Our Mission
After 14+ years of full-time pastoral ministry serving the church in Wisconsin, Illinois, and Ohio, God has given us a passion and desire to revitalize and restore churches to new health and impact for God’s Kingdom! Over the past 2 years, God has been working in our hearts to develop a passion for small churches that are declining, have lost their impact for Christ in their community, and are in need of help to revitalize and change to move forward for Jesus.
We believe God has been preparing us step by step over the years for this type of ministry, and he wants us to step out in faith to help small churches in this way in Kansas City, MO. This is a step of faith for our family as we seek to follow God’s leading, and we would love to have you need support as we start this adventure. If you’d like to know more about how you can support us in this ministry, please sign up for our newsletter! You can also click the SUPPORT to consider supporting us financially in this new adventure.
Our Heart
My wife grew up in Blue Springs, MO, an eastern suburb of Kansas City, and over the years we have developed a love for the area and the people. As we’ve pursued a ministry to small, declining churches through replanting over the last year, God began to open doors for our family to head back to the Kansas City area as churches in need began to reach out for help.
With our focus and attention on Kansas City, we realized that Baptist churches are struggling and have experienced a noticeable decline in recent years. In 2012, there were approximately 250 Baptist churches, but by 2022, that number had fallen to around 200. This represents a staggering 20% decline in just ten years. According to data from the Kansas City Baptist Association, the number of active members has decreased by an estimated 15% since 2013 with churches shutting their doors permanently due to financial difficulties, aging membership, and a dwindling congregation.
As a result, there is a great need for replanting and revitalization of congregations in this area to help them purposefully impact their community with the gospel. We recognize this need and believe God is leading us to step out in faith by partnering with
Calvary Family of Churches and The Send Network to help revitalize churches in the Kansas City Area.
Assessed & Supported by the Southern Baptist's Church Planting Network
The How
How do you help a declining and dying church get to new health? For many of these churches, they think that they are ok, and mostly believe that it takes simply a young pastor with passion and energy to jump in and get some new programs going to get the ball rolling. But that's not going to solve their problem. Here is what we believe needs to happen to get a church to new health:
#1 - Remind them of who Jesus is, his glory, and what Jesus has done for them through the gospel. Many of the current members have become comfortable and taken their eyes off of Jesus. They need to be reminded of what God has done, that he isn't done with them, and still wants to use them for the gospel every time we interact with them.
#2 - Help them open their heart and mind once again to the work of the Holy Spirit through the word of God. When we take our eyes off of Jesus, often we are neglecting his word. We want to root and ground our members in the God through preaching, bible study, and personal disciplines of the Word so that they can know what they need to do and how God wants them to live.
#3 - Provide opportunities in the church where fellow believers can exhort, encourage, and keep each other accountable for what God is calling them to do. As believers we need to put what God has called us to do into action, but we can't do it alone. We need help and support from other believers to move forward instead of shrinking back in fear. Community is key in growth as a church.
#4 - Mobilize them to live a life of faith outside the church walls like those before them by keep their eyes on Jesus, fighting sin, and living like the great cloud of witnesses before them. True growth will happen as God changes the hearts of his people and they obey by reaching their neighbors, their neighborhood, and families with the gospel. This is where we come alongside each of them and help them realize how God can still use them in a specific way to reach the people around them.
If you'd like to watch what God does as implement this revitalization process in our church, sign up below to follow our Journey!
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