Save New England does more than help plant new churches. We assist existing churches to help them revive and thrive.
Unfortunately, dying churches exist, and it’s a problem across our country.
In 2009 I became the senior pastor of a dying church. The Church had a rich heritage and was once bustling with hundreds of people, thriving ministries, and consistent salvation decisions. However, upon arriving to preach as a candidate for the senior pastor position on a Sunday in 2009, I observed a church on life support and struggling with a decision to keep the doors open. The image was shocking.
Statistically, most dying churches do not recover. Though the recovery rate is meager, reviving a dying church is possible. Among declining churches, only a small percentage survive. We can change this trend by applying principles from God’s Word. No faithful church ought to die.
The Church at Sardis in Revelation 3 is considered a dead church. Verse 1, “And unto the angel of the church in Sardis write; These things saith he that hath the seven Spirits of God, and the seven stars; I know thy works, that thou hast a name that thou livest, and art dead. “
What happened to the Church at Sardis?
First, this Church was alive only by reputation.
Verse 1 says, “thou hast a name that thou livest.” Outwardly they appeared to be alive, but inwardly the Church at Sardis was dead.
Second, verse 2, “I have not found thy works perfect before God.”
In other words, the Sardian Church was non-productive. James put it this way in 2:20, “faith without works is dead.”
Third, notice the principal advice that was given to the Sardian Church in verse 2, “Be watchful, and strengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die.”
As we strive to save New England, we must have wise men of God willing to pastor declining churches and with God’s help revive them to new power and effectiveness.
Also, current pastors with struggling churches must overcome discouragement and seek God’s help to renew the church.
Here are some proven suggestions of how to revive a dying church:
1. Strengthen what remains.
Revelation 3:2, “Be watchful, and strengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die.”
I made it very clear when I became the pastor of a dying church in Massachusetts that several ministries must be resuscitated immediately. Primarily, the ministry of the Word of God. I repeatedly said, “the Bible will be the centerpiece of our church.”
Proverbs 29:18, “Where there is no vision, the people perish: but he that keepeth the law, happy is he.”
The word vision in this text is widely misunderstood and often taken out of context. The absence of vision or the absence of prophetic ministry or the visions of God through the prophets has consequences.
In Samuel’s day, according to 1 Samuel 3:1, “The word of the LORD was precious in those days; there was no open vision.” This means that the Word of God was rare, and there was no open vision or no message from the prophets.
The Word of God, including the pulpit ministry, is essential to the health of any church. I made it clear that if we restore God’s blessing, we must revive the ministry of the Word, including the pulpit ministry. (2 Tim. 4:1-5; Acts 6:4; Eph. 4:11-12; 1Pe. 5:1-4)
2. Revive the Work of the Lord.
Verse 2, “I have not found thy works perfect before God.”
In Sardis, their works were incomplete, or they fell short of God’s requirements. In other words, the Sardian Church was non-productive and bearing no fruit. 1 Corinthians 15:58, “be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord.” The primary responsibility of the Church is the work of the Lord. In this work, we are to abound. The work of the Lord is multifaceted, but the main business of the Church is the work of evangelism.
I’m not interested in creating ministries to have ministries. I’m not interested in having ministries to be like other churches. I’m interested in ministries that God will honor and use to revive discouraged people, and that will breathe life into a dying church.
Ministries should have a definite purpose. For example, ministries should edify, engage the people, unify, and grow the Church. Ministries and events that we restored in the early days of my ministry at this declining church were local outreach, Prison Ministry, Faith Promise Missions, Prayer and Fasting, regular Fellowship events and activities, and organized workdays at the Church.
3. Provide Vigilant Leadership.
Verse 2 says, “Be watchful.” Verse 3 says, “If therefore thou shalt not watch, I will come on thee as a thief, and thou shalt not know what hour I will come upon thee.”
One of the duties of a pastor is to watch, take heed, or give strict attention. Hebrews 13:7 says, “Obey them that have the rule over you, and submit yourselves: for they watch for your souls, as they that must give account, that they may do it with joy, and not with grief: for that is unprofitable for you.”
Among the pastoral requirements in 1 Timothy 3, vigilance is listed third. This vigilance involves his own life and the flock over which he is responsible. I cannot over-emphasize the need for watchfulness today in both these areas — the day when vigilance wains is the day to consider stepping down from the oversight.
Consider 1 Peter 5:8-9, which follows the language of taking the oversight. In verses 1-4, “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour: Whom resist stedfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world.”
4. Empathize with their Pain.
Empathy means to be understanding, to be compassionate, and sensitive. Empathy loves deeply and will responsively “weep with them that weep” (Ro. 12:15). Jesus, upon seeing Mary weep over her brother, Lazarus, groaned in His spirit, was troubled, and wept. I believe that He felt her pain, her sorrow, and her loss. Most importantly, typical of empathy, He was there at the side of Mary and Martha at a time when they needed Him.
I’m merely saying that a pastor must love deeply or, as John states in 1 John 3:18, “let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth.”
Pastor Tom Crichton called me not long after I was unanimously called by the hurting remnant of the church to be their pastor. He encouraged me in the Lord with these words, “fellowship regularly with your people, and when you do, sit and eat with them.” Simple but wise advice. He was teaching me to be at the side of my people and love them.
5. Depend upon the Lord.
A dying church is covered in the Devil’s fingerprints. Reviving a church is spiritual warfare. To rescue a church from the clutches of Satan will require the whole armor of God. The Bible says in Ephesians 6:12, “For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.” We must suit up and depend on the Lord.
6. Pray Earnestly.
No prayer – no lasting progress. If you are committed to reviving a dying church, you will soon realize that you must turn it over to God in prayer. If we will go forward in battle to reclaim a church for God, it will be on our knees.
7. Stay Encouraged.
It’s easy to get discouraged under circumstances like a broken remnant of people, the disrepair of the building and grounds, and sizable debt.
Initially, we met in a 15 by 20 classroom on Wednesdays and Sunday nights, which was very disheartening.
Restoring takes time. Rebuilding is not glamorous. Resources are extremely limited. Therefore, we must find ways to encourage ourselves, as David did, in the Lord (1Sa. 30:6).