The move from task-based to heart-based revitalization is doing the more profound work of revitalizing hearts. This helps the church become spiritually ready to minister to others.

A fresh wind of God has been blowing once again through Crewe Baptist Church due to its focus on the Gospel! Many people have recently professed Jesus Christ as their personal Lord and Savior and have publicly followed His example of water baptism through immersion.

The message of Warwick Baptist Church is clear. There is hope for churches with bi-vocational pastors to experience revitalization!

It may appear that attempting to move a church through a revitalization process at this time would be impossible. However, several churches in Virginia are using this moment to continue to galvanize toward revitalization.

This renewed vision can often be an incremental change that has a ripple effect throughout the church. Other times, God can call the church to rethink its mission and relaunch with an entirely new approach. Two churches in our 2019 revitalization cohort chose the path of renaming their church and relaunching under a renewed mission.

Little River Baptist Church has a fresh emphasis on Sunday School and an intentional plan to focus on the future growth of the church. This church proves that with a dedicated pastor, a faithful congregation, and a love for the community, churches can thrive in small-town America.

April 2018 could have stopped the revitalization efforts of Woodlawn Baptist Church. Instead, a moment of tragedy became a moment of revitalization. Woodlawn has bright days ahead and multiple opportunities to serve its community.

“We really could not have done the ministry, events, and community fundraisers that we did [last] summer if not for the SBCV,” Seth Peterson said. “Having people like Shawn Ames and Rusty Small available for help and advice is amazing.”

Pastor John Pickett of Campbell Ave. Baptist Church in Lynchburg, VA, had a vision for his church to be revitalized and its community to be reached. The church was establishing a culture of discipleship and seeking to interact with the community to share the Gospel. However, they had a facility issue that would have depleted their budget to resolve.