Why I Am Hopeful for the Neighborhood Church in America
- Get link
- Other Apps
by Bart L. Denny, Ph.D., Th.M.
If you’ve read much of my blog, you might think my outlook on the Church (capital “C”) in America is pretty negative. Not so! I hope you’ll see in my writings that, in my view, the Church must face some stark realities. I think I can. Further, in light of the world as it is and not as we would like it, we must step up to the plate to meet these challenges, or we will see more decline and further decay. We will reach fewer of our fellow Americans with the life-transforming Gospel of Jesus Christ. But for now, I will focus on the many reasons to hope for a bright future for the American Church—especially for small, neighborhood, and rural congregations.
Reason #1: Most people are open to spiritual
conversations. Americans may be dropping out of organized religion, but that
doesn’t mean they’ve all become atheists. According to research that the
Christian publisher LifeWay conducted in 2022, two-thirds of Americans are open
to conversations about faith. It’s not that people don’t want to hear about spiritual
matters; Christians won’t engage in those conversations. Maybe we’re still
caught up in the old, arm-twisting, say the sinner’s prayer form of evangelism—which
never felt all that natural to me anyway. What if we followed Jesus’ example
instead and engaged in spiritual conversations? What has Jesus done in your
life? After all, it’s the Holy Spirit’s job to change hearts—not ours. We’re
not out to close a deal but merely serve as instruments in God’s hands.
Reason #2: Neighborhood churches are making a comeback. And
that may be a trend that’s here to stay. Dr. Sam Rainer demonstrates a curious
shift in the American Church in his forthcoming book. For several decades, beginning
in the 1980s, growing churches relocated away from neighborhoods and built
large campuses near major highway intersections. These attractional churches featured
a vast selection of high-quality ministry offerings, hoping to appeal to as
many—believer and seeker alike—as possible. No, the megachurch isn’t shrinking.
But Rainer shows that many, especially in the so-called Millennial and Gen-Z age
demographic, are moving from the megachurches of their parents and back to the neighborhood
church. Those making the move seek the life-giving relationships, close-knit
Christian community, and service opportunities that are the neighborhood church’s
strong suit. No, you shouldn’t expect these younger adults to simply show up one
Sunday morning, children in tow. And your strategy should not center around
poaching members from the nearest megachurch. Indeed, plenty of people in your
neighborhood—de-churched, unchurched, and unreached—will find that sense of
relational connection appealing. Instead of stealing from someone else’s
aquarium, fish from the pond in your backyard. Leaders and members of
neighborhood churches should figure out how best to play to the unique strength
of smallness with intentionality in their communities.
Reason #3: Many seminaries now offered focused emphasis
and training in church revitalization. Indeed, if I hadn’t been so close to
finishing the “Ministry Leadership” cognate within my Ph.D. in Christian
Leadership program at Liberty University when they introduced the Church
Revitalization cognate, I would have been chosen to do the revitalization
program. Liberty’s School of Divinity also offers a D.Min. focusing on Church
Revitalization.
The Lynchburg, Virginia-based school is far from the only
school offering such programs. Besides Liberty, Piedmont Divinity School, Northwest
University, Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, Gateway Seminary,
Midwestern Baptist Seminary, Southwestern Baptist Seminary, Gordon-Conwell
Seminary, and Reformed Theological Seminary—to name some of the more prominent
ones—are among the many schools with programs, cognates, or courses dedicated
to church revitalization.
Other programs, such as the Church Revitalization
certificate available through Church Answers, provide focused, practical
ministry training for revitalizers—with a price tag far lower than a master’s
or doctoral degree.
Reason #4: Most importantly, Jesus promised to build his Church.
No, I get it; Jesus’ promise was for the Church throughout
the ages, not individual, local congregations. To the contrary, in Revelation
2, Christ promised the church at Ephesus that, if they didn’t shape up, he would
remove their lampstand. Presumably, that meant he intended to close them down
since they had already ceased being the Church. But throughout the New
Testament, the Savior’s love for his church is evident—and until that heavenly
universal worship service depicted in Revelation 5 takes place, the Church will
express itself locally. If we let the local church be his Church instead
of ours, I believe Christ will cause it to prosper—because Jesus promised
the gates of Hell wouldn’t prevail against his Church.
- Get link
- Other Apps
Comments
Post a Comment
All comments are moderated. I welcome respectful disagreement with my posts. Such discussions can cause me to consider perspectives I hadn't examined before. However, I also reserve the right to delete any comment for any reason. Why? Simple enough, this is MY blog, with MY thoughts, and I want to have a civil conversation that is, at all times, God-honoring in nature.