Foundational Characteristics of a Revitalizer

           

 
 Essential Characteristics of a Church Revitalization Leader


Sam Rainer defines church revitalization as “the process of leading an established church to a place of better health, typically with an existing pastor and without changing the identity of the church.”[1] With the Complexity of the challenge, the need to navigate resistance, and the requirement to articulate a clear and bold vision, it is paramount that the leader of a church revitalization must have the character traits that best suit the task at hand.  Croft wrote, “Churches that need revitalization don’t simply need pastors. This unique work requires courageous pastors. Men who are so secure in their identity in Christ that they are able to embrace their humanity, frailty, weakness, brokenness, and failures and remember that they are just as loved and accepted by Jesus because of the gospel.”[2]
             The identity that Croft references is one that is forged in the relationship between the leader and Christ. These are not necessarily the traits a person is born with but a new identity that can be sought out and developed over time. 2 Corinthians 5:17 states, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.” (New King James Version)[3] This passage assures that leaders can develop the required traits and confirms that if they are willing to allow Him, Christ Himself will mold and shape them into the leaders they need to become. As they grow in Christ, the leader must seek to be biblically grounded, prayerful, visionary, and committed. With the added blessing of the Lord and the development of these traits, pastors and church leaders can lead their church to a place of greater spiritual health, the development and equipping of future leaders, engagement with their community, and embracing the call to share the gospel with all of those they encounter. (Matthew 29:19)

 Biblically Grounded
            A church revitalization leader’s first call to biblical principles is for themselves. Before a leader can show someone else the way, they must first know where they are going. Sen Sendjaya wrote, “Preach the gospel to yourself every day. Many leaders merely assume they understand the gospel, but they really do not. They find it hard to relate the gospel to their leadership roles (e.g., the way they use power, how they deal with criticism or handle conflicts, etc.) What many leaders need is a thorough recalibration of their hearts to the gospel of Christ.” [4]
             The church leaders must realize that they are shepherding the flock of another. The church that they are leading belongs to God. In his letter to the Church of Ephesus, Paul wrote, “And He put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be the head over all things to the church, which is His body, and the fullness of Him who fills all in all.” (Ephesians 1:22,23) If this is God’s church, the leader should follow God’s plan. By staying biblically grounded, the leader will follow the blueprint of church health that is written out and modeled throughout scripture and be steadfast in the face of a changing culture that is pressing its way into the church with the purpose of disrupting the intended design and reason for the church’s existence.
 Sendjaya wrote, “It has been widely observed that the church is in a state of liminality in the contemporary missional world. That is, the relevance of the church has been radically challenged by the societies that are now increasingly post-Christian, multicultural, and multifaith.”[5] This grounding in scripture removes the burden of declaring the doctrine, purpose, discipline, prioritization, and structure of the church from the leader and places it solely on the Bible. The biblically grounded leader will be able to point to scripture as the reason for everything that he does.
 Prayerful
            Being biblically grounded and prayerful are traits that are closely related but separate. The church revitalization leader must have both. While the biblically grounded leader looks to the Bible for direction, the prayerful leader looks to the heavens. Upon learning of the destruction of Jerusalem, Nehemiah’s first action was to pray. In Nehemiah Chapter 1, Nehemiah asked God to let His ears be attentive to his requests, to let His eyes be open to the current conditions in Jerusalem and to Nehemiah’s actions. He asked forgiveness for his house and his father's. He reminded God that these were His people and asked Him for his favor and mercy in the sight of the king, who would allow Nehemiah to return and rebuild the city. It is essential to note the closing line of this passage, “For I was the king’s cupbearer.” (Nehemiah 1:11) Nehemiah prayed this prayer before he set into action, while he was in a different position and did not yet have the approval to proceed with the project.
            Mark Clifton wrote, “It is imperative that the replanter be a man of prayer. Many times he will be driven to his knees crying out to God for His intervention in what seems to be a hopeless situation. Prayer is our primary weapon in defeating the enemy and breaking his stronghold.”[6] The apostle Paul reminded the church at Ephesus to always be in prayer during spiritual warfare (Eph. 6:18). The decline or death of a church is a spiritual victory for the devil. Leaders must realize that there is a purpose and design to the attacks that churches receive, and through a fervent prayer life, the leader will have a lifeline open to God for direction in defeating the enemy. Paul modeled the importance of prayers for the church through the openings of the letters that he sent. (Rom. 1:9,10; 1 Cor. 1:4-9; Eph. 1:16; Phil. 1:1-5; Col. 1:3; 1 Thess. 1:2; 2 Thess. 1:11; 1 Tim. 2:1-2; 2 Tim. 1:3; Phm. 1:4) He encouraged Timothy to pray for all men, for kings and for everyone that was over authority over them and then connected those prayers to the ability to live a peaceful life. (1 Tim. 2:1,2)
             Andrew Davis wrote, “Prayer conforms us to God’s heart and plans and makes us long for them to be consummated.”[7] We may not always know the exact path for the journey that God wants us to travel. The mandate of the Great Commission does not give instructions for how it is to be completed. For instance, when God told Abraham to leave his home, He did not tell him which direction to go, how far to go, or how he would know where to stop. Abraham was told, “Get out of your country, from your family and from your father’s house to a land that I will show you.” (Gen. 12:1). This direction by God shows the direct need for a constant connection for leaders to follow His instructions. Through the connection to God through prayer, leaders will have a greater understanding of the task at hand and retain the desire to accomplish it.
 Visionary
            A revitalization leader not only needs to know the goal that he wants to attain, but he must be able to clearly articulate the goal to the people he is leading towards it. This is necessary for recruiting support, finances and other necessary resources. Nehemiah’s first audience for the vision of the restoration of Jerusalem was King Artaxerxes. When asked, Nehemiah was able to articulate a clear goal and give a list of the resources that were needed to accomplish the mission. (Neh. 2: 4-8) Leaders must be able to give a clear and concise description of the vision that God has given them for leading the church.
            In A Spirit-Empowered Church: An Acts 2 Ministry Model, Alton Garrison wrote, “A vision takes the mission and biblical systems of the church and articulates them towards a preferred future, communicating where the church is going.”[8] Leaders cannot live in the past. There must be a continued drive into the future and what God has in store for the church. Reeder and Swavely Wrote,
 The kind of leadership that we need in the church can be briefly defined by three maxims. First, good leaders learn from the past, but they don’t live in it, as we discussed in Chapter 3. Second, good leaders live in the present, but they don’t accommodate to it. In this way, they are “thermostats” rather than “thermometers.” Thermometers merely reflect the environment around them, whereas thermostats change the environment. And third, good leaders look to the future, but they don’t wait for it.[9]
 A good leader will be able to connect the past to the future. By connecting to the past, the leader ties into the beginning goals of the first established church. A common problem church revitalization leaders face is resistance to change. By connecting the future goals to the past, the leader may, as Reeder and Swavely alluded, rekindle the fire that was once within them. Resistance typically comes from a place of fear, and a good visionary can transform that fear into excitement that will propel the church into the future.
 Committed
            In Tempered Resilience: How Leaders are Formed in the Crucible of Change, Tod Bolsinger wrote, “Resilience for faith leaders is the ability to wisely persevere toward the mission God has put before them amid both the external challenges and the internal resistance of the leader’s followers.[10] Commitment is the glue that holds the other essential traits together. A leader must be committed to the Bible, prayer, and the vision God gives him, but he also must be committed to the people that God has called him to lead. Church leadership and, specifically, church revitalization can be a very stressful task. Many pastors start this journey only to fall into depression or burnout. In his second letter to Timothy, Paul reminds Timothy of his calling and encourages him to “Stir up the gift of God which is in you through the laying on of my hands. For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.” (2 Tim. 1: 6,7)  By remembering the call and remembering the gifts that God has given him, the leader can stay encouraged and committed to the task.
             Revitalization leaders need to be committed to a length of time. Church revitalization is not a quick process. In The Church Revitalization Checklist: A Hopeful and Practical Guide for Leading Your Congregation to a Brighter Tomorrow (Church Answers Resource) Sam Rainer wrote, “It’s not about how tough or brave you are. It’s about endurance. You take your licks and keep going.”[11] Rainer uses the example of a pastor who did not see noticeable results until five years after starting. This pastor stated, “I was so discouraged; I wasn’t sure I would make it.”[12] If this pastor was not committed to seeing the process through, he could have easily given up before he saw the results of his hard work.
             Leaders must be committed to living a Christlike life that embodies the requirements of a leader, as stated in 1 Timothy 3 and Titus chapter 1. This list sums up the leader as “blameless” before the people and to the purpose of being able to “exhort and convict those who contradict.” (Titus 1:9). Leaders face extreme scrutiny. When faced with the necessity of leading people through their life struggles, the leader of a church revitalization must be able to live a life that resists temptations. With the extra stresses of revitalization, the leader will be more vulnerable to falling into the trap of sin. There will be people who resist and look for ways to have the leader removed. Beyond the typical requirements of a leader, the leader of a revitalization must be above reproach.
             Leaders must be committed to receiving help. In the description of the requirements of the elders in Titus, Collins wrote, “Titus cannot assure the well-being of the church all by himself. He is charged by Paul with the task of appointing elders to oversee the church in the several cities in which the church has been established.”[13] Paul is expressing the need to share the ministerial load with qualified leaders. Sharing the responsibility of leading is also seen in the leadership of Moses (Exod. 18:21). Moses’ father-in-law sees the load that Moses is carrying and instructs him to bring on qualified leaders to help. As leaders, we must commit to this. By sharing the roles, we are adding to what we can accomplish and also creating new disciples that can further complete the mission of God.
             Leaders must be committed to their health and their family's health. Many leaders focus on the commitment to the church and forget that this is not a sprint but a marathon. In referring to the stresses and responsibilities that a pastor carries, Tim Morrey wrote this about a report that Chris Adams wrote, “Adams reports that all this contributes to the danger of chronically elevated stress among pastors, which creates substantial wear and tear on a pastor’s mind and body over time. Pastors have higher rates of anxiety and depression than the general population…Research would indicate that at any given time, one-third of pastors are experiencing burnout and/or depression. Only one-fourth of pastors, Adams’ research finds, finish well with vitality.”[14]
 Conclusion
            As leaders, it is important to study the task at hand and prepare for it accordingly. Just as a soldier who prepares for war must be proficient in the style of warfare that they will be fighting, the pastor of a church that is embarking on the journey of revitalization must adequately prepare as well. They must commit to a biblical foundation, a life of prayer, seeking God’s vision, and living a life of holiness and self-preservation. Through the pursuit of these traits, the leader will find the courage, passion, and ability to lead the people whom God has called to shepherd.
           
  Sources
                                                                                                                     
  [1] Sam S. Rainer, Church Revitalization Checklist: A Hopeful and Practical Guide for Leading Your Congregation to a Brighter Tomorrow (Carol Stream, Illinois: Tyndale Momentum, 2022). 49.
   [2] Brian Croft, Biblical Church Revitalization: Solutions for Dying & Divided Churches (Fearn, Ross-shire, Great Britain: Christian Focus Publications Ltd., 2016). 125.
   [3] All scripture references from this point forward will be from the New King James Version.
   [4] Sen Sendjaya, “Building A Gospel Culture in the Contemporary Church: Ten Imperatives for Church Leaders,” Veritas: Jurnal Teologi Dan Pelayanan 21, no. 1 (May 13, 2022): 1–14, https://doi.org/10.36421/veritas.v21i1.551. 6,7.
   [5] Sen Sendjaya, “Building A Gospel Culture in the Contemporary Church”, 2.
   [6] Mark Clifton, Reclaiming Glory: Revitalizing Dying Churches (Nashville, Tennessee: B&H Publishing Group, 2016). 117.
   [7] Andrew M. Davis, Revitalize: Biblical Keys to Helping Your Church Come Alive Again (Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 2017). 99.
   [8] Alton Garrison, A Spirit-Empowered Church: An Acts 2 Ministry Model (Springfield, Missouri: Influrence Resources, 2015). 123.
   [9] Harry L. Reeder and David Swavely, From Embers to a Flame: How God Can Revitalize Your Church, Revised and expanded (Phillipsburg, New Jersey: P&R Publishing, 2008).
   [10] Tod E. Bolsinger, Tempered Resilience: How Leaders Are Formed in the Crucible of Change (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2020). 35.
   [11] Sam Rainer, The Church Revitalization Checklist: A Hopeful and Practical Guide for Leading Your Congregation to a Brighter Tomorrow (Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale House Publishers, 2021), 3.
   [12] Sam Rainer, The Church Revitalization Checklist, 2.
   [13] Raymond F. Collins, I and II Timothy and Titus (2002): A Commentary (La Vergne, UNITED STATES: Westminster John Knox Press, 2013), http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/liberty/detail.action?docID=3416800. 319.
   [14] Tim Morey, Planting a Church without Losing Your Soul: Nine Questions for the Spiritually Formed Pastor (Downers Grove, Illinois: InterVarsity Press, 2020). 11.

Bibliography
    
Bolsinger, Tod E. Tempered Resilience: How Leaders Are Formed in the Crucible of Change. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2020.
Clifton, Mark. Reclaiming Glory: Revitalizing Dying Churches. Nashville, Tennessee: B&H Publishing Group, 2016.
Collins, Raymond F. I and II Timothy and Titus (2002): A Commentary. La Vergne, UNITED STATES: Westminster John Knox Press, 2013. http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/liberty/detail.action?docID=3416800.
Croft, Brian. Biblical Church Revitalization: Solutions for Dying & Divided Churches. Fearn, Ross-shire, Great Britain: Christian Focus Publications Ltd., 2016.
Davis, Andrew M. Revitalize: Biblical Keys to Helping Your Church Come Alive Again. Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 2017.
Garrison, Alton. A Spirit-Empowered Church: An Acts 2 Ministry Model. Springfield, Missouri: Influrence Resources, 2015.
Morey, Tim. Planting a Church without Losing Your Soul: Nine Questions for the Spiritually Formed Pastor. Downers Grove, Illinois: InterVarsity Press, 2020.
Rainer, Sam S. Church Reviltalization Checklist: A Hopeful and Practical Guide for Leading Your Congregation to a Brighter Tomorrow. Carol Stream, Illinois: Tyndale Momentum, 2022.
Reeder, Harry L., and David Swavely. From Embers to a Flame: How God Can Revitalize Your Church. Revised and Expanded. Phillipsburg, New Jersey: P&R Publishing, 2008.
Sendjaya, Sen. “Building A Gospel Culture in the Contemporary Church: Ten Imperatives for Church Leaders.” Veritas: Jurnal Teologi Dan Pelayanan 21, no. 1 (May 13, 2022): 1–14. https://doi.org/10.36421/veritas.v21i1.551.