Episode 48: Show Notes

About This Episode of the Revitalize My Church Podcast

In this episode, Bart queues up an AI overview of the new book that he co-authored with Nathan Bryant. The book is called "The Five Big Rocks of Church Revitalization."

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Hosts: Bart Blair (Director of Church Revitalization, Assist Church Expansion) & Nathan Bryant (Executive Director, Assist)

• Your church facility is a ministry tool, not the main thing. Culture change drives revitalization, but your building can either support that work or quietly work against it.
• Decluttering costs nothing but time and a few hard conversations. Old storage rooms, outdated equipment, and decades of donated furniture send the wrong signal to new families.
• Curb appeal, signage, and restrooms shape a guest’s opinion before they ever sit down for the service. First impressions start in the parking lot.
• Decor should reflect your church’s future, not its past. Outdated photos, doilies, and dated furniture can quietly tell newcomers this isn’t a place for them.

If you are leading a small church through plateau, decline, or revitalization, you already know there is never enough time or money to fix everything at once. So when it comes to your building, where do you actually focus? In this episode, Bart Blair sits down with Nathan Bryant, Executive Director of Assist Church Expansion, to talk through how your facility either helps or hurts your revitalization efforts, and how to make smart, low cost improvements without overspending or stepping on toes.

You will walk away with a practical lens for evaluating your own building. From the parking lot to the restrooms to your children’s ministry space, you will learn what first time guests notice, what it communicates to them, and what you can change this month without a building campaign.

Yes, but not in the way most pastors assume. Bart and Nathan are both church planters who spent years in portable, rented spaces, so they bring a unique perspective on this. Your building is a ministry tool that God has given you to steward, not the main driver of revitalization. The real change has to happen in the culture and mission of your church. But your facility either removes barriers for newcomers or creates them, which means it absolutely plays a supporting role in whether people stick around long enough to experience that culture change in the first place.

Most churches land in one of two ditches. Some pastors believe a new coat of paint or a renovated lobby will single handedly turn the church around, so they pour disproportionate energy and money into the building. Others swing the opposite direction and barely notice their facility at all, because they have grown comfortable in the space over many years. Nathan compares it to having friends over to your house. You do not notice the mess until you know guests are coming. The goal is a healthy middle: invest where it actually removes barriers for guests, and do not pretend a building project will fix a culture problem.

Decluttering is the single highest impact, lowest cost change you can make to your facility, but it requires patience and permission. Many churches have rooms full of decades old equipment, holiday decor, and furniture that nobody is using, simply because no one felt authorized to get rid of it. Nathan shares a real example of a church that cleared out a room full of decades old Christmas pageant costumes after getting buy in from longtime members, freeing up usable classroom and office space.

• Get permission first. Many longtime members simply do not realize they have authority to let things go. Ask before you act.
• Make it a team event. Host a workday and get people hands on in the proc...

Most struggling churches assume they need the same kind of help. Terry Long says that assumption is one of the first things that has to go.

Terry serves as the Church Health and Revitalization Strategist for the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina. He joined the state convention in April 2020, holds a doctorate of ministry in church revitalization from Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, and has spent two decades in vocational ministry. In this conversation with host Bart Blair, Terry walks through the framework NC Baptists uses to assess struggling churches, why revitalization and reconstruction require two completely different responses, and what pastors consistently get wrong when they come asking for help.

WHAT YOU WILL HEAR IN THIS EPISODE

• Why NC Baptists developed a ten-question church assessment, and what it is actually designed to do

• The two categories struggling churches fall into: revitalization candidates and reconstruction candidates, and why treating them the same is a mistake

• What NC Baptists looks for when assessing a church: missional engagement, discipleship health, leadership development, and baptism trends

• Two real stories of NC Baptist churches that turned around, including a church of 30 senior adults that went from no pastor and no direction to 10 baptisms in a single Sunday

• Why revitalization has to start with the pastor before it can start with the church

• The statistic that stopped Terry cold early in his ministry: 92 percent of pastors have never been personally discipled

• Why the come-and-see model of church no longer works, and what has to replace it

• Why Terry believes the decline of cultural Christianity is not bad news for the church

A KEY QUOTE FROM THIS EPISODE

"I actually think this is a great thing. I know a Lord that said we're supposed to go and make disciples of all nations. I actually think this is the Lord refining his church to get back to do what we were supposed to do in the first place."

-- Terry Long

FOR THE PASTOR WHO IS LISTENING

If your church has been plateaued or declining for years and you are not sure whether you need a coach, a partner church, or something else entirely, this episode will help you figure out which kind of help actually fits your situation. Terry breaks down the difference in plain terms and gives you a framework for thinking clearly about where your church is and what it needs next.

And if you have been carrying the weight of a church that feels like it might be past the point of no return, the story of a 30-person church of senior adults who saw 10 baptisms six months into a turnaround process is worth hearing.

RESOURCES MENTIONED

• NC Baptists Church Revitalization: https://ncbaptist.org/ministries/church-revitalization

• North American Mission Board Replant: https://www.namb.net/church-replanting/

• Reclaiming Glory by Mark Clifton

• Embers to a Flame by Harry Reeder

• Church revitalization resources by Tom Chaney, Orlando Baptists

ABOUT REVITALIZE MY CHURCH

Revitalize My Church is hosted by Bart Blair and Nathan Bryant. We create practical, biblically grounded content for pastors and church leaders who are navigating decline, plateau, and the hard work of leading a church toward health. New episodes release on the first and fifteenth of each month.

Subscribe so you never miss an episode, and if this conversation was helpful, share it with a pastor who needs it. That is the best thing you can do to help more church leaders find this content.

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