Churches will want to be more intentional about their evangelistic efforts.
Those churches that make plans to reach out to the people in and around their communities, and then, prepare people to engage in those outreach efforts will be more likely to experience renewal. In addition, churches should not necessarily expect to discover only one effective evangelistic strategy. These 324 comeback churches used many different strategies and methods of outreach. Thus, the discovery of evangelistic methods or strategies that work best for a given church may take awhile to discover. Those churches that have the desire to be revitalized will want to engage in intentional outreach efforts, become active agents of community service and pray for the Spirit of God to draw people to Jesus.
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A “celebrative” and “orderly” mood of worship is a huge factor in revitalization.
If worship in a church cannot be described as “celebrative” and “orderly,” then that church might want to consider exploring some ways to gradually introduce some new energy, enthusiasm and contemporary flavor into its worship experience.
In some cases, churches and pastors might want to consider making changes in regard to other factors such as small groups, facilities and marketing, but these factors are not as important or influential as leadership, vibrant faith, lay ministry, evangelistic efforts and worship, according to the finding of this study. Overall, the most significant aspect of this study is that it proves revitalization can occur; 324 churches are comeback congregations. Revitalization can happen, and this study reveals some insights that will help churches that want to get on the comeback pathway.
Comeback Obstacles
In one of the summary questions, survey respondents were asked to identify the biggest challenges they had faced in regard to making their comebacks. The two most prominent issues identified by comeback leaders were attitude and finances.
If a comeback movement is going to take place in North America, these same issues will likely be obstacles for many other churches as well. Many other plateaued or declining churches will probably struggle with a small church mind-set, a slow growth mentality, a no-growth mentality, a maintenance mind-set regarding traditions or a fear of change. The issue is, “Do the people in plateaued or declining churches really want to grow?”
According to some of the comeback leaders interviewed, these attitude issues can be addressed in practical ways. In many cases, an attitude of growth can be created by utilizing good tools and resources like the Purpose Driven materials. In all cases, an attitude adjustment toward growth will involve influencing people to change. Comeback leaders believe that attitudes can change.
