After a year of Church Redevelopment Ministry, working with approximately 30 CCCC churches around the nation, it was time to prayerfully evaluate our labors to see if we were accomplishing our goals.  Some things were working extremely well.  Others showed a need for some "tweaking."  In all, we're excited about how things are coming together and are looking forward to what God will do with what He's shown us.

Our overall approach will remain the same, walking our pastors and churches through the four "stages" - Restore, Rediscover, Redevelop, Reproduce - but how we implement some components within those stages will be improved.  Essentially, there are five alterations we have made to the process, while maintaining that the experience must always be uniquely tailored to the individual church's needs and ministry context:

• An Organic Approach - recognizing that the local church, by Christ's design, is an organism rather than an organization, we've chosen to change some of the tools and techniques we have been using that were originally created for more of a business model.  We still address organizational needs and congregational systems, but these are now firmly rooted in ministry and faithful obedience lived out by the people of God.
• Empowering the Local Pastor and Leaders - realizing that some congregations were relying too heavily on the CCCC to "fix" their issues, and that many pastors feel unprepared by their education and experience to address some of those issues, we're now taking steps to equip and enable pastors and leaders to become the agents of change in their own local churches.  An exciting addition to our process is the pastor's "personal development plan" -- a vital part of our coaching that develops the pastor and his ministry at the same time revitalization is happening within the church.
• Clustering Churches for Maximum Impact - travel schedules and costs have become increasingly difficult over the last year, and it has become apparent that the Director of Church Redevelopment and the Church Redevelopment Committee cannot possibly meet the needs of all the churches responding to our ministry as it is currently structured.  We are now moving to a "clustering" strategy, bringing several pastors and leaders to a single geographic "hub" for training and equipping, and then following up those training modules with ongoing individualized coaching through various forms of telecommunication.  Fewer trips for our team translates into lower costs and a greater capacity for us to serve you.
• Multiplying Efforts Through Strategic Coaching - current coaching methods have proven to be one of the most appreciated components of our ministry; but there is still room for improvement.  With assessment information from the Restore stage, the pastor's "personal development plan," and the specific training from each module in hand, the coaching appointments now will have a greater impact -- both for the church and for the pastor personally.  And as pastors grow and flourish, they also can potentially become coaches in our process sharing their own experience and expertise.  Thus, our coaching method improves and the number of coaches at our disposal increases.
• Reducing the Time and Financial Investment - the Church Redevelopment Ministry of the CCCC has always been the "best such deal in town."  We recently learned that outside consultants who provide services like ours charge thousands of dollars - some as much as $3000 a day plus expenses for training a cluster of churches like we're describing!  We believe that the changes noted in this article will have one more fringe benefit -- they will likely reduce the already low costs associated with our ministry because the investment for nearly each event is spread over several churches.  We also think the "cluster" approach may reduce the timeframe needed for some congregations to walk through revitalization.

These changes are already being implemented as I write this article -- and the early response has been one of excitement.  But there is one more change about which we're praying: changing the name of our ministry from "Church Redevelopment" to "Church Development."  The reasons are many, but there are two important ones.  First, we've learned first hand that there is a sort of "stigma" in the minds of our pastors and churches associated with the term "redevelopment."  It signifies that the church or the pastor has done something wrong or has failed in some way.  While this might be true -- it is not always the case.  There are many factors that play into a church's decline, some of which are beyond the church's control.  Second, we've also learned that what we have to offer is valuable to ALL churches, not just those which are struggling.  Over time, we would really like to see all of our churches engage in our process -- if only to more beautifully represent the love and gospel of Christ to their communities.  Pray with us about this change, will you?  It may seem insignificant, but we think it might open the door to ministry opportunities we're currently missing. 

God is already doing some extraordinary things in our local churches.  We expect those stories to increase in number in the days ahead.  Thank you so much for your ongoing support of this ministry -- and join us in praising God for fruit we are seeing!