When your church is well-known in the community, it’s typically for something really good…or something that’s not so good. Today, we tackle the latter and discuss how to get past leading a church with a terrible reputation.
Episode Highlights:
- If your community is growing rapidly and your church is in decline, you need to assess why.
- Most churches don’t have a negative reputation in the community—they have no reputation at all.
- Serving local schools is the most direct way to impact your community. By serving those in the schools, you’re directly impacting local area families.
- Your church can often have a negative reputation because of the negative attitudes of the members about the community.
The six keys that we discuss are:
- Assess the situation accurately
- Get feedback from community members
- Start serving the community
- Start celebrating the community
- Spend more time with the doers than the whiners
- Consider re-planting
Resources mentioned in this episode include:
- Revitalize Network
- Revitalize Bundle
- ChurchReplanters.com
- ChurchAnswers.com
- Replanter Assessment
- Find more resources at the Revitalize & Replant page at ThomRainer.com
Revitalize & Replant is sponsored by the North American Mission Board and ChurchReplanters.com. More than 10% of churches in North America are at risk of closing and the North American Mission Board is committed to reversing this trend by decreasing the death rate of existing churches while simultaneously increasing the birth rate of new churches. To learn more about what it means to become a replanting pastor or to explore resources for replanting and revitalization in your own church, visit ChurchReplanters.com.
Submit Your Question:
Do you have a question about church revitalization or replanting for us to use on the podcast? Visit the podcast page to submit your question. If we use it on the show, you’ll get a copy of Scrappy Church and Reclaiming Glory.
