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Online
Produced by James W.
Moss, Sr., and Church Consultants
Provided as a service by New Life Ministries
Contrasting Church Renewal and Church Planting, Part 1 - Church Renewal
by James W. Moss, Sr.
There is now a lively debate between proponents of church renewal and the advocates of church planting. It can’t be either church renewal or church planting. It must be church renewal and church planting. Though both ministries are extremely valid, they are remarkably different in their requirements.
An individual church can be renewed. It is difficult for a renewal effort alone to generate major growth in a regional body. The reason is simple. An existing church can have a cataclysmic experience and lose an average worship attendance of 100 for a year. Then 10 churches will have to have very good years to make that up. And those cataclysmic events can’t be avoided. After years of working with renewal, I hope the pre-existing churches in a regional body can hold even. Then the new churches will provide growth.
A renewal effort seldom leads to a church planting movement. A church planting movement frequently leads to a renewal effort as the pre-existing churches begin to catch the spark of excitement in the new churches. This, the first of a two-part report, contrasts the major differences between church renewal and church planting.
Church Renewal
In church renewal the pastor can blame the people for the failure of the church to make progress. If this church isn’t making it, it is the people’s fault. It can’t be the pastor’s fault.
Patience, patience, and more patience is a primary requirement for church renewal. It is a very long-term journey. I have repeatedly encouraged pastors of renewal projects to plan to go for 10 years. Even if they don’t stay that long, they need to plan to do so or they won’t make the tough decisions that are required. It frequently takes five years before any significant growth occurs. It can take that long to stop the bleeding.
Churches reach the need for renewal by two methods. First, they arrive through benign neglect. There is an incompetent pastor or a series of incompetent pastors and very gradually, almost imperceptibly, the attendance begins to decline over a period of time. Finally the losses reach a level that the finances of the church are impacted and the lay leadership makes the conscious decision that something must happen. This is the easier project. Not easy, mind you, but easier. The second occurs after a split. A congregation is ravaged and a large number of the people have left. This is the more difficult recovery project.
Healing is the first step in renewal. Frequently, as much as a year has to be spent in healing and strengthening the body before one reaches out into the community to bring new people in. It may take up to a year of very successful work in a renewal project before participants will invite others to attend. When the people of the church begin again to invite others, then you know solid progress has been made. The people won’t invite their friends and neighbors until they are comfortable with what is happening.
Frequently, the first step in renewal is to have a genuine, old-fashioned house cleaning session. The people need to go over the church and clean everything up to prepare for company. Sometimes it means cleaning the rugs, waxing the floors, painting the walls, and washing the windows. Then there needs to be a serious session with the dumpster. That also makes the church more inviting and makes it easier for the people to invite others.
The initial results of a renewal project will frequently be very slow. I have known some excellent projects that took five years before the first growth began to occur. It took that long for the people to be convinced the pastor was for real and that the pastor was going to stay with them long-term.
The people in renewal projects frequently give quite liberally. As long as there is hope, giving will be substantial in comparison to the size of the attendance. If the people honestly believe there is no hope for the church, then giving will diminish immensely.
Changes will have to be introduced carefully. Please "avoid tearing up the pea patch." Changes must be made. But they must be made gently and with flexibility. If you take three steps forward and two steps back, then you are still one ahead of where you were.
I remember so clearly a renewal project necessitated by a split. Mrs. Ruby Spencer commented, "It is so good to come to church Sunday after Sunday with no significant surprises." Consistency is important in a renewal project.
An increase in average worship attendance from 3-10 annually will be considered significant growth in a renewal project. Most of the time renewal moves at a slower pace. A renewal church is looking to add a family here and there.
Renewal will seldom occur if the pastor has been at the church needing renewal for a long time. I simply don’t know of a single instance where renewal occurred after one pastor had three significant loss years in a row. Renewal will best occur at the beginning of a new pastorate.
If a regional body decides to focus all of its energy on renewal at the expense of church planting, renewal will sap all the resources and not result in the desired end. So we must look at church planting as well.
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For the next article in this two-part series, see Contrasting Church Renewal and Church Planting, Part 2 - Church Planting
Also see "Where to Find What: Church Growth and Vitality," and other People Spots articles on church renewal.
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Read about Jim's seminars and books.
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October 18, 2000. Volume 3, Issue 14. People Spots Online is prepared by James W. Moss, Sr., and Church Consultants. It is provided as a service by New Life Ministries, www.NewLifeMinistries-NLM.org. Articles may be duplicated and reproduced in any way. A new article is produced about every two weeks. To be added to a list to receive these messages directly by e-mail, send a request to churchconsultants@yahoo.com.