Forthcoming event to help ministers take first step toward church replanting

The Center for Church Revitalization at The Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary will conduct a church replanter assessment event Jan. 30-Feb. 1 at the Riley Center on the Southwestern Seminary campus. This assessment is intended for any pastor, seminary student, or ministry leader who is considering church replanting.

The assessment is being organized by the Center for Church Revitalization in conjunction with the State Convention Network of Church Revitalizers and the North American Mission Board (NAMB) replant team. The event will begin with dinner on Jan. 30 at 5:30 p.m. and will conclude at noon on Feb. 1.

To register, attendants should contact Kenneth Priest, interim director of the Center for Church Revitalization, at kpriest@swbts.edu, or send a text to 817-709-9761.

Priest, who also serves as director of convention strategies for the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention (SBTC), says this assessment is the initial step for any church replant process. Church replanting, according to information provided by NAMB, is intended to infuse new life into churches that might otherwise close their doors. Replanters help these churches to embrace cultural changes and better reach their communities, NAMB indicates.

“The replanter assessment gives us an opportunity to develop a pipeline of replanters, on the national scene, to assist state conventions with the ongoing needs of replanting churches,” Priest says. “Presently, with somewhere around 7 to 9 percent of churches in high-risk situations of needing to close their doors, replanting is a growing need in SBC life.”

Replanters are assessed for visionary capabilities, a passion for ministry, resourcefulness, patience, and emotional intelligence. The assessment process will assist attendants and their spouses to determine if they are good candidates for this particular ministry. Successful completion of the replanter assessment process will engage candidates in the national pipeline for replanter consideration.

Attendants who arrive early can also participate in the biennial SBTC RevConference, which will cover topics relevant to church revitalization, including worship, mobilizing for missions, evangelism, and how to launch a revitalization or replant movement in one’s church. The conference will be held Jan. 30 from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. on the Southwestern Seminary campus. Registration is available at here.

Southwestern Seminary’s Center for Church Revitalization provides resources, training events, consulting services, internships, and ministry opportunities to meet the needs of pastors, church leaders, and local churches. It was launched in August 2019 as a means of strengthening Southwestern Seminary’s work in training those who serve in established churches to initiate renewal and revival. The center will host the Renovate Revitalization Conference on the seminary campus later this spring, March 30-April 2.