Revitalization for the Church Today

Revitalization is the action of giving something new life and vitality. It is renewal, rebirth, and revival.

Revitalization is important for churches and their continued effectiveness in impacting their communities with the gospel. It requires three crucial changes:

• A mindset change: there must be a change in the way the church thinks.
• A structural change: there must be a structure established that will move the thought change to action.
• A systems change: there must be a desire to find the most effective way to get more people involved in the operation of the church.

Far too often, churches do not see the need for a wholistic approach to revitalization. Each step in the process is crucial to success.

Thousands of churches are realizing they need to completely rethink how they do ministry only to find there are few resources available to build their church back to health. The reality is, over 4,000 churches will close their doors this year. As a main initiative of the CSBC, we’ve dedicated an entire department to this work.

California Southern Baptist Convention is partnering with Gateway Seminary in offering a new Doctor of Ministry with an emphasis in Church Revitalization. This new cohort will address all churches situations and serve as a laboratory to put the process to the test.

Students in this program will:

• Develop the ability to lead churches to identify the key areas that will make them more effective.
• Work with church leaders to share and implement the new vision with the members of the church.
• Be shown real world methods rather than the latest book fodder. 

Finally, those completing the program will be equipped to help churches in need who really want to be helped. We encourage any Pastor or leader looking to help our churches revitalize to join this cohort and study this important emphasis.