2023 Church Revitalisation Network
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For the last few decades, there has been a growing realisation that existing churches, even those that were recently planted, are not faring well. Many church leaders currently lack the training necessary to build sustained growth, health, and spiritual vitality.
The Church Revitalisation Network seeks to respond to the decline of existing churches by training church leaders in the spiritual leadership and skills they need to revitalise their churches for long-term sustainability. Its vision is to equip spiritually mature and intellectually well-grounded evangelical church leaders to:
- Improve the spiritual health of the church through worship, building trust in God as obedient disciples
- Improve relationships within the church and with unbelievers through face-to-face relationships and better integration of new members
- Improve the quality of leadership within the church through team building
- Improve the effectiveness of the church by identifying the mission, vision, and strategic plan
- Improve the contextualisation of the church through historical, geographical, and cultural study of the church’s community
Participants in the Church Revitalisation Network will receive specialised training at the Annual Meeting and throughout the year, as well as helpful resources and opportunities to be mentored.
Applicants should be church leaders interested in receiving the spiritual leadership and skills they need to revitalise declining churches and build sustained growth, health, and spiritual vitality.
Network Leadership
Network Speakers
René Breuel was born in São Paulo, Brazil and has lived in Rome, Italy for the past 13 years, where he serves as the Founding Pastor of Hopera, a church in Rome’s university neighborhood. He holds a Master of Studies in Creative Writing from Oxford University in the UK, a Master of Divinity… Read more
David Brown planted three churches before revitalising a church in central Paris. For many years he was involved with GBU (Groupes Bibliques Universitaires), the French student movement affiliated with IFES. More recently he has been promoting church revitalisation through his chairmanship of… Read more
Daniel Fodorean is the Dean of the School of Theology and Associate Professor of Applied Theology at the Baptist Theological Institute of Bucharest, Director of Leader Formation Institute and Antioch Church Network, Teacher Pastor of Bethany Baptist Church, Bucharest. He is also the Coordinator… Read more
Stefan Gustavsson is a member of the European Leadership Forum Steering Committee. He is the director for Apologia – Centre for Christian Apologetics and makes his home in Stockholm. He was the founding general secretary for 16 years of the Swedish Evangelical Alliance. Stefan travels widely… Read more
Jay Mosser has served in pastoral roles for 43 years – about 20 years in various assistant pastor capacities and the rest as senior pastor. Through those years he has served in three churches ranging from smaller (less than 50) to larger (about 1,000). Along the way he has worked with children,… Read more
Nathan Nymeyer is the Vice President of Programming and Theology for the Forum of Christian Leaders, partner with the European Leadership Forum. Prior to his work with the Forum, Nathan served in a variety of ministry roles for 16 years, including 11 years in pastoral ministry. Nathan studied… Read more
Scott Poling serves as Senior Pastor of Harvest New Beginnings Church located in the southwest suburbs of Chicago. He has served in ministry for 28 years at Harvest, seeing first-hand God’s work in the renewal of a dying church. He’s gained a unique perspective, understanding the pressures and… Read more
John Stevens is the National Director of the Fellowship of Independent Evangelical Churches, a family of over 500 Bible-centred churches in the UK, a position that he has held since 2010. Prior to this he was one of the founding pastors of City Evangelical Church Birmingham, which was planted in… Read more
Network Programme
Sunday, 21 May
In many cases congregations are dwindling because they are seeing no conversions from people outside their fellowship. Church life seems to be in a different world to where most people are today and we need to reconnect our churches so that the Gospel really seems to be good news for them. This session will outline how Europeans understand life and suggest some ways to make the Gospel plausible and believable for our non-Christian neighbours.
The main objective of revitalisation is to bring the church back to good health. This means a Gospel-centred church in which the Christians are learning, as disciples, to love God with all their heart, soul, mind and strength and to love other people, whether they are fellow Christians within the church or non-believers whom they meet in their daily lives. That is the vision for revitalisation but we also need to work out the intentional process by which this can be achieved bearing in mind both the local context and the cultural atmosphere of Europe today.
Monday, 22 May
Some people have claimed that it is more important, even more biblical, to plant new churches than to bring new life to existing ones. This session will show that the idea of revitalisation runs right through the Scriptures, and that it truly is a Biblical principle. We will never reach the world for Christ if we give up on the churches which the Lord has already raised up, sometimes many years ago.
Successful church revitalisations are dependent upon the existing church leaders recognising the urgency of the need for change before the church does, and the formation of a suitably gifted team to envision and implement change. This session will consider how church revitalisers, denominations and networks can persuade churches to accept the need for revitalisation without alienating those who have served in the church for many years. It will also consider the character and competencies required of those who will undertake the revitalisation, and address some of the challenges that might arise amongst the church revitalisation team. The session will draw on biblical teaching, practical examples, and case studies to show how careful attention to these issues is crucial to achieving transformation of the church.
Tuesday, 23 May
Few things are more essential to church revitalisation than a spirit of joy and unity within the church family. Similarly, healthy relationships with people outside the walls of the church are also vital if a church is going to reach the community. Good relationships do not just happen though. They must be intentionally cultivated…but how do we do that? This session will present practical suggestions on how to cultivate grace-filled relationships both inside and outside the church.
We will be evaluating key components that need to be in place for church revitalization to occur. This practical checklist will be comprised of biblical principles for you to use to see how you can best position your church for renewed life and vibrancy.
Wednesday, 24 May
Are our ministries designed to reproduce past models or to creatively fulfill our present mission? How can our churches resonate with secular unbelievers today? This session will share contextualization principles, tell stories of effective urban ministry, and help you rethink your church’s posture to society and culture.
Most churches have a time each Sunday when all the church members meet together. The writer to the Hebrews encourages Christians not to give up doing this in order spur one another on towards love and good deeds (Hebrews 10.24-25). How can we best use this unique moment which we have as Christians, as the gathered church, in order to prepare ourselves to live for Christ in everything we do throughout the week, as the scattered church?