The Church Life Cycle
The life cycle of a church will vary. The seasons of growth, plateau, or decline have contributing factors unique to their context. We pray churches will seek the Lord to renew, re-evaluate, and recalibrate, to recognize underlying issues that impede Kingdom advance and respond. We pray growing churches will sustain momentum, plateauing churches will regain focus to increase momentum, and declining churches will make radical changes to restart momentum. Even a dying church can see new life restored, all to the glory of God.
The Renew Montana Process Overview
The Church track cultivates spiritual renewal to unify believers in the mission and vision of their church. At each stage, there is a decision point.
PATHWAYS
A healthy church that is experiencing
renewal can REFOCUS under pastoral
leadership and strengthen structures
and processes to better fulfill their
God-given mission.
A declining church that is experiencing
renewal can REVITALIZE by taking dramatic steps
toward health and re-align structures and processes
to fulfill their God-given mission.
A dying church can REPLANT by re-investing its
facilities and resources, so a new church can pursue
a God-given mission their community.
The Nine Healthy Church Targets
The Nine Healthy Church Targets offer a standard with which to measure ministry success. What is the disparity between what we say we believe and what we do? In Christ, there are three identities that define us. In the Kingdom, there are three foundations for belief and practice. In the local church, there are three structures that guide the mission.
How well does your church hit the Nine Healthy Church Targets?
Three Identities
Worshipers – The local church is designed to bring honor and glory to God, and each believer is created to be a worshiper of God. Believers reflect His character, worship Him together, and serve Him wholeheartedly. Their lives are to be centered upon Jesus and the Gospel, as they abide in Him and rely fully on the Holy Spirit. (1 Peter 2:4-9; Ephesians 3:8-10; Romans 11:36)
Family – The local church is the family of God. Each believer is devoted to encouraging, edifying, and caring for one another. This community of believers is called to love and serve one another, bear one another’s burdens, forgive one another, and even rebuke one another in grace giving relationships. (John 13:24-25; Eph. 2:11-22; 1 Peter 2:9-10)
Missionaries – The local church is called and commissioned by God to participate in His mission, and each believer is a witness of God’s grace and a living testimony of the goodness and greatness of God. The local church is designed to live on mission, make disciples, and take the Gospel to the world. (1 Peter 2:11-12; Matt. 5:13-16, 28:18-20; John 20:21-23; Acts 1:8; 2 Corinthians 5:1)
Three Foundations
Gospel – The good news about Jesus must be the center of every local church. Believing and applying the Gospel is our only hope for salvation, spiritual renewal, and church revitalization. Churches must never move on from the Gospel but be saturated by grace. (1 Peter 2:4-8; Col. 2:6-7; 1 Cor.15:1-4; 1 Timothy 3:16)
Scripture – Scripture is the inerrant, inspired Word of God. The Bible is the sufficient source for life and godliness as well as for the revitalization and replanting of churches. Thus, the faithful, clear preaching of God’s Word is essential. (2 Tim. 3:16-17; Ps. 119)
Prayer – God intends to do greater works through us than Jesus did, and prayer is the primary means by which He keeps us reliant upon Him and enables us to do His works in power. The Spirit empowers spiritual renewal and revitalization through prayer. (Acts 2:42, 4:29-31; 6:6-7; 9:3; John 14:12-14; Col. 4:2)
Three Structures
Leadership – God gifts the church for leadership through pastors and deacons. Pastors provide oversight of souls, sound preaching, godly examples, and overarching leadership and direction for the church to equip the church members to minister to one another and their community. Deacons are servants of the church and provide leadership to care for the church’s unity and physical needs. (Philippians 2, 1 Peter 5:1-5, Eph. 4:7-16, Hebrews 13:17, Mark 10:42-45)
Membership – Every believer is called to covenant with a local church to live out the “one another” commands of the New Testament. By submitting to specific pastoral leadership and being accountable to a particular congregation, they persevere together in pursuing holiness to fulfill God’s mission. (Romans 12:3-13; Hebrews 13:17; Matthew 18:15-20; Acts 6:3; 13:2-3; 15:22; 1 Corinthians 5:2; 2 Corinthians 2:6)
Discipleship – From evangelizing the lost to building up the saints, churches are called to make disciples. Healthy churches have intentional strategies and structures to involve people in discipleship, no matter where they are on their spiritual journey. (2 Tim. 2:1-2; Titus 2:3-5; John 20:21-23; Acts 1:8; Matt. 28:18-20)