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| KBC Offers Resources for Churches in Need of ‘Comeback’ |
| Release Date: 06/23/2008 |
LOUISVILLE – In a day when many Kentucky churches have as many empty seats as filled on any given Sunday, the Kentucky Baptist Convention is working to reverse the trend with the help of missiologist Ed Stetzer through a new Comeback Church Process.
Stetzer, director of LifeWay Research, says a majority of churches in the Southern Baptist Convention are plateaued or declining in terms of membership. To find a solution, he collaborated with Mike Dodson, a church strategist in Pennsylvania whose doctoral dissertation at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary became the basis for the book “Comeback Churches”, released last year.
In March, the KBC hosted a one-day conference to allow Baptist pastors in the state to hear Stetzer share what he and Dodson learned from surveying 300 churches among 10 denominations that had achieved healthy evangelistic growth after a significant season of decline.
But that wasn’t enough, Alan Witham, a church development strategist and team leader with the KBC, said.
“Often we give good information through conferences, but we don't follow up with a plan or process to implement that good information,” Witham said. “We wanted to take the additional step to give churches the opportunity to discuss the information, process it and then to talk about ways they could apply it in their setting.”
That’s when the Comeback Church Process was born. Witham said the process, with guidance available to any KBC church, is about helping churches apply proven and transferable principles for revitalization.
“It's not that we're trying to follow one particular church model, but we are asking, 'What are the transferable principles we see from the research that could be applied in our setting?'” Witham said.
Starting in April, the KBC planned five consecutive regional network meetings. With one meeting per month, each meeting focuses on one of the five key factors that Stetzer said were part of the comeback churches he studied. Those factors are leadership, vibrant faith, meaningful and active ministries for laypeople, intentional evangelistic efforts, and a “celebrative” and “orderly” mood of worship.
Johnny Spray, pastor of New Bethel Baptist Church in Hardinsburg, has attended the initial session with Stetzer as well as the ongoing regional network meetings. When he was called as pastor three years ago, New Bethel averaged 40 people in Sunday School and 70 for worship, he said. The church also had a history of feuding caused by struggles for power among the members.
Fortunately, the previous pastor had helped get the church on track for healing and they already had some potential in place, Spray said. For instance, they had a projector and a screen for worship, but they weren’t using them. Spray, 34, incorporated those tools and brought in a part-time minister of music to coordinate the choir and improve the worship services.
“Probably the biggest thing we did was go to age-graded Sunday School classes,” Spray said. “They didn't have those. As a matter of fact, they had one gigantic area for youth and a nursery, and that was their catchall.”
The pastor also started a young adult Sunday school class, and since then a man he had been mentoring has taken leadership of the class. Spray also started a children’s church to help draw in the young families that are a strong portion of the local demographics.
Now the worship attendance at New Bethel has more than doubled, Spray said, and Sunday School attendance is closer to 75 people. Baptism numbers also have increased from eight the first year to 18 the second, he said.
During the process, Spray said he was spurred on by reading “Comeback Churches”.
“Through Ed's book, I was able to see churches that have had some similar characteristics as we've had, and it offered some hope,” he said.
Witham said churches that are interested in experiencing a similar comeback should contact the KBC regional strategist assigned to their part of the state. The strategist can provide an audio CD of Stetzer’s March presentation as well as a comeback church survey to assess the strengths and weaknesses of the congregation as a starting point.
“The church development team members and specifically the regional strategists are available to engage in discussions with churches about how they can experience turnaround growth,” Witham said. “We would also encourage pastors to connect with these network meetings. They’re scheduled in four different areas of the state so that pastors can go to a regional meeting close to them.”
Also, at each Super Saturday event in August and September this year, a Comeback Churches track will be offered so that pastors can further learn to implement the principles Stetzer and Dodson highlight in their book.
Both Witham and Spray said they would encourage pastors to read “Comeback Churches” for inspiration and guidance.
“I would definitely say go slow, love on the people and preach the Word. It’s a slow process,” Spray said, adding that his church tried to start an AWANA program for the children but it was too soon for the idea to take root. “It’s not going to be something that someone can come in and just revolutionize overnight.”
Release prepared by Erin Roach, KBC Communications. |
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