CMBA is committed to helping churches. A recent report about the association’s response to churches in need of revitalization shed light on the causes of decline and the help that exists for hurting churches. CMBA can offer support in a variety of ways as churches look to revitalize their presence in the community.

“The association team’s desire is to help churches that find themselves in a hard place due to decline in attendance and participation. Most churches wait until it’s too late to seek outside help,” says CMBA Associational Missions Strategist Jamie Rogers. “We long to see a movement amongst our churches where God begins to move again and that results in people being saved and growing in their faith.”

A CMBA church recently contacted Church Health & Resources Team Leader David Waganer about how to implement one of the steps of revitalization that had been identified for them. This church was still trying to operate with half the number of attendees as it had during previous seasons of vitality, when several hundred members were active there. He likened this church’s situation to a recent experience having his vehicle realigned.

“For this church to move forward, there was an obvious need to reduce the number of committees in order to release members to become involved in reaching people again,” Waganer explains. “The church knew how to ‘do church’ but needed the alignment to ‘be the church.’ Being the church calls for believers to reach their communities with the gospel.”

In November 2021 New Heights began its revitalization journey to “be the church” again in its community. Its membership and attendance had significantly declined when the congregation first contacted SC Baptist Convention Church Strategies Director James Nugent to discuss options for how to move forward. It entered into a partnership with North Trenholm Baptist in February 2022 to begin the replanting process. Members from the two churches formed a leadership team, which also included the church’s transitional pastor.

Richard Fleming served New Heights as that transitional pastor and, through the process, was eventually called to lead as their senior pastor in 2023. He originally accepted the interim role to “love the people. I didn’t seek to just faithfully preach to them, but to be a pastor and love them as well.” Fleming says the partnership with North Trenholm was crucial to the success of New Height’s revitalization experience and having a strong, healthy church come alongside his church provided the hope they needed to move forward.

Fleming “strongly believes that there is hope for declining churches. We have become more unified and diverse. New people have been added to the church and have ignited hope and excitement among the congregation, and we needed that. Visitors experience a warm, loving, and accepting atmosphere. We have developed leaders and now have strong outreach through members who are passionate about reaching people for Jesus.”

Pine View Baptist has been a part of the Blythewood community for 80 years. In the past seven years, it has undergone physical and organizational renovation. Under the leadership of Pastor D.J. Kirkland, Pine View embraced a revitalization process that renewed the formerly declining congregation’s commitment to reach those moving into the rapidly changing community around them.   

The church’s revitalization process began with “James Nugent and Jamie Rogers speaking to the church, letting us take a hard look at our reality from a facility standpoint and with current statistics. We needed the Lord to act and make changes,” Kirkland recalls.

“They provided encouraging information about the neighborhood, community of Blythewood, and things coming to our community that gave us things to pray for and become excited about. They didn’t just say ‘we’re going to pray and everything will be great,’ they gave us tangible things to work with which was beneficial,” Kirkland says of the process. A previous CMBA article delves deeper into this part of Pine View’s story.

One highlight of Pine View’s revitalization experience happened in the summer of 2024 when every church member was involved in offering the first Vacation Bible School held since Covid. “That following Sunday five kids professed faith, with two more a few weeks later,” Kirkland reports, adding that several more children are currently talking with him about baptism.

The church purchased a touch screen device “because we wanted how the children are learning in school to be similar to how they learn at church. We want church to be an important place of learning.” Kirkland’s son serves as the children’s ministry leader and parents are telling Kirkland their children can’t wait to come to church each Sunday to “hear the next lesson.”

To the declining church that is wondering what God could have in store for its future, Kirkland says “God has ways of doing things that we don’t see and don’t understand. At one point, it felt like maybe the church wouldn’t meet anyone again. The Holy Spirit poured himself out and we have begun to see things happen.”

How can CMBA help your church “realign” with God’s purpose and calling in order to better reach members of your community with the hope of the gospel? Contact Rogers today at jamie@columbiametro.org to get started.