure. Allow the Lord God to bring forth a miracle for your church as He transforms the work of ministry within your midst. As church memberships become entrenched in a senior citizen-based population and few options remain to keep the church going, often they are left with few choices as to what they can do.It is important to realize that if you wait too long to make necessary changes and the membership continues to decline to less than 50 adult active members, which is known as “Critical Mass,” then you should allow a revitalization to come along side of the church and utilize the church for future ministries while assuming your bills and upkeep. This allows future restarts to win and keeps a missional presence in the geographical location of the former church. Giving up the facilities to a group that will restart the church honors those who have sacrificed so greatly in the past for the cause of Christ. You can grow the Kingdom of God by your willingness to give up trying to hold on until that last one passes on into eternity. The restart-based church revitalization model is being used all across North America. Any group working in the area of church revitalization should have a restart strategy if it is going to be a wise steward. Dying churches can be restarted when the congregation is willing to take the hard steps and make the necessary commitments. The idea of a church that is dying taking the necessary steps to provide it the best chance for survival is not an easy idea to consider. For those who have been part of the setback, admitting that they have hurt the church is hard indeed. Those who will take over also have a challenge in that it will be under their watch as they seek to change those traits, now embedded within the local church, for the betterment and opportunity to turn around a church that is in rapid decline.

Life after Death: A Strategy to Bring New Life to a Dead Church (Church Revitalization Leadership Library)

Cheyney, Tom

Sells, Steve

Religion & Spirituality

Renovate Publishing Group

While some church revitalizers see church revitalization models as mere fable, others see the validity of having examples and samples to study in the effort to get a glimpse of what God might be saying about how to bring church renewal to their present work! Regardless of the debate regarding myths for models or strategies for the revitalization churches, there appears to be at least six areas and thirty eight strategies that a church seeking renewal could consider.

Thirty-Eight Church Revitalization Models For The Twenty First Century (Church Revitalization Leadership Library)

Fishing on the Other Side is about following Jesus and obeying His command to make disciples. Jesus told His first disciples that if they were to follow Him, He would teach them how to fish for people. They already knew how to catch fish, but now they would be catching people with a gospel net. The principles for reaching people and catching fish are similar: 1. You have to go where the people are. 2. You have to use different techniques and tools to reach different kinds of people. 3. To reach a lost person, it helps to think like a lost person. This book has a particular focus on utilizing the technological tools available to churches today to reach people whose lives are shaped by those same tools. In a time when the majority of churches are in a state of decline all over North America and the old tools and techniques of evangelism do not seem to be working as well, it is time that we adjust our techniques and start fishing on the other side of the boat.

Fishing On The Other Side: A Guide To Being The Church In The Digital Age

Weible, Mark

This book is a 31-day devotional for the Advent/Christmas season. It includes the following features: Bible passage, devotion with some biblical commentary, poem, application idea, song and prayer. With these various elements, readers are sure to find meaningful aspects of the Christmas season and the coming of Christ into the world.

The Joy of Jesus at Christmas: A 31-Day Devotional for December

Breidenbaugh, Joel R

Worship & Devotion

The time for revitalization and renewal is now. Sick and declining churches are all across America and within every denomination. With the turn of the twenty-first century sustained growth within our churches is an intermittent exception while decline seems to be more of the pronouncement. The rank and file of our churches appears powerless to assemble the strength that is needed to get the church growing again. The need for training today’s minister with the tools and skill sets necessary to combat this rampant plateau and decline is crucial. It is time for a new challenge toward revitalization and there is a great need of an army of Church Revitalizers to work toward revitalizing our churches in North America. Learn from these two practitioners skill sets and methodologies which will help you turn around your church.

The Nuts and Bolts of Church Revitalization (Church Revitalization Leadership Library)

Rials, Terry

Making the necessary changes for the good of the local church often feels like you are taking three steps forward and two steps back. The uncertainty you will face as the change agent can be overwhelming. The church revitalizer operating as the change agent for the local church will feel the uncertainty that comes from moving a polarized church off of stuck and creating a new way of doing things for the betterment of the church one serves.

The Church Revitalizer As Change Agent (Church Revitalization Leadership Library)

The need for Church Revitalization has never been greater in North America. An estimated 340,000 Protestant churches in America have an average weekly attendance of less than one hundred. Research data tells us that in the United States more than 80% of the churches have plateaued or are declining. Each and every week we are currently seeing somewhere between fifty and seventy-five local churches close their doors, not to be opened again. Pastors leading churches today admit that there are daily frustrations that distract them from doing the real work of ministry.

The Seven Pillars of Church Revitalization & Renewal (Church Revitalization Leadership Library)

Preaching for Bodybuilding integrates doctrine and expository preaching in light of a twenty-first century audience. Designed as an advanced textbook on expository preaching, this book will help readers grow in their own understanding of God's Word so that they can help strengthen the lives of their audiences.

Preaching for Bodybuilding: Integrating Doctrine and Expository Preaching for the 21st Century

Breidenbaugh, Dr. Joel R

If you are in a small church, under 200, wondering how to turn your church around and how your church can make a difference in your community and beyond, this book is for you. There is often a disconnect in conference settings from the large church teacher and the small church listener. An Uphill Journey recounts the journey of a small church, with a struggling past, that pursued revitalization and ended up greatly shaping their rapidly growing community in the process. Filled with personal stories, practical steps and strategic questions, An Uphill Journey is geared for any pastor or church leader seeking to bring new life to their church.

An Uphill Journey: One Small Church's Journey to Revitalization (Church Revitalization Leadership Library)

Nall, Dr. Brian

Hindered is specifically written to help Christians discover, face, and overcome the obstacles that keep them from accomplishing and achieving God's will for their life.

Hindered

Smith, Paul E.

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Books by Renovate Publishing Group