Thom Rainer, in his book Breakout Churches, stated, “Eight out of 10 of the approximately 400,000 churches in the United States are declining or have plateaued.” This shocking statement is often camouflaged by the great church growth stories of a few megachurches. However, the affect of this trend ripples across the world from the moral decline of many of today’s leaders to the economic decline of many of today’s global missions organizations. “Missions giving among mainline denominations is down as much as 48 percent from the 1960’s.” The decline in missions giving precedes the decline in church attendance. “Over three-quarters of Americans, 77 percent, say religion is losing its influence on American life.” The residual from this trend affects everything from global missions revenue to national leadership paradigms.
Can this devastating trend be reversed in time to preserve the effectiveness of the church in North America, and as such the quality of leaders it produces for the market place? To do this, the church must refocus. Ed Stetzer and Mike Dodson define refocus as “having a clear focus on evangelism and outreach.” I suggest a systematic path to that refocusing called R.E.F.O.C.U.S.
R—Review its history. Often as a church reviews its own history, they can reconnect with His story in their history, and it will energize a passive base. No one likes change. Churches seem to have a particular aversion to it, which is ironic because the church is supposed to be the change the world needs. This aversion to change is often the nail in the ecclesiastical coffin. The best path to initiate change is to review our history in light of the mission by which we were founded.
E—Evaluate its current effectiveness. We have developed a tool called the Church Checkup to help with this process. Here is a link to view it, feel free to take it and make it your own.
F—Formulate a 120-day calendar of events that focuses on evangelism and excellence. This 120 period is to be somewhat of a cast. When something is broken, it needs to be set in a cast. If it was broken then not set right, it needs to be broken again and reset. This brokenness starts by humbling ourselves before God and acknowledging Psalms 127:1, “Unless the Lord builds the house, they labor in vain that build it.” Many dedicated people have been working, hard, perhaps even smart, but it is all in vain unless the Lord builds it. Set the cast based upon the purpose for which the Holy Spirit was poured out, evangelism. Then pursue that cause with a spirit of excellence.
O—Objectively review and change the Sunday morning services with new families in mind. Often we do the same thing, without regard to its effectiveness or purpose. Ask tough questions like, “How would a new family that is far from God feel and interpret our service atmosphere and approach, our lingo and our jargon. Think through everything from the music style to the décor of your rooms. Look with fresh eyes at your greeting process, your children’s facilities and restrooms.
C—Create a new and relevant look. This is where it gets exciting. If you have brought your people with you on the journey, they too will get excited about the changes you can see. While there is much effort that is needed to go into the things you can’t see, such as church culture, vision and attitude, making a few cosmetic changes to the stage, church website or kids church will show change they can see which will in turn get them excited about making changes they can’t.
U—Undergo four training sessions in two ministry areas that will yield a high retention rate of new visitors. Two such areas are guest services, or your hospitality ministry, and Children’s ministry. These two areas touch the lifeline of your church and the face of your church. People decide within the first five minutes of visiting a church whether or not they will come back. Your hospitality team and children’s ministry teams are the central players to secure a return visit.
S—Serve the community by creating two ministry events that meet the needs in the local community. Jesus never told the world to go to the church, He told the church to go to the world. When you turn the eyes of your church from inward focus to outward focus, then you are aligning your vision where Jesus can bless you.
Any church can overcome decline if they refocus and systematically approach turning the gaze of the church from inward to outward. This is not easy, but it sure beats dying. We must say like the four lepers in 2 Kings 7:4, “If we stay here we will die.” The church belongs to Jesus, in Matthew 16:18 He said the gates of hell would not be victorious over it. That means no matter what you are facing, it is time to refocus on our mission, and refocus our mission. Your decline is not your end, it is your beginning.
