Vital Church Conference Strives to Strengthen Churches, Pastors

HUDSON, Ohio - May 14, 2015 - PRLog -- How are the churches in your city or town doing? Chances are that most are not doing well. And the pastors of those churches are likely to be overworked, stressed out, and even burned out.

Chris Bolinger of Hudson, Ohio aims to change that. Last year, he started Revitalize Ministries to equip Christian church leaders to be more effective at their challenging calling. The organization’s second Vital Church Conference, which will be held Friday, June 5 at Christ Community Chapel in Hudson, will feature church revitalization experts from as far away as Alaska.

“Some U.S. churches are doing great, but most are struggling,” says Bolinger. “80 percent of U.S. churches have attendance that is flat or declining, and at least 5,000 U.S. churches close every year. Many of these institutions have been the backbone of their communities for generations.”

Church struggles have a big impact on pastors and other church leaders. An alarming number of pastors report that they are under tremendous stress, and that stress often leads to health issues such as obesity, hypertension, and depression. In one survey, half of the pastors said that they would leave their profession if they could.

Pastors and churchgoers are not the only ones affected by church struggles. Churches provide and fund critical social services such as food pantries, soup kitchens, and shelters. Churchgoers tend to volunteer in their communities more than non-churchgoers, so declining church attendance leads to lower levels of community service and involvement.

Most attendance declines are seen in established small churches, those that were started more than 30 years ago and have an average Sunday morning attendance of 200 people or fewer. Newer churches and larger churches are doing better, in part because some people “hop” from struggling churches to houses of worship that are thriving. But many who leave established small churches stop attending altogether. Every year, about three million U.S. churchgoers become inactive, and many never return to any church.

“It’s terrific that many megachurches and church plants are thriving, but they are not the answer for everyone,” says Bolinger. “Established small churches have characteristics – such as unique traditions, intergenerational relationships, bonds in the community, and opportunities for involvement and leadership – that you just can’t get in a large church or a startup church. We need to find a way to revitalize our neighborhood churches.”

Bolinger does not consider himself an expert on church revitalization, so he has assembled a team of experts for the Vital Church Conference. The conference boasts 10 speakers and a dozen partners that will bring attendees practical, proven techniques for growing their churches. The focus is on becoming more effective at fulfilling the Great Commission, which is the final charge given by Jesus in the Gospel of Matthew.

Featured speakers at the conference will include:
- David Murrow, author of the bestseller Why Men Hate Going to Church
- Craig Cable, director of a Group Publishing initiative called Lifetree Café
- Evangelism expert Doug Pollock, who wrote the book God Space
- Small-church pastor Karl Vaters, author of the book The Grasshopper Myth

Participants in the conference’s ministry fair will include FamilyLife, The Salvation Army, Group Publishing, Man in the Mirror Ministries, Moody Radio, and the Transforming Churches Network.

To get details on the conference and register for it, visit vitalconf.com.

Church Struggles and Pastors
Church struggles affect not just the people who attend those churches but also the communities that are served by those churches. The biggest impact, however, is felt by pastors and other church leaders. Many pastors today report that they are overworked, underpaid, underappreciated, and struggling with feelings of burnout.

According to the website expastors.com, half of U.S. pastors would leave the ministry if they could but “have no other way of making a living.” That website also reports that:
- 90 percent of pastors report working between 55 to 75 hours per week.
- Half feel unable to meet the demands of the job, with 90 percent feeling that they are inadequately trained to cope with ministry demands.
- 70 percent feel underpaid.
- 70 percent fight depression.
- 80 percent believe pastoral ministry has had a negative impact on their families.
- 70 percent do not have someone they consider a close friend.
- 40 percent report serious conflict with a parishioner at least once a month.

Increasingly, those pastors who are unable to cope with the stress of ministry are taking sabbaticals or leaving the ministry altogether, even early in their careers. The Francis Schaeffer Institute of Church Leadership Development reports that 35 to 40 percent of pastors last less than five years in the ministry.

The Vital Church Conference
Attendees of the first Vital Church Conference praised it for providing “lots of good ideas” as well as inspiration and encouragement. Bolinger has beefed up this year’s Vital Church Conference with more speakers and more ministry fair participants but compressed the conference from two days to what he calls “one very action-packed day”.

In addition to Murrow, Cable, Pollock, and Vaters, speakers include pastors from northeast Ohio and Kentucky, a revitalization expert from Tennessee, a FamilyLife staff member, and an expert on discipleship.

The Vital Church Conference will start at 8 a.m. on Friday, June 5 and end at around 9:30 p.m. A conference pass, which includes meals and beverages, costs $79, but discount codes are available. Call 1-844-VITAL CHURCH to get one.