CMBA Church Health & Resources Team Leader David Waganer sees similarities between a 2024 news story of United States astronauts unable to return to earth and the pressing dilemmas some modern churches face to effectively share the gospel and connect within their community.

“As of this publication, there are astronauts stuck in space. Their mission that began in June 2024 was supposed to last eight days, but now they won’t return to Earth until February 2025. They understand the cause, they understand the situation, but they don’t have a way back,” Waganer says. “A lot of our churches are like this – staying in a time capsule, stuck in the past, and unable to get out of it. We have to remember that churches have a way back, and it’s returning to the One who established the Church.”

During the roughly 50 years he has spent working with churches, Waganer estimates that the majority of time has been spent helping churches in various stages of revitalization which has created an ability to better identify their core needs. He’s seen congregations through capital campaigns, educated them in stewardship, served in interims, taught members about transitional ministry, and even refereed some intense disagreements. So, what does he believe causes a church to become ‘stuck’ and, more importantly, how can that same church move forward?

“I can tell you that ‘unity’ is not what you’re after, it’s truth. And truth divides,” Waganer explains. “My observation is that people think revitalization is a process a church must go through, but it’s really a Person to take them to, and His name is Jesus.”

A Helpful Profile of the “Church in Need”

This article won’t delve deeply into the description of a church in need, you probably have a good grasp on that already. Maybe you are a pastor or member of a declining church and, if so, please know there is hope! God has a plan for your church, and that plan is grounded in being able to once again share the hope of the gospel with the lost in your community and to disciple believers so that they can share the hope of the gospel with others who are lost.

But it is critical for the church in decline to identify what is broken, and to seek help in overcoming these “roadblocks to revitalization,” as Waganer calls them. What about the real, tangible hurts and needs of your church that exist today? How about the lack of resources? Is there a way beyond the decades-long family feud, or the disagreements between newcomers and established members? Where does a declining church even begin to get help, and what if it’s too late?

The North American Mission Board describes the church revitalization process as a supernatural work of God restoring health in a church that is evidenced through God’s Word. In Waganer’s experience, the church that embraces the truth for its future that is only found through Jesus is a church that is taking its first step toward resuming the call Christ has for His Church.

“It can be easy to get hung up in the process of revitalization, not the importance of the supernatural interaction of God,” Waganer says, adding a congregation must be willing to confront “how they see themselves versus how they actually are.”

Through his role as Director of Church Strategies with the SC Baptist Convention, James Nugent says there is nothing greater than seeing a declining church “go from death to life. My heart passion is helping churches get back on mission with making disciples in their community, get back to doing what God has created the Church to do, and what God has called them to do.”

Nugent helps a church understand its current reality, identify available resources, and works with the congregation to create recommendations for getting back on mission. While there is a basic framework of revitalization principles to operate from, Nugent creates specific recommendations for each church he works with and identifies related assistance. The customized process typically lasts three to six months.

According to Associational Missions Strategist Jamie Rogers every church – including a declining one – can take steps toward fulfilling the Great Commission. In response to reports he cites showing that more than 80 percent of CMBA congregations are in decline, Rogers says “when you calculate the fact that our area is exploding in population, it makes no sense that our churches would be declining in attendance. This is one of the most important reasons for associational leadership to exist. We can come alongside of these congregations to help them get back to a better focus of reaching their neighborhoods and fulfilling the mission of Jesus.”

A Portrait of Revitalization

SC Baptist Convention Church Strategy Specialist Joe Copeland helps associations assist declining or plateaued churches. First Baptist Ridgeway members experienced his expertise when he served as their interim pastor several years ago, toward the end of their revitalization process. Copeland affirmed the congregation’s decision to seek help, focus on the right things, and embrace of the partnership assistance from First Baptist Columbia and North Trenholm.

“They became more unified and didn’t allow non-important issues to divide them. They were giving and spending for a hopeful future,” Copeland said, adding the church was “unified around the need for God’s Word to be preached.”

CMBA has celebrated several recent church revitalization stories including New Creation Baptist’s replant out of Woodfield Park’s facility and Pineview Baptist’s experience, as well as Ravenwood’s dissolution that led to the gifting of their church property to Midtown Two Notch. Nugent also credits New Heights Baptist’s decision to seek help early with its successful revitalization story. Today, under the leadership of Pastor Richard Fleming, the church is becoming more diverse and has a deeper reach into the community.  

According to Nugent, declining churches have options that include: Reinvestment, when a church combines resources with one or more others to renew ministries; Restart, when a completely new church and staff leadership is planted in an existing church facility; and, Revitalization, when a declining church embraces God’s fresh ministry call in the community. 

“Often what declining churches are experiencing is what they’ve learned or been taught to do,” Nugent explains. “A generation of church growth has included building on the campus location and improved technology, but they have neglected evangelism. Things were going well for a time, but they adopted an inward focus, and then experienced a point of crisis. But there is hope.”

There is Hope

To the declining church Waganer advises seeking help from the outside. “There is brokenness in every church, sometimes in multiple ways. Many just don’t want to face it but when something is broken, we should try to fix it,” he says.

It helps to have a new set of eyes on what is happening in your church from someone on the outside. Be ready to ask hard questions and answer them honestly. How does the community see us? How do we see our community? These and many other insightful questions will be asked by CMBA and SC Baptist Convention resources, who are ready and able to help your congregation start the revitalization journey.

“There are many storms around us today, and like none we’ve witnessed before. The storms of life also come to churches, individuals, and communities. In the midst of storms, we don’t have to be bound by the past. Our future is much brighter,” Waganer says.