Few weeks go by without someone reminding pastors that 85 percent to 90 percent of churches are plateaued or declining. This means at least four out of five pastors lead churches in need of revitalization. The work is difficult. For every story of a declining church that turned around and began to reach its community, there are hundreds of stories of pastors working hard but seeing few visible results.
It is hard to overstate the difficulty of working in a church where revitalization is not happening. There are years with more funerals than baptisms. Teenagers graduate, move on to college, and don’t come back. Families with young children leave and go to the church with “better” children’s ministry, music, and preaching. The church’s leaders stare at you and wonder what you are doing wrong to keep the church from growing. The pastor hears countless stories about church’s glory days and how great was the pastor who led them in those years. When those stories are told, the pastor hears, “We wish we were in those days again, and we wish he was still our pastor instead of you.”
If this is your situation, consider these encouragements to continue laboring in a situation where the fruit is not visible. Read more
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