Revitalize and Replant

Mark Clifton, Mark Hallock, and Dan Hurst discuss an article from Sam Rainer on some simple metrics to determine if your church is truly revitalized. Children and students comprise 25% or more of average worship attendance. Conversion ratio reaches 20:1 or better. Giving consistently exceeds expenses. Deferred maintenance is minimized. The number of people in groups is 80% or more of average worship attendance. Resources Related to this Episode: “How to Know Your Church is Revitalized (5 Key Indicators)” by Sam Rainer

Mark Clifton and Dan Hurst welcome D.J. Horton, President of the 2025 SBC Pastor’s Conference, to the show! D.J. talks about his heart for bivocational pastors, church revitalization, and some things surrounding the 2025 SBC Pastor’s Conference in Dallas this June. D.J.’s journey in ministry to this point, including his 20+ years at Church at the Mill. D.J.’s life as the son of a bivocational pastor and his experience in smaller membership churches. The heart behind the 2025 SBC Pastor’s Conference Why pastors of smaller churches should make it to the Pastor’s Conference and SBC Annual Meeting in Dallas in June.

Mark Clifton, Mark Hallock, and Dan Hurst discuss an article from Barnabas Piper about what to do when your children resist and even resent your ministry in the church. Remember your family is your primary ministry. Remember you are called to lead your family. Acknowledge that ministry is hard on kids and costly to families. Consider the stage your kids are in and the cost of ministry for them. Take your kids’ challenges to your fellow leaders for prayer and care Consider your home and family dynamics Consider your church’s relational and cultural dynamics Find outlets for relief Consider stepping away from ministry. Resources Related to this Episode: “Help! My Kids Aren’t on Board with Ministry” by Barnabas Piper

Mark Clifton, Mark Hallock, and Dan Hurst discuss an article from Lifeway about some difficult people you will encounter in church and ministry life. The Dominator The Dodger The Debater The Drainer Resources Related to this Episode: 4 Difficult People You’ll Encounter in Ministry – and How to Handle Them by Christ Surratt

Mark Clifton, Mark Hallock, and Dan Hurst discuss how pastors should prepare and preach the invitation. Every sermon needs to lead to an intentional ask, call, or response. Never assume the hearer knows what to do. In fact, assume their next move needs to be directed by clearly articulated direction. Spend time in your preparation: Identifying what response should be made after the message. Craft thoughtful expressions of calling for salvation, service, or obedience. Decide whether there should be application following each point, or one invitational call at the end of the meeting. Make sure you plan to leave significant time and energy for your invitation and never let it be an afterthought.

Mark Clifton, Mark Hallock, and Dan Hurst discuss how the word “revitalization” can sometimes be uncomfortable, and why the word “renew” may better communicate what we mean. Become a praying church. Understand the church’s mission. Focus on what God can do. The Word is the Word to follow. Serve God with glory. Resources Related to this Episode: 5 Steps to Local Church Renewal by Desmond Barrett

Mark Clifton, Mark Hallock, and Dan Hurst discuss how some things for pastors to think through when it comes to their attire on Sunday mornings. Ask the question, “What does what I’m wearing communicate?” You don’t want your clothes to distract. Wear clothes that are culturally appropriate, but plain. “Be prayerful and honest with yourself about this. Sure, not everyone will agree with where you fall on this issue, but I would encourage two things: 1) make sure your conscience is clear before the Lord in this and 2) always err on the side of plain and unimpressive.” – Mark Hallock Resources Related to this Episode: What Should a Pastor Wear by Mark Hallock

Mark Clifton, Mark Hallock, and Dan Hurst talk about some ways to pray for children who have strayed from the faith. Pray for a heart of brokenness, no matter the earthly cost. Pray against the enemy’s desire to have them. Pray specific Scripture over their life. Resources Related to this Episode: Pray Them Home by Sarah Walton

Mark Clifton, Mark Hallock, and Dan Hurst discuss some types of sermons that just don’t hit the mark. The “I want to show you how creative and clever I am” sermon. The “I want to be real and authentic and vulnerable at all costs” sermon. The “I am passionate about biblical and systematic theology, and you should be too” sermon. The “I love to make the Bible practical for all people without explaining to them what it means” sermon. The “I want you to live the purposeful, prosperous, victorious life you deserve” sermon. Resources Related to this Episode: 5 Types of Sermons That Fall Short by Mark Hallock

Mark Clifton, Mark Hallock, and Dan Hurst talk about the danger of gossip and slander in the life of a church. Here are good questions to evaluate whether the things you are hearing are information you need to know as a pastor or if it’s entering into the realm of gossip: Does this information involve me or affect me directly? What is the motive of the person who passed this information on to me? What is going on in my heart? Resources Related to this Episode: Fighting the “Respectable” Sins of Gossip and Slander by Mark Hallock

Mark Clifton, Mark Hallock, and Dan Hurst talk about some things pastors should know about the kids in their church. Know their names and basic info. Know what they enjoy. Know where they are spiritually. Resources Related to this Episode: 3 Things Pastors Should Know About Every Kid in Your Church by Mark Hallock Shepherding a Child’s Heart by Ted Tripp How does a Pastor Respond to: “When Is My Child Ready for Baptism?” by Mark Hallock

Mark Clifton and Dan Hurst discuss what to do when you have a church of primarily older adults. Don’t use a cheesy name for senior adult ministries. Don’t underestimate the value of senior adults. Find ways to connect your older adults with younger folks in the church. Find some way for an older church to be involved in children’s ministry. Use people to read Scripture publicly in your worship service. Use prayer warriors to lead your people to pray.

Mark Clifton and Dan Hurst discuss some reasons pastors get depressed and why they often don’t talk about it. Spiritual warfare The surprising reality of pastoral leadership. Sense of inadequacy Critics and bullies Loneliness Resources Related to this Episode: 5 Reasons Pastors Get Depressed (And Why Tey Don’t Talk About It) by Thom Rainer

Mark Clifton and Dan Hurst discuss some of the dangers of focusing on church growth as the only metric you look at. Love the church you have. Love your community ministry footprint. Change the scorecard.

Mark Clifton and Mark Hallock discuss how to handle church facilities that are too large for the current congregation. Reconfigure your worship center to be an appropriate size for your congregation. Use your building as an incubator for church plants. Share your building with the community. Share your building with appropriate non-profits. Find ways to use your building to bless the community.

Mark Clifton and Mark Hallock discuss some mistakes that Mark C. made when he was leading Wornall Road Baptist Church. I didn’t know the context. I brought the wrong toolkit. I wasn’t spiritually prepared. I loved the church I wanted, not the church I had. Initially, I saw the community as a prospect to grow my church, rather than loving the community.

Mark Clifton and Mark Hallock talk about how you can protect your family from the uglier sides of church revitalization and replanting. Do not undersell the pain of revitalization to your family. Make sure your wife has some friendships outside the church that can strengthen her spiritually. Find places for your kids to grow spiritually, even if it means they’re involved in another church’s children’s or youth ministries. As a family, find another local church that has weeknight home/life groups.

Mark Clifton and Mark Hallock discuss some important aspects of effective church business meetings. Stick with Robert’s Rules of Order. Be optimistic about the tone of the meeting. Find ways to build consensus, particularly on contention issues, beforehand. Have tactical patience when it comes to divisive issues. Begin the meeting with worship and prayer. Spend some time with the matriarchs and patriarchs of your church to get the history of business meetings in your church.

Mark Clifton and Mark Hallock discuss some ways that your church can come alongside other churches. Form a prayer partnership between your congregation and another congregation. Proactively find a church plant or ethnic congregation and invite them to use your building. Do a special event of some kind (worship night, community outreach, retreat, etc.) with one or more churches in your community. Send 3 or 4 families from your church to intentionally serve and help strengthen a declining congregation in your community for 6-12 months. Take the lead as a congregation in coming alongside a dying church and replanting it as a new congregation with fresh hope and vision. Resources Related to this Episode: Save the Date for the 2025 Replant Summit! – August 25-26 in Alpharetta, GA

Mark Clifton and Mark Hallock discuss some things they would tell their younger selves about what it means to be a dad. Be intentional about discipling your children. Live out your love for Jesus in a genuine way in front of your kids. Be cautious about how you talk about the church in front of your kids. Laugh a lot with your kids. If your kids see you quarrel with your spouse, make sure they see you make up too.

Mark Clifton and Mark Hallock discuss some things they would tell their younger selves about what it means to be a husband. You must learn to be a better listener. Don’t try to fix everything but just be a soft place to land. Learn to love what your wife loves. Be present. Find ways to love her family.

Mark Clifton and Mark Hallock discuss some things they would tell their younger selves about what it means to be a pastor. Quit trying to worry about numerical results Focus on the gospel and realize that my worth is found in Jesus Christ and what He has accomplished on the cross. Listen more and talk less. Cherish the small things and the small victories. Only eternity will reveal the results of your labor.

Mark Clifton, Mark Hallock, and Dan Hurst discuss how to prepare for new folks who may come to your church in the new year. Why do folks not come to church? We minimize the importance of the local church. We worship the idol of activities. We take a lot of vacations from church. We do not have high expectations of our members. We make infrequent attendees leaders in our churches. Resources Related to this Episode: Five Reasons Church Members Attend Less Frequently by Thom Rainer

Mark Clifton, Mark Hallock, and Dan Hurst discuss how to reflect on the last year, and to look forward to the new year. Good questions to ask: What’s going right? What’s going wrong? What’s missing? What’s confusing?

On this episode, Dan Hurst welcomes Jim Elliff, founder and president of Christian Communicators Worldwide (CCW) to discuss how pastors can make pastoral visits more effective. The value of systematic pastoral visits. Some key questions to ask in pastoral visits. Resources Related to this Episode: Christian Communicators Worldwide Spiritual Inventory for Pastoral Visits

Mark Clifton, Mark Hallock, and Dan Hurst discuss an article from Jim Elliff about how to lead difficult church members. Invite them to your home. Try to find out what drives them. Within reason, give them some servant responsibility. Confront them if they continue to cause problems in the church. Resources Related to this Episode: Leading Even the Cantankerous by Jim Elliff

Merry Christmas from the Revitalize and Replant gang! Mark Clifton, Mark Hallock, and Dan Hurst discuss Christmas Eve services and follow-up. We pray that you and your family have a blessed Christmas!

Mark Clifton, Mark Hallock, and Dan Hurst discuss an article from Chris Crain about some causes of church conflict. Pride Spiritual and Emotional Immaturity Change and Inflexibility Abuses of Power Church Politics Unclear Authority Personality Differences Resources Related to this Episode: Seven Causes of Church Conflict by Chris Crain