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.

Visit us at revitalizemy.church

Are you leading a church through revitalization and running into resistance at every turn? You are not alone. Resistance is one of the most common challenges pastors face when trying to move a church from where it is to where God wants it to be. The question is not whether you will face it. The question is whether you know how to handle it well.

In Episode 45, Bart Blair and Nathan Bryant cover keys 3 through 6 of their six-key framework for handling resistance in church revitalization.

Key 3: Communicate the Vision Often and Clearly

Vision is your most powerful tool for overcoming resistance. People do not want to be managed. They want to be inspired. Cast a compelling, biblically grounded vision that answers four questions: Why are we doing this? Who are we? What are we going to do? And where are we going? Bart and Nathan talk about why vision leaks, why repetition is leadership and not redundancy, and how to use testimonies and stories of life change to reinforce the vision you are casting.

Key 4: Honor the Past While Moving Forward

Most resistance in a church revitalization is tied to something with real historical significance. People are being asked to let go of something they have valued for years, sometimes decades. Bart and Nathan share practical ways to celebrate what God has done in the church's history, allow people to grieve what is changing, and become the kind of pastor who knows the church's story well enough to carry it forward with honor. The goal is to be married to the mission without being married to the methodology.

Key 5: Know When to Push and When to Pause

Pace and timing matter as much as direction. Going too fast causes people to fall off. Going too slow kills momentum and loses your window. Bart and Nathan talk about how to identify low-hanging fruit for early wins, how to build a team that can read the room, why a well-timed pause can actually accelerate change, and why squandering momentum is just as dangerous as moving too quickly.

Key 6: Know When Resistance Has Become Conflict

Not all resistance is the same, and the way you respond to pushback needs to change when resistance turns into conflict. Bart and Nathan walk through the red flags that signal the shift, including when people stop questioning a decision and start questioning your right to make it, and when individuals begin organizing others around their opposition rather than bringing concerns directly to leadership. When that happens, you need a different set of tools.

Episode 43: Keys 1 and 2 for Handling Resistance in Church Revitalization

Episode 44: Grieving the Loss of the Church You Love, featuring author and pastor Larry Davis

Episodes 39 and 41: Six Keys to Managing Conflict in a Church Revitalization

The Revitalize My Church Podcast helps pastors of smaller, struggling churches navigate change and reorient to a new and healthy future. Hosted by Bart Blair, Director of Church Revitalization for Assist Church Expansion, and Nathan Bryant, Executive Director of Assist Church Expansion.

Subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts. If this episode has been helpful, leave a rating and a review, and share it with a pastor who needs it.

Visit us at RevitalizeMyChurch.com for show notes, resources, and more.

Can a dying church really come back to life? Pastor Larry Davis says yes, but not the way most revitalization books tell you.

In this episode of the Revitalize My Church Podcast, Bart Blair sits down with Larry Davis, author of "Grieving the Loss of the Church You Love" and Associational Missionary for the Eastern Baptist Association. Larry has personally led three church revitalizations and has assisted or consulted with more than 110 churches. His perspective on revitalization is unlike anything most pastors have read or heard.

Most books on church revitalization assume every church should live. Larry challenges that assumption directly. Drawing from Scripture, the Kubler-Ross stages of grief, and more than two decades of hands-on revitalization work, Larry makes the case that a congregation cannot embrace something new until it has genuinely grieved what was. That single principle changes everything about how a pastor should approach a struggling church.

WHAT YOU WILL LEARN IN THIS EPISODE

Why the local church has a natural life cycle, and what Scripture says about it
How the five stages of grief (denial, bargaining, anger, depression, and acceptance) show up in a declining congregation
Why trying to lead change before a church is ready almost always backfires
How Larry navigated fierce resistance at Grace Seaford Church, including angry members at Wednesday night suppers
What the "meeting before the meeting" is and why it is never optional
How cascading communication works and why skipping the middle ring is one of the costliest mistakes in revitalization
What resurrection actually looks like for a dying church, and why it is different for every congregation
How to use a simple EKG framework to honestly assess the health of your church
Why reaching out for help early dramatically increases a church's chances of genuine renewal

THE FIVE STAGES OF GRIEF IN A LOCAL CHURCH

Denial: The church refuses to admit there is a problem. Bargaining: The church tries to fix itself without actually changing. New sign letters. A younger pastor. A new program. Anger: Blame gets directed at the pastor, the leadership, or the community around the church. Depression: The congregation begins to realize the decline is real. Larry explains the important difference between secondary depression and preparatory depression. Acceptance: The congregation finally becomes open to whatever God wants to do next. This is the threshold of resurrection.

ABOUT LARRY DAVIS

Larry Davis spent nine years as an aerospace engineer before answering the call to full-time ministry in 2003. Over 26 years of vocational ministry, he has personally led three church revitalizations, co-planted Grace Mardela Church, and has assisted or consulted with more than 110 churches. He currently serves as Senior Pastor of Grace Seaford Church in Seaford, Delaware, and as Associational Missionary for the Eastern Baptist Association.

His book "Grieving the Loss of the Church You Love" is available on Amazon and Barnes and Noble.

Website: https://www.pastorlarrydavis.com Speaking and consulting inquiries: pastor@graceseaford.org

BOOKS AND RESOURCES MENTIONED

Grieving the Loss of the Church You Love by Larry Davis: https://www.amazon.com/Grieving-Loss-Church-You-Love/dp/1597557811
Autopsy of a Deceased Church by Thom Rainer
Transforming the Rural Church in America by Shannon O'Dell
Our Iceberg Is Melting by John Kotter
On Death and Dying by Elizabeth Kubler-Ross

ABOUT REVITALIZE MY CHURCH

The Revitalize My Church Podcast is hosted by Bart Blair, Director of Church Revitalization at Assist Church Expansion. New episodes release on the 1st and 15th of every month. The podcast exists to help pastors of smaller and struggling churches navigate revitalization with practical, biblically grounded guidance.

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