Church Development & Revitalisation Programme
Becoming a WELL Church
Mission: To go into all the world and make disciples, baptizing them in the name of the Father
and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to obey all His commandments.
Vision: To be a WELL church.
and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to obey all His commandments.
Vision: To be a WELL church.
Local churches are at the heart of God’s mission. Church development is about breathing new life into churches that have seen decline or have reached a plateau.
The Road so far
From November 2018- April 2019 our Minister at the time Colin Macleod attended monthly seminars between Inverness and Edinburgh with several other ministers representing churches which felt they needed revitalized or redeveloped. The purpose of the seminars was to hear from those who had been in churches where revitalization came about in order to glean some helpful advice for ourselves, and to have some training input on issues crucial to church development and growth. So several ministers reflected on their experience of church growth and what that looked like in their context and others shared teaching sessions for us to consider. Topics covered were working in the Community, Casting a Vision, Importance of Leadership and Coping with Discouragement.
Books were recommended for reading; 3 books on the topic of church development: From Embers to a Flame by Harry Reader, Deliberate Church by Mark Dever and Paul Alexander, and God’s Country, by Brian Roth which was specifically focused on a rural setting.
Having reflected on the past years' sessions, readings and discussions, it’s time to try and move forward in the development process with the congregation, taking on board the last years church development exercise, with a focus and in a direction that takes on board what will inform the way we move forward.
A very helpful paradigm is found in Harry Reader’s book, From Embers to a Flame, and is based on what the Lord says to the church in Ephesus in Rev 2. 5, who were in need of revitalizing: ‘Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent and do the works you did at first’; so Jesus himself has laid out the three-fold paradigm for church revitalization: remember, repent and recover!
1. Remember Jesus calls the Ephesian church to remember! This strategy calls us to learn from the past, not live in the past. The past can be foundational and create momentum to initiate ministries in the present that will change the future. This means intentionally connecting the church to the vibrancy of its past with celebration and worship for what God has done, just as the Israelites would pile up stones to teach the next generation what the Lord had done. Celebrate the past victories, investigate and identify the principles that the Lord blessed, and then contemplate how to implement them in the present, remembering that God is the same yesterday, today, and forever. The goal is to have a church that does not live in the past, but does learn from the past, and then lives in the present in order to shape the future. So often we keep looking back and that can hold us back. So we celebrate the past, learn from it but not sentimentalize it! This could happen through meetings where people are encouraged to share what they think is worth celebrating, or inviting the congregation to submit their views on this, and then acknowledging what is good and what lessons have been learned.
2. Repent Jesus pointed out that the Ephesian church had to repent of sin. The spiritual vitality and growth of a congregation is usually absent because there is ‘sin in the camp’ (Joshua 7) and so the church must be called to repentance. We must realize that ‘if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness’ (1 John 1:9). Confession of sin must begin in the leadership, be modeled by the leadership, and then be graciously but firmly demanded from the congregation. This means frank and open dialogue between leaders and then with the congregation. This may involve not only confession but deeds of repentance, including restitution, restoration, and reconciliation. This means encouraging a spirit of openness and sharing in prayer or conversation.
3. Recover Jesus then tells the Ephesian church to do the things they did at first; in other words a recovery process must begin. For that we need to know what direction we’re going in and what we need to be aiming to do. We need a mission statement. No Bible passage informs our mission, and shapes our vision, more than the Great Commission in Matthew 28:16–20:
Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. And when they saw him they worshiped him, but some doubted. And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
As we remember the past, repent of sin we need to move forward, and we need to be moving forward with the Great Commission as our goal and purpose in mind- a church that fulfills the Great Commission is a healthy, vibrant, Gospel-focused church. We want to be a church that is not sick or ill, but is WELL. This is a useful acronym for us to have as a Vision statement. WELL churches produce WELL Christians and are led by WELL leaders- On the basis of the biblical model (Great Commission) and the issues gleaned from the sessions and seminars we need to make the focus our church life on:
Worshiping which emphasizes our ministry to God- The role of worship in the Great Commission is often overlooked, but the disciples were worshiping when Jesus spoke His famous words to them. Matthew 28:16–17 says, “Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. And when they saw him they worshiped him.” So the narrative illustrates that corporate worship provides a necessary foundation on which the rest of the Great Commission is built. And if our church is to be revitalized by the Spirit of God, we must first be worshiping the Triune God and exalting the Gospel in every service of worship, encouraging the corporate worship of God. Worship is reaching up to exalt God.
Evangelising which emphasizes our ministry to the world- In Matthew 28:19, Jesus commands, “Go therefore and make disciples,” and the Greek text literally reads, “As you are going, make disciples.” There is an assumption that believers will be going out into the world, and the point is that while we are going, we should be making disciples. This strengthens the call for intentional evangelism because it indicates that all true believers will be seeking for the lost as a natural fruit of being born again. Jesus assumes that His people will be reaching out to non-Christians, and He then proceeds to tell them how they should go about it. The church should be “going.” We are not waiting for the seekers to come—we are going, like Jesus, “to seek and to save the lost” (Luke 19:10). Jesus came into the world seeking us; we are going into the world seeking them in our community- on our front line- with the good news; so we need to focus on evangelism and developing an evangelistic mindset that is involves every Christian; we need to develop a mission mindset in all we do as we seek to share the Good News of Jesus. Evangelising is reaching out to evangelise the world.
Loving which emphasizes our ministry to one another- The Great Commission says that we are to “make disciples . . . , baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit” (Matt. 28:19). Baptism was one way of welcoming believers into the family of God and a witness that they were sharing in the life of the Church. This speaks of the need not only to reach out with the gospel to people outside the church, but also to pull them in to the family of the church. This process can be called enfolding, and it is an essential aspect of church revitalization. We might attract people to church but if the people we reach are not brought into the body, the church will continue to die. And relationships are the key to enfolding. So Discipleship is crucial and that must be relational, not merely informational. We must focus on building Gospel, personal, caring, life-sharing relationships on a one-to-one basis but also in small groups as well with prayer at the heart of everything we do: Psalm 85.6, ‘Will you not revive us again, that your people may rejoice in you’. It involves everyone having a place and ministry in the church that matches their personal calling and passion, so that everyone is using their gifts in an expression of all body ministry (1 Cor 12). Loving is reaching in to enfold one another.
Learning which emphasizes our ministry to ourselves- in the last part of the Great Commission, Jesus says that we should be “teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you” (Matt. 28:20). In worship we reach up, in evangelism we reach out, in enfolding we reach in, and we must also be reaching down with sound teaching that flows constantly from the leaders to the congregation. Peter ends his second letter by urging believers to ‘grow in the grace and in the knowledge of Jesus Christ (2 Peter 3. 18). The Great Commission itself is one of the commands that Jesus is referring to, so our teaching must have the effect of equipping believers to do the work of the ministry (Eph. 4:11–12). The goal of teaching should be not merely to communicate facts, but to produce in our people a faithful, disciplined obedience to the commands of the Lord. Learning is reaching down to equip ourselves.
So in summary, the Mission of GKT Free Church is to fulfill the Great Commission of Matthew 28. 18-20 and the Vision is to become a WELL church by following the paradigm of Revelation 2. 5
In Recovering we want to become a church which engages in Worship, Evangelism, Loving and Learning; a church in which we reach up to God, reach out to the world, reach in to one another, and reach down to ourselves; a church that exalts God, evangelizes the world, enfolds one another and equips believers to be faithful followers of Jesus Christ.
Worship is Reaching Up to Exalt God
Evangelism is Reaching Out to Evangelize the World
Loving is Reaching In to Enfold One Another
Learning is Reaching Down to Equip Ourselves
Please do comment, query and contribute to this plan and document because it is ultimately about us all as a congregation seeking to serve the Lord where we are.
From November 2018- April 2019 our Minister at the time Colin Macleod attended monthly seminars between Inverness and Edinburgh with several other ministers representing churches which felt they needed revitalized or redeveloped. The purpose of the seminars was to hear from those who had been in churches where revitalization came about in order to glean some helpful advice for ourselves, and to have some training input on issues crucial to church development and growth. So several ministers reflected on their experience of church growth and what that looked like in their context and others shared teaching sessions for us to consider. Topics covered were working in the Community, Casting a Vision, Importance of Leadership and Coping with Discouragement.
Books were recommended for reading; 3 books on the topic of church development: From Embers to a Flame by Harry Reader, Deliberate Church by Mark Dever and Paul Alexander, and God’s Country, by Brian Roth which was specifically focused on a rural setting.
Having reflected on the past years' sessions, readings and discussions, it’s time to try and move forward in the development process with the congregation, taking on board the last years church development exercise, with a focus and in a direction that takes on board what will inform the way we move forward.
A very helpful paradigm is found in Harry Reader’s book, From Embers to a Flame, and is based on what the Lord says to the church in Ephesus in Rev 2. 5, who were in need of revitalizing: ‘Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent and do the works you did at first’; so Jesus himself has laid out the three-fold paradigm for church revitalization: remember, repent and recover!
1. Remember Jesus calls the Ephesian church to remember! This strategy calls us to learn from the past, not live in the past. The past can be foundational and create momentum to initiate ministries in the present that will change the future. This means intentionally connecting the church to the vibrancy of its past with celebration and worship for what God has done, just as the Israelites would pile up stones to teach the next generation what the Lord had done. Celebrate the past victories, investigate and identify the principles that the Lord blessed, and then contemplate how to implement them in the present, remembering that God is the same yesterday, today, and forever. The goal is to have a church that does not live in the past, but does learn from the past, and then lives in the present in order to shape the future. So often we keep looking back and that can hold us back. So we celebrate the past, learn from it but not sentimentalize it! This could happen through meetings where people are encouraged to share what they think is worth celebrating, or inviting the congregation to submit their views on this, and then acknowledging what is good and what lessons have been learned.
2. Repent Jesus pointed out that the Ephesian church had to repent of sin. The spiritual vitality and growth of a congregation is usually absent because there is ‘sin in the camp’ (Joshua 7) and so the church must be called to repentance. We must realize that ‘if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness’ (1 John 1:9). Confession of sin must begin in the leadership, be modeled by the leadership, and then be graciously but firmly demanded from the congregation. This means frank and open dialogue between leaders and then with the congregation. This may involve not only confession but deeds of repentance, including restitution, restoration, and reconciliation. This means encouraging a spirit of openness and sharing in prayer or conversation.
3. Recover Jesus then tells the Ephesian church to do the things they did at first; in other words a recovery process must begin. For that we need to know what direction we’re going in and what we need to be aiming to do. We need a mission statement. No Bible passage informs our mission, and shapes our vision, more than the Great Commission in Matthew 28:16–20:
Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. And when they saw him they worshiped him, but some doubted. And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
As we remember the past, repent of sin we need to move forward, and we need to be moving forward with the Great Commission as our goal and purpose in mind- a church that fulfills the Great Commission is a healthy, vibrant, Gospel-focused church. We want to be a church that is not sick or ill, but is WELL. This is a useful acronym for us to have as a Vision statement. WELL churches produce WELL Christians and are led by WELL leaders- On the basis of the biblical model (Great Commission) and the issues gleaned from the sessions and seminars we need to make the focus our church life on:
Worshiping which emphasizes our ministry to God- The role of worship in the Great Commission is often overlooked, but the disciples were worshiping when Jesus spoke His famous words to them. Matthew 28:16–17 says, “Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. And when they saw him they worshiped him.” So the narrative illustrates that corporate worship provides a necessary foundation on which the rest of the Great Commission is built. And if our church is to be revitalized by the Spirit of God, we must first be worshiping the Triune God and exalting the Gospel in every service of worship, encouraging the corporate worship of God. Worship is reaching up to exalt God.
Evangelising which emphasizes our ministry to the world- In Matthew 28:19, Jesus commands, “Go therefore and make disciples,” and the Greek text literally reads, “As you are going, make disciples.” There is an assumption that believers will be going out into the world, and the point is that while we are going, we should be making disciples. This strengthens the call for intentional evangelism because it indicates that all true believers will be seeking for the lost as a natural fruit of being born again. Jesus assumes that His people will be reaching out to non-Christians, and He then proceeds to tell them how they should go about it. The church should be “going.” We are not waiting for the seekers to come—we are going, like Jesus, “to seek and to save the lost” (Luke 19:10). Jesus came into the world seeking us; we are going into the world seeking them in our community- on our front line- with the good news; so we need to focus on evangelism and developing an evangelistic mindset that is involves every Christian; we need to develop a mission mindset in all we do as we seek to share the Good News of Jesus. Evangelising is reaching out to evangelise the world.
Loving which emphasizes our ministry to one another- The Great Commission says that we are to “make disciples . . . , baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit” (Matt. 28:19). Baptism was one way of welcoming believers into the family of God and a witness that they were sharing in the life of the Church. This speaks of the need not only to reach out with the gospel to people outside the church, but also to pull them in to the family of the church. This process can be called enfolding, and it is an essential aspect of church revitalization. We might attract people to church but if the people we reach are not brought into the body, the church will continue to die. And relationships are the key to enfolding. So Discipleship is crucial and that must be relational, not merely informational. We must focus on building Gospel, personal, caring, life-sharing relationships on a one-to-one basis but also in small groups as well with prayer at the heart of everything we do: Psalm 85.6, ‘Will you not revive us again, that your people may rejoice in you’. It involves everyone having a place and ministry in the church that matches their personal calling and passion, so that everyone is using their gifts in an expression of all body ministry (1 Cor 12). Loving is reaching in to enfold one another.
Learning which emphasizes our ministry to ourselves- in the last part of the Great Commission, Jesus says that we should be “teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you” (Matt. 28:20). In worship we reach up, in evangelism we reach out, in enfolding we reach in, and we must also be reaching down with sound teaching that flows constantly from the leaders to the congregation. Peter ends his second letter by urging believers to ‘grow in the grace and in the knowledge of Jesus Christ (2 Peter 3. 18). The Great Commission itself is one of the commands that Jesus is referring to, so our teaching must have the effect of equipping believers to do the work of the ministry (Eph. 4:11–12). The goal of teaching should be not merely to communicate facts, but to produce in our people a faithful, disciplined obedience to the commands of the Lord. Learning is reaching down to equip ourselves.
So in summary, the Mission of GKT Free Church is to fulfill the Great Commission of Matthew 28. 18-20 and the Vision is to become a WELL church by following the paradigm of Revelation 2. 5
- Remembering
- Repenting
- Recovering
In Recovering we want to become a church which engages in Worship, Evangelism, Loving and Learning; a church in which we reach up to God, reach out to the world, reach in to one another, and reach down to ourselves; a church that exalts God, evangelizes the world, enfolds one another and equips believers to be faithful followers of Jesus Christ.
Worship is Reaching Up to Exalt God
Evangelism is Reaching Out to Evangelize the World
Loving is Reaching In to Enfold One Another
Learning is Reaching Down to Equip Ourselves
Please do comment, query and contribute to this plan and document because it is ultimately about us all as a congregation seeking to serve the Lord where we are.
