Church Revitalization: Pace

When I was in high school, I ran on the track and cross country teams. On the track, I specialized in the 400m and 800m races, and on the cross country course, we ran 5Ks. While sprint races like the 100m and 200m are primarily contests of strength and speed, these longer races involve a good deal of strategy. A key component of this strategy is pace. This is important because, if you run too fast, you will be exhausted long before you reach the finish line. Conversely, if you run too slowly, you will lose the race. And if you do not run, you will never finish at all.

Obviously, church revitalization is not a literal race. Yet, pace is an essential part of the strategy because, more often than not, revitalizations do not happen in an instant. As such, there are two primary mistakes that revitalizing leaders make when it comes to pace: they try to do too much too fast, or they try to do too little too slow. And just like in a race, if you do not set the right pace, it can be disastrous for you and the church. Indeed, if you go too quickly, you will be susceptible to personal and corporate burnout. People will grow weary of change and look for something more stable, and/or you will exhaust yourself long before you reach the finish line of renewed effectiveness. Conversely, if you go too slowly, you will have equally serious problems. The innovators of your congregation who support revitalization will grow tired of waiting and leave, and/or you will never actually realize that renewed effectiveness that you long for.

What shall we say about the best pace for revitalization, then? It is tempting to apply the principle of the tortoise and the hare, that slow and steady wins the race, but I fear that is an oversimplification as well. Indeed, when I was running these races, one of the first lessons I learned was that there is a lot more to pace than one simple answer.

Sometimes, you go fast.

You see, there are times during even the longest race when you need a burst of speed. For example, a runner will typically begin the race with a flurry of speed so that he/she is not run over by other competitors. This also enables the runner to get into the open so he/she can stretch out and run most efficiently. Another great example is at the end of the race, when the runner will finish with a kick of speed.

Similarly, in church revitalization, there are times when you go fast. At the beginning of the turnaround process, for instance, there is need for swift, decisive action, perhaps even on several fronts. For instance, it may be necessary to kill ineffective ministries, change the format of the worship service, and paint the sanctuary all at once.

There are several reasons why you might need to go fast in church revitalization. The most common is that you need to break the church loose of what has been binding it. There are some things in the church that are like Band-aids: pulling them off slowly only prolongs the pain. Thus, we pull them off in one quick motion.

The second most common reason to go fast, at least in my experience, is to get clear of the pack. The fact is, 80% of churches in North America are in need of revitalization. If we stay with the pack, we will end up with the pack. Indeed, every runner has a story of how he/she failed to achieve a goal because he/she stayed with the pack. We go fast, then, to differentiate ourselves from the other churches that need revitalization, to make clear that we will no longer be like them, and to break into the open so we can find our groove and minister in it.

Sometimes, you go slow.

On the other hand, there are times during even the most intense race when you need to slow down. I will never forget the cross country course at Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin, for this very reason. You see, twice during that race, runners would take the same path through the woods. Like any path through the woods, this trail could be muddy, and there were tree roots which made the footing precarious in places. More significantly, at one point in the woods, runners would come over a small rise, drop down a quick slope, and make an immediate hairpin turn to the right. If a runner was going too quickly, he/she would miss that turn and hit the unforgiving tree just beyond the elbow. (Fortunately, I never tested whether it was better to hit the tree or continue on down the rather steep slope into the thick woods beyond. I did, however, see a few runners climb back out of that ravine.)

Likewise, in church revitalization, it is important to go slow. When the changes are significant or precarious, going to quickly can leave behind much of the congregation. Granted, there are some toxic people who should be left behind. These wolves have infiltrated the flock to sow confusion and stunt progress. It is, however, important to remember that the 100th sheep of Matthew 18:10-14 was actually part of the flock. Sometimes, we use this parable to argue for leaving behind the whole flock to find the lost, but it is probably more contextually appropriate to argue for holding up the whole flock to reclaim the people who were left behind.

A less obvious time for a church to go slow is right before the revitalization process begins. So often, as soon as we, the leaders, recognize the need for revitalization, we want to immediately start changing things, but this is a strategic time for casting vision and onboarding people. As Simon Sinek points out in his book, Start With Why, this is the time when we to inspire parishioners with inspiring messages of why the church needs to be revitalized.

So also, it is important to go slow right after a burst of speed. Put another way, sometimes, a church needs to catch its breath after a flurry of change. Indeed, it is appropriate to take time to allow the changes to at least begin to become integrated into the culture of the congregation, and to allow those parishioners who have straggled behind to catch up.

Regardless of why you slow down, though, it is imperative to not stop. Invariably, not long after the start of cross country season, our coach would announce that we were going to run farther than we had thus far. He then encouraged us to slow down if we needed, but to never stop running. He understood that, as soon as we stopped running, it was extremely difficult to start again. Further, in that instant, it became that much easier to stop again and again and again. In church revitalization, we may slow down, but we should never stop. During this time, we continue tweaking small things such as repainting a hallway, refreshing the stage decorations, or even introducing a new song.

Sometimes, you defy conventional wisdom.

Lastly, there are the times when every logical fiber of your being says to do one thing, but you actually need to do the exact opposite. Eugene Peterson tells of a situation like this in his memoirs, The Pastor. His church had hit a plateau, and the conventional wisdom suggested he needed to start a building project, capital campaign, or another next big thing to create a cause and galvanize the congregation. Yet, there was a check in his spirit which compelled Peterson to resist. Instead of blazing ahead with the next big thing, he pursued a slower pace which allowed the congregation to be forged as one.

Another example from my own church was the time we had a family interested in planting another congregation. At the time, our parish had an average attendance in the upper-30s, and this family was far from the typical church planter-type. Firstly, she was the pastor, and I do not believe they had a tattoo between them! Moreover, about the same time, we learned that another key family of four was moving away. For so many reasons, the conventional wisdom was to tap the brakes, but we sensed that it was time to press ahead at full speed. Thus, the new church was started, the other family moved away, and our congregation took an almost 20% hit on our attendance reports. It took us several years to recover from that hit, but the departure of those families also compelled our church to dig deep and press into our mission to reach out to the surrounding neighborhood.

But how do we know when it is time to defy conventional wisdom regarding pace? I am reminded of what our cross country coach would tell us as we gathered at the foot of the large hill behind the elementary school. He would tell us to use our arms, to lean into the hill, to shorten our stride, and to quicken our pace. In times of challenge, when we are ministering uphill, we will often be tempted to slow down or even reverse course, but it is in these moments that we must work harder and lean in, to shorten our stride and quicken our pace. In short, it is in times of challenge that we need to go faster, not slower.

So also, I am reminded of what our cross country coach would tell us at the top of the great hill at Fillmore Fareways just outside Cascade, Iowa. At least three or four times during my high school days, we ran at this course, and every time, we came to the top of that hill and stopped to hear the lecture. He would tell us to lean forward and allow ourselves to be carried down the hill, but not too far. In other words, he would tell us to slow down, and what an important word that was! Every time I ran at Fillmore, I saw multiple runners lose control on that hill and descend half of the slope on their face. Often, when things seem to be going smoothly and well, it is important to slow down just a bit so we do not lose control. Further, at the bottom of the hill, runners started immediately up another great hill. If you were going to fast at the bottom, your momentum would carry you straight into the ground! Generally, it is precisely when things seem to be going right and we are really making progress that we need to start preparing for what comes next.

A word of hope

As a revitalizing leader in the same church for nearly 18 years, I have erred on both sides of the correct pace. I have gone too fast and exhausted myself and others, and I have gone too slow and lost momentum. No doubt, you will do the same. Fortunately, revitalization is generally a distance race rather than a sprint. If you make a mistake in your pace during one portion of the race, you can make up for it in another stretch. The trick is to keep with it and adjust your pace strategically in response to the needs and challenges of each part of the revitalization process.