Getting revitalization right 
Your client’s church is in a slump. Whether it’s just a feeling or a steadying decline in attendance the word that is in the back of your head is revitalization. It’s clearly time to do something new. Here are 4 revitalization strategies to help your client make the right changes.

Written By Gary Reinecke

ICF Master Certified Coach, Resource Designer, Mission Strategist : InFocus
When you hear the phrase “church revitalization,” different ideas may come to mind. You might imagine new events to bolster church attendance or new programs to reinvigorate the spiritual lives of the congregation. Often, this is what is done when a church is stagnant or in decline. Events and programs are wonderful, and certainly can help reignite passion within a congregation, But they are often band-aid solutions and rarely will save a church that is truly in decline. You need a revitalization strategy that provides long term change. 

Approximately 80% of congregations in the US are in need of revitalization. These churches will require more energy, are more complex, and demand more time in contrast to events or programs; but in the long run, this will serve the local congregation and its members as they pursue the mission to love God, love neighbor, and make disciples.

The Church Life Cycle

church life cycle

Before we look at what these strategies entail, however, it’s important to know where your church is in its life cycle. The life cycle of a church can be identified in 5 stages as follows:

  • Birth: years 1-5
  • Maturity: years 6-15
  • Plateau or Refocus to new birth and growth: years 15-50
  • Decline and Drop Out: years 60-80
  • Death or Restart: years 80+

A church life-cycle assessment you might find helpful is found in the book “Legacy Churches” in Appendix III – CLICK HERE.

Wherever a church finds itself in the life cycle stage, one constant remains: the longer a church exists, preparing for the next stage is increasingly important. If, for instance, your church is in its “maturing years” you will want to anticipate the inertia of plateaus and stimulate new ministries to reach more people, or potentially consider launching a ministry, a second worship service, a new campus, or church plant. This is easier said than done! The reality is, the vast majority of congregations have not navigated this transition well, as indicated by the statistic above.

4 Mission Critical Church Revitalization Strategies

1. Reverse the Non-Growth trend

The longer the downward trend, the more complicated the solution, and the more courage, grit and perseverance are required. If a church has been in decline for a year, it will be easier to reverse the non-growth trend versus reversing the damage of a church that has been in decline for ten years. Taking action as early as possible is always preferred. 

2. Interim

This option may be especially necessary if a separation is needed between the founder and the next lead pastor(s), or if the current pastor has been in the role for a decade or more. An interim pastor can greatly assist with church transition, helping the congregation  process the grief that comes with change before looking ahead to find a new lead pastor.  Trained interims fulfill a strategic role in the life of a church by setting a vision for the future, establishing a culture of openness and restructuring the organization for greater fruitfulness.. 

3. Legacy

The most difficult part of revitalization is when a church has the honesty and humility to see that their church is in decline and recognizes that it’s time to let go. This is often true with older churches. However, this is an opportunity to gift the remaining assets to a new campus or a new church plant, paying it forward for the next generation.

4. Replant to Multiply

This is an aggressive mission but offers great hope. A replant is a total overhaul of a church and requires shutting the doors to focus on revitalization before reopening. Changes will require a new pastor with a vision to replant to multiply new churches.  

Gather the Leadership Team

Before launching into a decision of this magnitude, the leadership team would benefit from seeking Christ-inspired wisdom to discern what the Holy Spirit wants them to do.

Three simple steps to understanding which revitalization strategy is right for you 

  1. Invite the key leaders into a time of focused prayer.
  2. Process some of the questions listed below. 
  3. Discern the best option and create an action plan. 

Questions for coaching decision-makers:

  • How long has the church been stagnant or in decline?
  • What do you discern are the contributing factors causing the decline?
  • What do you sense God is preparing to do in this church in the near future?
  • Who else needs to be part of the leadership team to discern the future?
  • What are the risks if nothing is done?

If you are coaching a church that is considering one of the four strategies above you might find the Transition Church Coaching Guide with Storyboard a useful tool – CLICK HERE.

Christian Coaching Essentials Cohort

  • Are you new to coaching?  
  • Do you need to refresh your coaching process?
  • Who do you know that needs to be trained?

REGISTRATION OPEN FOR FALL 2023 COHORT: LEARN MORE HERE

Christian Coaching Excellence Cohort

  • Are you ready to grow your coaching?  
  • Do you need to refine your coaching skills?
  • Who do you know that needs to be trained?

REGISTRATION OPEN FOR FALL 2023 COHORT: LEARN MORE HERE

Photo by Providence Doucet on Unsplash

Cover Photo by Grant Ritchie on Unsplash 

Discover the 5 Best Ways to Grow as a Coach

You are busy with many other responsibilities. How can you take your coaching to the next level instead of just continuing to dabble in coaching? We can help you discover a clear path to move forward in your journey toward coaching excellence.

Accelerate Your Journey to Become the Best Coach You Can Be

By Robert E. Logan and Gary B. Reinecke

You aren’t willing to settle for just okay—not when your calling is as important as empowering others through coaching. But how can you accurately gauge your own effectiveness? Why not try an informed approach to coach development? Instead of working harder, work smarter.

Coaching through chaos  

Change is happening at lightning speed. It’s hard for leaders to keep up and stay on mission. Coaching is more important than ever.

Too many ways to grow as a coach? Try this instead.

You have all these areas you want to grow in as a coach. But you know if you try to do everything at once, you won’t be able to do any one thing well. It can feel overwhelming. How can you go about making genuine, lasting change in your coaching skills? Here’s a way to slow down enough to make sense of the chaos and start putting the pieces together. 

Coaching Leaders to Build Team Unity

The most vocal of the political divisions within many churches may have died down at this point, but it’s still pretty black and white out there with little room for constructive conversation. One of the best ways for leaders to fight division is by modeling unity.

5 Steps to Increase Ability to Focus

There’s a lot going on in the world. Everything is designed to get your attention and there is very little that you can do anything about. It’s stressful and frustrating and makes it hard to focus. But focus you must and so must your coaching clients.

Help Ministry Leaders Make the Most of their Online Presence

Everything thing is done online these days and it’s not always good. But that is where people go first so its important your ministry leaders get it right. Here are 5 ways to make the most of online ministry.

The Essential Skill of Mental Flexibility

The world just keeps getting more complex. It’s hard to keep up. Mental flexibility is more important than ever. The good news is that mental flexibility is a skill that can be taught and honed. Here’s how…

Coaching leaders in times of rapid change and transition

The last few weeks have demonstrated a key principle of change: Change happens FAST, transition is slow. It takes time to understand what has changed, to develop new rhythms, and to build the new normal. These are not easy transitions. With a few waves of a pen, the world has undoubtedly been thrust into a season of transition. And the changes are far from over.

7 Questions to Boost Creativity

Has your client been doing the same events for years even though they are getting diminishing results? They are in a ministry rut. Here are 7 questions you can ask to boost creativity for more effective ministry. 

When Your Coaching Client is Wounded

Sometimes new—or old—wounds hold clients back. Here is what you can do to help and what to do when you can’t.

Coaching Through Decision Fatigue

The world is changing at breakneck speed. For many ministry leaders, new innovations are seen as roadblocks to their mission and vision. Constantly navigating around them is exhausting. Here is how you help those leaders keep moving forward.

Drilling down for insight

Giving feedback is a learned skill.  Helping someone grow in this area can be a game changer. But you must slow down and remain present and ask reflective questions.

Building Cultural Awareness for Effective Coaching

If you are working to make your coaching client list more diverse, the best place to start is with a refresher in cultural sensitivity

Coaching for Resourcing 

Fighting a scarcity mindset by helping clients see God’s provision.

A Military Strategy for Coaching Ministries?

Big changes are needed to halt the decline of the Church in America. However, even small changes can be met with heavy resistance. Many pastors have tried to implement healthy changes and admit that it feels almost impossible. Here is a strategy that might help.

The Organized Coach

If you are coaching more than a handful of people, you know it can get hard to track all the moving parts. Here’s how you can keep it all organized.

Helping clients define discipleship

Here’s a great exercise I picked up from Dave DeVries. If your client wants to make not just disciples, but disciplemakers– people who can make other disciples– here is an exercise to try… 

Avoiding vision whiplash 

If your coaching client’s ministry is constantly evolving their staff and congregation may be experiencing vision whiplash—and it’s painful. Here’s how to help…

What to do when your client is stuck 

You have a coaching client who just isn’t moving forward on their goals. It happens to all of us. These 7 principles will help you troubleshoot and realign to gain momentum.

Before you give up on your coaching ministry

Something feels off in your coaching ministry. Attendance is down, excitement has waned, things feel stuck and you’re wondering if it’s just not going to work. Before you close up shop read this.

 Revitalizing energy for coaching

If you aren’t seeing results, your energy for coaching will become depleted. Let’s look at how well you are empowering the people you are working with.

Choosing the right coach

Many—if not most—of the people who have tried coaching and say it doesn’t work have all made the same mistake: they chose the wrong coach.

An Exercise to Define Your Ideal Client

Whether you are just starting your coaching practice or you have been at it for a long time – knowing your ideal client is so very important.

How to tell if you are a great coach

Anyone can say they’re a great coach. In fact, read through coach bios online and it sounds like they all are great. But you know that’s not always the case. How can you know where you really stand?

What sets you apart from other coaches? 

What makes you unique as a coach? Hint: It’s not your area of expertise.

Principles for a thriving staff

Senior Pastors carry the responsibility to guide their church toward healthy growth. It’s a big red flag if their staff is failing to thrive. 

How is your follow-up question game?

You know that good coaching requires good questions—and you may already be good at asking those. But what about follow-up questions? Even those with strong coaching skills can sometimes fall short when it comes to a skill commonly called piggy-backing. 

How to Make Change Stick

As a coach, you know change is hard. That’s why people need the help of a coach when making real change stick.

Working with Clients to Declutter Time

Spring is here… and so is spring cleaning! But have you ever thought of spring cleaning applied not just to your house and garage but to your time? Your calendar? Your list of responsibilities?