”You’re the Pastor of what?”
This is the most common response I get these days when I tell people about my new role. Although not always in those exact words, what I usually hear contains some mixture of cluelessness and curiosity. I hear, “Wow, that’s interesting.” Or, “What does that mean?” Or just, “Oh, that’s cool,” accompanied by a puzzled look.
None of that bothers me. I get it. How many other pastors have I ever met who said, “I’m the Pastor of Revitalization”? Exactly zero.
I appreciate the opportunity for conversation about what this role means. I would best explain it via the root word of my title and job description (“vitality”), describing how it has looked over time in our local church context (past, present, and future).
Like this:
Our church was once full of vitality. We have a long history of being a strong, active, and energetic church. Full of life that overflowed out into the surrounding community. There are still church members in attendance who have been here from nearly the very beginning, who share their sacred stories with me—nearly 80 years of stories!
The present reality is that vitality has been lost. Incrementally and over time. This has been due to many factors, most of which are simply no one’s fault, and have been within no one’s control. Church members have died. Church members have moved. Pastors have come and gone with high frequency. The challenges of our age have have, sadly, done their worst—and have nearly done us in. But—thanks be to God!—not yet.
Vitality is possible again. The future holds possibilities of new life, new energy, and new mission. Revitalization. Not a newly invented vitality, imported from the outside, imposed by me or anyone else in power, but rather a vitality rooted in the past and watered with the fresh rain of the Spirit. A vitality that rhymes with the past, yet composes a new song for future generations to sing.
Of course, I cannot tell the future. It’s all a vague mist, but there are signposts. And despite the odds, I’m hopeful. Follow along here as I think out loud on this journey of church revitalization. Maybe we’ll all learn something together—for the glory of God, for the betterment of his Church, and for the sake of the whole world.