Young People, It's Time To Join A Church Revitalization
- James Everett
- Aug 15
- 6 min read
Young people, it's time to join a church in revitalization.
If you're like me, the first time you hear about Church Revitalization, you might think one of these things:
1. Ew.
2. No thanks.
3. Why would anyone want that?
But again, if you're anything like me, once you begin to learn about Church Revitalization, you begin to catch fire for the vision of seeing God breathe life into a declining church through the loving care of a shepherd pastor (John 21:15-17, 1 Peter 5:1-2) and the faithful, enthusiastic, convictional preaching of His word (2 Tim 4:2).
And little by little, your question moves from being “Why?” to being, “Why not?” Church Revitalization, going into an established but declining congregation in the hope that God will bring spiritual renewal to those people and place, is different than church planting in many ways. One thing that needs to be named right away is that Church Revitalization, unlike planting, is not cool.
I'm not trying to suggest that planters plant churches in order to be cool. What I am suggesting is that planters have a vision for their church in mind when they set out to plant, and because they're starting out from scratch, that vision is relatively manageably realized. So, whether a church plant would be labeled cool by the world or not, there's a certain quality in young, church-planting circles that's appealing to a younger generation.I get that.
Going into a Church Revitalization context, you need to know and be prepared that you're not going to have all your church-preference boxes checked. Because of its primary demographic (older, boomer Christians), a church in revitalization may embody a style of worship that jives with a different generation. With that said, I'm not encouraging you to join a dying church, but a church in revitalization, and a church in revitalization has certain characteristics.
For instance, a church in revitalization honors where it's been, but has an eye on the future of the church. Stylistically, that means that the pastor/elders of the revitalizing church are (hopefully) trying to lead the church to a place that bridges two stylistic desires.
In the case of music, it could be that hymns (or modern hymns) make up the bulk of the church's songs, but they are done in a simple, modern, singable style that can be enjoyed and enthusiastically sung out by saints young and old (Eph 5:19-20).
Young person, I know that you crave depth. You tire of the songs that give you an emotional high but leave you wondering if gathering with the church and dealing with all its inherent problems (it is filled with sinners, after all) is really all that necessary for your worship experience. The vibe of a church that sings like I've described in the former may be less cool, but the substance is weighty and beautiful.
Over the last 18 months of being a part of a Church Revitalization, I’ve met several young people who are looking to get settled in a church home. They have shared with me that what they’re looking for in a church is a good group of young people that they can belong to and assimilate with. I’d be lying if I told you that that hasn’t been a discouragement to me.
Church Revitalizations find themselves in an interesting position. A church enters a season of revitalization after a period of evaluating its readiness to engage with a new generation. The people left in the church have said, “We don’t want the church to die with us; we want to see the faith passed to a new generation.” Yet, many young people are disinterested or unwilling to engage with an older congregation as they lay the groundwork for the future.
There’s a catch-22 at work. Young people won’t join a church without other young people, but a church can’t have other young people until they join. As a brief but important aside, let me say this. You have unlimited opportunities to participate in spaces saturated with your peers. Your workplace is likely full of them. Whatever you do for recreation, you’re probably surrounded by people who look and think like you. Go out for entertainment, and, surprise, you’ll mostly find people your own age.
But the beauty of the church isn’t that it’s filled with people who look and think just like you. Inherently, by God’s wisdom and mercy, the church is composed of a vast diversity of people who are brought together by the common love of Jesus (1 Cor 12:12-14). There’s an unusual joy and beauty to looking around and realizing that, apart from Christ, you probably would have never met or loved the people that you now consider dear brothers and sisters.
The Church is a collection of people from every tribe, tongue, and nation (Rev 7:9). It also represents both the young and old, male and female, and rich and poor. This is essential for the health of God’s Church. We have so many lessons to learn from the diversity represented in the body of Christ! Praise God for this truth!
So young person, let me persuade you for a moment to change your search criteria. Instead of looking for a church that’s packed with peers, look for a church in revitalization. If you do, here’s what you’ll find:Your presence is important.How many church gatherings have you gone to where you ended up a passive spectator? Maybe the music got you hyped, and the preaching was engaging and entertaining, and you were surrounded by people who match your vibe. But if you don’t show up next week, is anyone going to notice? Frankly, that church doesn’t need you.
But when you go to a church in revitalization, you do not slip in and out unnoticed. Your presence is important. Your presence is an answer to the prayers that the church has been praying. The older congregants may not be overly skilled in conversing with you. That’s ok. If you’re skilled in conversing with others, you not only get to encourage the church with your presence, but you also get to build others up, and, in the process, model what that looks like for people who may not yet have that skill.
In a larger, established church, there’s not a lot of need for you to go a speak to others and build them up. The structure of the church is already taking care of that. They’ve got a senior adults pastor, an executive pastor, a youth pastor, a women’s minister, a social media manager, a family connections pastor, and an AI-powered robot that greets everyone as they walk in. (Ok, I made that last one up.)
But at a smaller church in revitalization, there is (much like in church-plants) an all-hands-on-deck mentality. Everyone has a role to play. No one is superfluous. In the well-known quote, Mahatma Gandhi said, “Be the change you want to see.” If you participate in a Church Revitalization, if you go in with a vision to make the church the most joyful, passionate, encouraging place that it possibly can be, you have a real chance to do that. You can effect change there. You can make a difference. You will have an incredible opportunity to be a force for shaping the culture of that church. I don’t know about you, but that fires me up!
You might be noticing that I’m trying to get you to stop thinking about what a church can provide to you, and to begin thinking about how you can bless and encourage a small group of older, hungry saints. This is the call of every Christian, to consider how we might love others before considering how we might be best loved (Phil 2:3).
However, the last thing that I want to say about why you should join a Church Revitalization is about something unique that you can receive in that place. The leaders of that Church Revitalization are eager and ready to pour into people. They’re just waiting for people to come along who are excited and serious about seeing the church bring glory to God so that it transforms a people and the city they live in along the way.
If you are eager to be developed and deployed in kingdom work, this is the type of place you want to be! And that’s pretty cool, isn’t it?
If you’re interested in learning more about Church Revitalization, check out this brief Intro to Church Revitalization and check out thecalvary.org
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