In my consulting work with congregations I have the remarkable opportunity to walk alongside all sorts of churches. More and more often, the ones I work with are churches that recognize they are getting smaller and older. Recently I have had multiple conversations with leaders in churches that are preparing to sell their buildings and close up shop. Are there other options?

Yes, other options exist—provided that folks believe in a God who brings life out of death. Church revitalization or church renewal is quite possible when a congregation is willing to acknowledge that, without the work of the Spirit, there is no future for us. In other words, for a church to really thrive, it must first actually believe in the Christian faith!

I’ve been spending a lot of time with one such church for the past six months.

As a church in a large city with a nicely appointed campus and rich legacy, they have numerous material resources. What they lacked was a sense of mission—a shared sense of purpose with God’s transformative work in the world. Over time their ministry and life together became inwardly focused. Discipleship was assumed; evangelism was ignored. Even their relationship with their part of the city was non-existent. When I began to engage with leaders the leading concern was that, within one or two years, they might not have the means to keep the doors open. They echoed Ezekiel in asking, “Can these bones live?”

It is too soon to know the next chapter of this congregation’s life but I can report the following:

• Elders and staff have committed themselves to pursue God’s mission—believing that God’s design for the church they lead is for the sake of the city, not for themselves.

• The leaders have challenged the whole church to join in prayer for God’s preferred future—and they are praying.

• The whole church spent a full weekend together facing the reality of a changing secular culture, reflecting on the church’s purpose as witness to gospel to their city, and exploring possible next steps for their life together.

• Repentance, humility, and the longing for renewal characterize the spirit of this church as they invite God to do what God longs to do among them.

What happens next for this church will be their faithful response to God’s active leadership. Already they are clarifying mission, realigning staff and other key leaders to focus on discipleship, challenging each other to allow renewal to begin within each person in the congregation, and gathering up folks to explore how to redeploy their assets for the sake of the gospel. Can these bones live? Yes, when we invite God to breathe upon our churches!

May God bring renewal in your community of faith!