One of the main principles we hold at the American Anglican Council’s Anglican Revitalization Ministries (ARM) is simple but essential: there is no revitalization without renewal. When a church is in the life-cycle stage of recline (plateau) or decline and decides it wants to grow again, its first instinct is often to jump straight to what we call tactical solutions. These include things like buying a new sign for the road, hiring a youth leader to attract young people, or starting a new contemporary worship service. Any of these can be good steps in time, but beginning with tactical or structural changes without first focusing on renewal is a mistake.

Churches that do this often spin their wheels. They fail to address the real issues beneath the surface, spend a great deal of time and energy, and end up more frustrated than when they started. It makes sense that churches gravitate toward these kinds of changes first, because tactical solutions are visible. You can see them. They feel concrete. But visibility doesn’t necessarily equal effectiveness.

When I first wrote about this topic, I shared an illustration from my own life. My air-conditioning unit in Florida was struggling to keep our house cool, so we had an expert come assess the situation. Because the house is older, our first assumption was that the windows needed to be replaced; we could feel the heat coming through them. The expert explained that while new windows might eventually help, they were not the most effective or cost-efficient solution. Instead, he said the real issue was the attic. Adding insulation there would cost less and make a far greater difference.

The problem, he explained, is that people don’t see the attic. Because it’s hidden, it’s often overlooked. As a result, many people spend a great deal of money on windows, see little improvement, and then become frustrated.

Since then, we replaced the ductwork in the attic and added insulation. Now our air conditioner has no trouble keeping the house cool, and our monthly energy bill has gone down. Any future discussion about replacing windows is more about appearance than function. If we had jumped straight to the windows without addressing the foundational issue, we would have spent a lot of money, failed to solve the problem, and ended up discouraged.

This is often how church revitalization works. The assumption is that if we reorganize structures, tweak ministries, or add just the right program, things will turn around. Again, these aren’t bad steps in themselves, but when they come before renewal, they rarely produce growth. Churches invest time, energy, and resources, see little fruit, and then conclude that revitalization simply doesn’t work.

It’s like when the prophet Samuel looked first to David’s older brother Eliab and assumed he must be the one to anoint: “But the Lord said to Samuel, ‘Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The Lord does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.’” (1 Samuel 16:7)

One of the most helpful things to understand about church revitalization—something I’ve written about before, including in my book Revive—is that when God brings renewal to a church, He does so through five distinct types of renewal, beginning with the heart. These renewals must come in order:

1. Personal Renewal
2. Relational Renewal
3. Missional Renewal
4. Structural Renewal
5. Cultural Renewal

If you want to see your church grow, resist the temptation to begin with outward, structural issues. Instead, look—as God does—at the heart. That means giving primary attention to the first three renewals: Personal, Relational, and Missional.

In the coming articles, I will explore each of these renewals in greater depth and offer practical ways they can take root in your congregation. For now, they can be summarized with a single question: Is your church truly committed to obeying the Great Commandment and the Great Commission? Together, these two passages capture the heart of these first three renewals.

The Great Commandment

“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.” This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” (Matthew 22:37–39)

Personal Renewal: Do you—and others in your church—truly love the Lord with everything you have? Is abiding in His love (John 15) and doing life with Him your highest priority? Is there a deep, Spirit-filled passion for a real relationship with Jesus throughout your congregation? This kind of personal love for Jesus will do more to fuel church growth than any amount of structural change, important as those changes may be.

Relational Renewal: Do you and others in your church genuinely love one another? Are you quick to forgive? Is there a palpable care for one another when you gather, something a visitor would sense and want to be part of? Unchurched visitors can instinctively “smell it” when love is missing, and when it is, they tend to stay away.

The Great Commission

“All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” (Matthew 28:18–20)

Missional Renewal: Do you and others in your church truly love those who are far from God? Do you view unchurched people with compassion rather than judgment? Do you recognize that they are—often visibly, sometimes invisibly—broken by the world, the flesh, and the Devil, and long for them to know the way, the truth, and the life: Jesus? Does your love for lost sinners compel you to go to them and make disciples?

Though these renewals are not as immediately visible as structural or tactical changes, genuine renewal—love for the Lord, for one another, and for the lost—does far more to revitalize a church over the long term. When the heart is renewed, the outward expressions of church life begin to change naturally and in healthy ways. Structures and programs can then support what God is already doing, rather than trying to manufacture life on their own. This is why renewal must always come before revitalization!