October 1, 2026
Recently, I asked a group of pastors and leaders who have participated in Church Renewal Conversations a simple question: What is your greatest challenge when it comes to church revitalization?
The responses were honest and encouraging. They came from leaders who love the local church, carry ministry burdens, and believe God can renew His people for His mission.
Every church needs renewal and revitalization because no church is immune to stagnation, apathy, or comfort. Renewal is not a verdict. It is an invitation. It is an opportunity for pastors and congregations to seek the Lord again, notice their communities again, and take faithful next steps toward health and mission. That is also why Church Renewal Conversations matter. These conversations help churches take one clear next step toward health, reduce confusion, lower fatigue, and restore momentum through clarity.
Here are eight challenges churches and leaders are facing as they pursue renewal.
1. Inward focus and mission drift
Elliott Yancey named it clearly. He said, “The greatest challenge can often be overcoming the culture of the individual church. They did not find themselves in need of revitalization overnight. Likely, they have become inwardly focused, and those attitudes and perspectives have become deeply ingrained over many years.”
Many pastors understand this burden. Churches rarely become inwardly focused in one moment. Drift usually happens slowly. The church stops noticing the people around them. The community becomes background noise. The ministries continue, but the mission becomes less clear.
Renewal begins when a church learns to notice again. In Georgia, that means seeing our neighborhoods, schools, apartments, small towns, and rural communities as mission fields. Rural does not mean unreachable. Small does not mean finished. God still places churches in communities on purpose.
2. Negative talk and divisive communication
Andrew Orr described the power of “verbal expression” from entrenched voices. He said negative words can discourage current leadership, distract former and new people, divide the church, and derail ministry. He noted that leaders often spend energy on correction, explanation, and repeated clarification conversations when that energy could have been invested in “People and Life Transformation.”
That is a real pastoral burden. Words shape culture. In renewal, words can either build trust or spread suspicion. Pastors and leaders cannot ignore communication. Renewal requires more than vision. It requires shepherding the room, speaking truth in love, and helping the church talk like people who belong to Christ.
3. Resistance and stalled follow-through when change gets hard
Steve Cash asked a painful question. “What do you do, as a revitalization specialist, when the church leadership staff just gives up once application of revitalization recommendations begins to be challenging?” He described a church that had a strong early commitment after a consultation, but then the effort stalled once the work became difficult.
That response exposes something important. Many churches do not lack information. They lack resolve. They know the need. They may even agree with the recommendations. But when renewal requires sacrifice, courage, apology, change, or sustained effort, the process can stall.
This is why renewal must be spiritual before it is strategic. Strategies are necessary, but strategies cannot carry a church where repentance, courage, and perseverance are absent. A pastor and church often need care, assessment, and coaching before they can carry the full weight of change.
4. Biblical illiteracy and weak discipleship
Jason Wilks said, “For me, I believe the greatest challenge regarding church revitalization is Biblical illiteracy. People just don’t know the Scriptures for themselves.” He connected this to shallow discipleship, tradition over Scripture, apathy, and the faithful few who often carry most of the ministry weight.
That observation deserves serious attention. A church cannot be renewed around preferences. It must be renewed around the Word of God. When people do not know Scripture, they often confuse familiarity with faithfulness. They may assume that what has always been done is what must always be done.
But the Bible continually calls God’s people back to mission, holiness, repentance, and obedience. Renewal does not ask the church to become trendy. It calls the church to become faithful again.
5. Power, control, and the protection of the status quo
Several leaders described the resistance that forms around older systems, gatekeepers, and personal preferences. Sometimes this resistance is obvious. Sometimes it hides behind procedure, tradition, or concern. Not every concern is wrong. Wise leaders should listen carefully to faithful people who love their church. But there is a difference between honoring history and protecting control.
When comfort becomes more important than mission, the church begins to lose its way. When influence is used to preserve position rather than advance the gospel, renewal becomes difficult. Every church has to ask hard questions. Are we managing what we inherited, or are we stewarding it for the sake of the Great Commission?
6. Intergenerational lag and shared commitment
James Forrester named the “response time and lag between intergenerational leaders.” He observed that younger leaders may be quicker to move forward, while older leaders often need more time to process and understand the importance of shared commitment.
That is not a problem to solve as much as a reality to shepherd. Younger leaders may see urgency. Older leaders may carry memories. The church needs both. Renewal that dismisses older adults becomes shallow. Renewal that ignores younger leaders becomes shortsighted. Pastors must help generations move together with patience, clarity, repeated communication, and a shared mission.
7. Difficulty getting leaders to invite help
Jason McNair said, “The greatest challenge right now is getting an audience with church leaders who are a part of churches in need of revitalization.” He described the visible signs of need, including statistics, ACPs, demographics, empty parking lots, and deferred maintenance. Yet he also noted that offering help without invitation can shut the door to meaningful conversation.
He is right. Many pastors know their churches are struggling, but they hesitate to invite help. Pride, discouragement, conflict, fear, and the sense of failure can keep leaders isolated.
But asking for help is not failure. It is wisdom. Proverbs reminds us that there is wisdom in many counselors. Churches do not need outside voices to take over. They need trusted partners who can help them see clearly, pray deeply, and take the next faithful step.
8. Keeping unity and trust while shifting from maintenance to mission
Abioye Tela wrote that revitalization becomes difficult when churches try to embrace intentional change without feeling they are abandoning “their identity, history, or faithfulness.” He also said, “Revitalization is deeply spiritual and relational, not merely structural or programmatic.”
That may be one of the most important findings from all the responses. Renewal is not simply about changing programs, updating facilities, writing a new vision statement, or adjusting the calendar. Those things may matter, but they are not the heart of renewal.
Renewal is about people. It is about helping a church remember who Jesus is, why the church exists, and whom God has called them to reach. It is about moving from maintenance to mission without despising the past. It is about honoring faithfulness while refusing to let nostalgia become lord.
That is why conversation matters.
Church Renewal Conversations are not designed to be another event on the calendar. They are a place where pastors and leaders can name real pressure points, hear from others who understand the work, receive practical tools, and take one clear next step.
The responses reminded me that pastors are not looking for quick fixes. They are looking for faithful help. They want renewal that is biblical, relational, practical, and honest. They want to lead with courage, but they also want to shepherd with care.
Every church needs renewal because every church is made up of people who drift, grow tired, lose focus, and need to be called back to Christ. That does not mean every church is dying. It means every church must keep returning to the Lord, the Word, the mission, and ReFocus the community God has placed around them.
Georgia is our mission field. Pastors are our heroes. Churches are our priority. Renewal begins when we tell the truth, seek the Lord, and take the next faithful step together.
If you are a pastor or church leader, join the conversation. Visit gabaptist.org/renewal and take part in an upcoming Church Renewal Conversation designed to help your church move toward clarity, health, and renewed gospel mission.
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Dr. PJ Dunn is the Senior Consultant for Revitalization of the Georgia Baptist Mission Board. He can be reached at pdunn@gabaptist.org.
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