There is a dimension of church revitalization rarely discussed in public, yet it weighs heavily on the hearts of leaders. The most daunting challenge for a pastor in this season is deciding whether to remain committed long enough to witness a genuine turnaround.
I know this from personal experience and from consulting with dozens of leaders navigating similar paths. While the obstacles are numerous, mastering the mindset of staying through revitalization challenges is often the most significant hurdle to long-term success.
I am convinced that this internal resolve is the most difficult test any leader will face when attempting to restore a declining congregation. Reviving an established church requires a profound commitment to staying through transition to ensure the ministry can thrive once again.
I hate to pull the cover back on my pastor friends on this one, but often it is not until we admit a problem that we can really focus on some solutions.
So, here’s the secret, hardest part I’ve observed about church revitalization:
Deciding if you will stay long enough to see a turn.
That’s it.
And this can honestly be said about many other changes we make as leaders. You have to decide if you are going to outlast the tension change naturally creates.
To test my assertion, if you are in the first couple years of leading church revitalization, see if any of these apply:
• You wake up some days and don’t know if you can do it anymore.
• You and your spouse dream about where you could work—maybe another church; perhaps even in the marketplace.
• Secretly you search job site boards looking for other positions for which you might qualify or be interested.
• You wonder if you are alone and if anyone else struggles this way.
• There are times you wonder if the problem is you—if you’re doing something wrong, if maybe it is a sin to even be thinking as you do some days.
Any of those sound like your story?
Let me be clear, there is nothing wrong with any of these. Those are raw human emotions. Change is not only hard for the congregation—it’s hard for the one leading it. And some of it may simply be a way to cope and survive. You get little “mini-mind breaks” that keep you going.
But here’s what I know to be true: Until you decide if you’re going to outlast the critics and weather the storms of change you will likely never realize the success you really came to achieve.
Of course, there is never an excuse to be arrogant, tyrannical or controlling. I always tried to be humble, but purposeful. God had sent me and the church had called me to do a job. Helping a church revive again requires change. And leading change is hard and the reactions to it are not always pretty.
The question in church revitalization is not if it is going to be difficult. Someone told me that the longer the church has been in decline the longer it will take to revitalize. I know for sure it takes longer than we often hope it will. The question is if you are going to last through the difficult to get to the potential wonderful.
And I’m not even suggesting you have to or should. That’s a much more personal matter with many different parameters that depend on your unique circumstances and the church. Some churches can’t be revived. There are no guarantees and no perfect formulas to follow.
I’m simply pointing out something I have learned the hard way.
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This article originally appeared on RonEdmondson.com and is reposted here by permission.