A Weblog Dedicated to the Discussion of the Christian Faith and 21st Century Life

A Weblog Dedicated to the Discussion of the Christian Faith and 21st Century Life
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I do not seek to understand that I may believe, but I believe in order to understand. For this also I believe, –that unless I believed, I should not understand.-- St. Anselm of Canterbury (1033-1109)

Monday, April 29, 2013

Six Radical Steps to Resuscitate a Dying Church

Last week I linked into a post by Thom Rainer on the the eleven post-mortem lessons from a dead church. Thom has now suggested six radical steps a congregation must take to bring the dying patient back to life.
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1. A leader must rise and be willing to lead the church toward radical transformation regardless of the personal costs to him (or her).

2. A significant group in the church must admit that they are desperate for help.

3. That same group must confess guilt.

4. The group must have an utter, desperate, and prayerful dependence on God.

5. The church must be willing to storm the community with love.

6. The church must relinquish control.
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Thom fills in the details here.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Interesting article. I went back and read the original from Thom as well as the comments he received. I can only partially agree. In my own church we have a 'new' pastor who does not take a leadership role. We need him to do this. As a small group of leaders we tried to create new programs and opportunities, but our pastor and his small flock rebuffed us. Right now our church is on a road to destruction and our unavailable pastor-leader is AWOL. He seems to be hiding.

Allan R. Bevere said...

Anon,

My experience is that if a pastor does not support something, at the very least, in a public and verbal way, that ministry will not succeed.