Approximately eighty-six churches close their doors permanently every Sunday. We would like to help yours to not be one of them.
There are lots of different scenarios. Perhaps for some it’s that your congregation has aged and declined in financial resources. Maybe for others it’s that you are the pastor approaching retirement and don’t quite know how to transition the congregation into what’s next for them. It could even be that the pastor of your church has recently resigned and you’re unsure how to best go forward in finding a replacement. Whatever the scenario may be, churches who are considering a Legacy Partnership with Neighborhood Churches are churches that are facing some tough decisions.
Often as churches face these tough decisions, the conversations revolve around the unspoken question of “What will our Legacy be?” A legacy mindset isn’t altogether bad, but it is short sighted because it centers primarily on “us.” A better approach to facing these tough decisions is to remember that the best legacy we can leave behind is one that is centered on Christ and his continued Kingdom work long after we all are gone. This means our “Legacy” mindset should produce in us a “Kingdom” mindset.
Neighborhood Churches wants to help. Whether it’s helping you think through practical and potential next steps, or it’s assisting your church in making the necessary transition, our heart is to help your church work towards making sure there is a gospel-exalting church in your neighborhood for generations to come.
For those pastors and churches who want to have more than conversations, but are looking for long term solutions, we want to come alongside you as you as you prayerfully consider what’s best for the Kingdom of God as it pertains to your church, your ministry, and your neighborhood. Apart from having ongoing consultation conversations, there are three primary ways that we can help.
We want to help.
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Revitalization.
Is your church struggling to embrace a changing culture and community? Is your membership dwindling because of frustration, confusion, and exhaustion? You are not alone. Perhaps your church is in need of revitalization.
Church revitalization is the work of God to restore health in the church by submitting to God’s Word, restoring relationships among members, and a renewed commitment to the Great Commision.
If this would describe your church, now is the time to act before your struggle turns into a crisis.
Neighborhood Churches can help lead your church into a season of revitalization by walking you through a holistic health assessment and providing a detailed plan of action for you to follow as we walk alongside of your church.
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Replant.
Your church doesn’t have to die. Church Replanting is the process in which members of a church discern God’s leadership to dissolve their current ministry and work with Neighborhood Churches to begin a new church for a new season of ministry in their community.
The biggest difference between church revitalization and replanting is this: In church revitalization there is a longer runway and more time to make small adjustments. In church replanting, the runway is really short, and drastic changes must be made quickly before time runs out.
Many pastors and leaders of dying churches love the Lord and their community but need a vision for their community and a renewed sense of kingdom mission.
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Plant.
The Book of Ecclesiastes tells us that everything has a season. This truth includes the lifespan of churches. What does a church do with its property, assets, and resources as it comes to the hard reality that its season is over?
The very best thing a church can do in this situation is to gift all of their assets over to be used for Kingdom purposes to reach future generations.
Neighborhood Churches can help facilitate this Kingdom transition. Rather than selling off your property, giving up your tax exemption status, and disappearing from the community altogether… our heart is to hold onto it and either pair those resources with a Church Planter and Team for the purpose of establishing a new church, or to use those resources to fund church planting in other locations near your community.
There is hope, real hope, for any church in any crisis situation. Churches don’t have to die; they can thrive. If you believe your church is dying or near-dying—in need of replanting or revitalization—we would like to talk with you.
Redemption Story
2019: Haven Baptist Church
One example of a Legacy Partnership is Haven Baptist Church in New Bedford, MA. In April 2019, Haven Baptist Church “passed the torch” to the next generation of believers, by gifting a Church Plant Team with their building and property. Haven Baptist Church began in 1986, and had decades of faithful and fruitful ministry. However around 2007, they began to face the hardships of an aging congregation among a changing neighborhood. No longer able to provide necessary upkeep on their building, they moved out of it, closed up the building, and began to meet in member’s homes.
However, the few remaining members had a large kingdom mindset. Not wanting the church building to be converted into condos, or turned into a parking lot, they held onto the property praying that one day the Lord would make it a place where the gospel would be proclaimed once again.
The Lord answered their prayer by entering into a Legacy Partnership with Grace Harbor Church, a new church plant looking to move into the neighborhood.
2020: Grace Harbor Church
Immediately after being gifted the property through a Legacy Partnership, the Church Planting Team of Grace Harbor Church began to get to work by fully renovating the church building inside and out. After a full year of renovations, in June of 2020 (near the beginning of the pandemic) a new church plant opened it doors in the city of New Bedford.
In September, the Church Plant Team covenanted together in a beautiful ceremony and ceased being a “Church Plant” and become a “Church.”
In His kindness, God answered the faithful prayers of the saints of Haven Baptist Church. Through a Legacy Partnership and being Kingdom-minded, the gospel of Jesus Christ is being proclaimed once again, and the doors of the church in the West End are open!
