Dear Chapel Family and Friends,

First, I would like to say thank you for your prayers and words of support and encouragement on the passing of my father’s wife Darlene. They married two years after Karen and I were married, and she battled cancer for 17 years. I was able to be with her, my dad, their son and daughter, my brother, and several of Darlene’s extended family as she passed. My family is… complicated.

A sweet addition to my time was staying with Fitz and Kathy, my Young Life leaders. They are the pastors of First Presbyterian of Tampa, they preached at our wedding, and Fitz was chairperson of the committee at ordained Karen and me. Fitz and Kathy were the first people I told we were engaged. We go way back.

This past Monday we finished our “Sundaes on Monday” study group centered on Thom Rainer’s book Anatomy of a Revived Church. We had 22 people participate. To summarize, churches in which God brings about revitalization have these in common:

• The church accepted responsibility and does not blame others or circumstances. “Church leaders and members who refuse to accept their God-given responsibility to reach and minister both inside and outside the walls of the church buildings are on a clear path to decline and likely death. But church leaders and members who embrace the reality of the Great Commission and the Great Commandment for their lives will be part of churches that don’t just survive and live but also thrive and grow.

• The church overcame the traps of traditions. Sometimes there are ways of doing things that become so entrenched they drive (or derail) the mission of the church, and many times these traditions are fueled by personal preferences. In describing one church, Rainer observed “the church stopped worshipping the unholy trinity of me, myself and I.”

• The church expanded the scorecard. Instead of measuring things like worship attendance and budget, revived churches measured (and therefore focused on) ministries that promote Spiritual growth, maturity and making new disciples.

• The church committed to powerful prayer. Rainer began the chapter with this sentence: “I have yet to see a sustained church revitalization that was not undergirded by a powerful movement of prayer.” We have a group meeting for prayer at 12:30 Friday afternoons in the Log Chapel!

• The church dealt with toxins. Renewal cannot take place until the negative member(s) departed. A secondary aspect of this is the fear so often connected with trying to address toxic behaviors or people. Rainer observes that toxic people are rare, but they need to be dealt with.

• The church gave up looking for the silver bullet. They do not think “if only we…, then the church would turn around or get back to the good ‘ol days.” The silver bullet appears to be an easy and quick solution to complicated challenges that took years to develop. Instead of a silver bullet, revived churches have leaders and members who did not look for an easy path, but “they have chosen obedience, sacrifice and service to others.”

• The church chose meaningful membership. “Revived churches were congregations that had transformed from almost meaningless membership to highly meaningful membership.” In revived churches, the membership journey included robust processing of information, clearly communicated expectations, and clear paths of assimilation.

We are now trying to process and integrate what we discussed. I am thankful for the robust and thoughtful discussions and look forward to working together in the future.

I hope you find new and deeper joy and purpose in worshipping and serving the Lord this summer!

In Christ’s Joyful Service,

Tim