Post-Pandemic Church Revitalization In Full Swing Across The US
BIG SPRING, Texas — Brad Borggren arrived at his new pastorate in December 2019 with observations shared by many of his peers.
Salem Baptist Church wanted to grow. Many great pastors had stood behind its pulpit in the church’s 115-year history. One of them, Roy Fish, went on to become one of the most beloved professors in Southwestern Seminary’s history.
Sunday attendance averaged 25. Most of Salem’s members were in their upper 50s and lower 60s. Vision and a sense of mission were lacking. It was Borggren’s first pastorate after seven years in South Asia with the International Mission Board.
The challenges were considerable even before the COVID-19 pandemic, which hit three months later. Many churches just like Salem wouldn’t survive.
Today, Salem is undergoing a revitalization process with the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention to see new days and new opportunities. Those are already appearing to continue and expand its ministry.
“The church realized that change had to happen, but the word ‘revitalization’ was not in their vocabulary,” Borggren said. “And also, the type of change was not clear. As many churches voice, they knew we needed to grow younger, but did not know how or what to change to make that happen.”
The pandemic was brutal on churches, but even the year before, the number of Protestant congregations in the U.S. had gone backward by approximately 1,500. The Southern Baptist Convention lost more than 1,000 churches in 2020, 2021 and 2022 each. Although the 2024 ACP survey also reported a loss, it was a significantly lower figure at 292.
Churches arriving at a certain point will either close down, replant or revitalize. The North American Mission Board, in an initiative led by Mark Clifton, offers numerous resources for revitalizing and replanting. That includes a podcast hosted by Clifton called, appropriately enough, “Revitalize and Replant.” Clifton often speaks to leaders on both subjects and the differences between the two.
Much of SBC revitalization happens at the state convention level, though. Borggren led Salem to become part of the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention’s (SBTC) regenesis emphasis.
It’s a slow process by design.
“Regenesis uses the best tools available,” said Anthony Svajda, SBTC Pastoral Ministries associate. “It’s an eight-month cohort with 8-10 churches in your region, all walking their way to revitalization.”
Pastors form regenesis teams from the church for those meetings. Objective feedback comes from a cohort leader while churches get “a-ha” moments from hearing others’ stories.
“They’re figuring things out, such as the fact that every church has issues, and it’s OK to own those,” said Svajda, who was in full-time ministry for 20 years and a pastor for 10. During that time, he led two churches through revitalization.
“God moved in both places,” he said. “Every church that goes through the process has a different solution, because every church is different.”
Support from numerous sources
The Cooperative Program helps both at the state and national levels of promoting revitalization. In Arizona, associational missions strategist Don Vickers sees numerous churches needing a hand in getting their feet reset.
“Revitalization gives you a realistic look at where you are and identifies some of the reasons for your position,” said Vickers, who assists in the revitalization strategy for the Arizona Mission Network (AMN). “It helps clarify your mission, vision, purpose and strategy. Then you begin to carry those things out.”
Vickers leads Yuma Southern Baptist Association, the building for which is about 16 miles from the Mexico border. He has observed the importance of churches understanding the ministry context where they serve.
“There is no cookie cutter approach. Not every church looks the same after this process,” he said.
“Immanuel Southern Baptist Church in Yuma had become disconnected from its community. They looked at what their values, mission purpose and strategy should be and have been working through it for three years now.”
The church’s resolve shows. Immanuel formed a team built from the ReFocus emphasis by the AMN. When their pastor was called to another congregation, he assisted in that team’s continuation of leading the church through revitalization.
“Their whole attitude has changed,” Vickers said. “Instead of waiting in the church building for people to come to them, they are going out in the community. They’re becoming known as a church that cares, and God has brought people to them through it.”
Rising and falling
ReFocus was introduced to AMN by Keith Durham, who served as church health facilitator before accepting the director position at Concho Valley Baptist Association in Texas in 2022. ReFocus has brought many success stories, including one church that started a school.
AMN associate director Monty Patton co-coaches with Chad Garrison, pastor of Calvary Baptist Church in Lake Havasu, through Church Boom, a cohort-based revitalization process.
ReFocus and Church Boom have similarities, with ReFocus relying more on a team from the church in revitalization. Church Boom includes a “soul retreat” for pastors where they get away with peers for a lot of downtime, but also fellowship and talking through the challenges of their calling.
“Any kind of revitalization rises and falls with leadership,” said Patton. “If you don’t have leadership, change isn’t going to happen. We’re seeing churches increase by 15-20 percent in attendance when they go through the steps.”
The revitalization processes for both Texas and Arizona state conventions are fairly consistent, including offering numerous opportunities and settings for meeting state leaders and others going through the steps, getting feedback and encouragement from both.
But each church arrived at the need for revitalization for different reasons. This affects what is specifically addressed. It’s not uncommon for churches to want to move too fast.
“They need to identify problems in their past before they can move to the future,” said Svajda. “Let’s say a church has a history of firing pastors. It becomes normal, which is a problem. The same goes if they have a history of splits. It can become part of their DNA and you have to talk about that.”
Salem Baptist, in Big Spring, has taken the slow approach. That actually works for Borggren’s personality. Regenesis has helped him from taking it too far.
“I’ve been stretched in tactical patience and creativity,” he said. “I’m a patient person by nature, but my tendency is to wait too long. This process is teaching me how to put a plan in place and strategically work on implementation.”
He’s seeing his congregation becoming “more like Jesus,” a personal goal for him. It is also reflecting a mindset he picked up from his time as an international missionary.
“See the whole picture,” he said. “Many times in churches I’ve seen people stop at discipleship or leadership development, but rarely have a vision to multiply churches.
“My prayer is that Salem becomes an Act 13 church … that we would be obedient to the Holy Spirit’s presence and direction. At Salem, we want to grow, but ultimately we want to grow the Kingdom of God.”
This story has been republished with permission from Baptist Press.
Scott Barkley is chief national correspondent for Baptist Press.