Louisville—In a day when numerous Kentucky churches have as many empty seats as those filled on any given Sunday, the Kentucky Baptist Convention is working to reverse the trend with the help of missiologist Ed Stetzer through a new Comeback Church Process.

Stetzer, director of LifeWay Research, said a majority of churches in the Southern Baptist Convention are plateaued or declining in terms of membership. To find a solution, he collaborated with Mike Dodson, a church strategist in Pennsylvania whose doctoral dissertation at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary became the basis for the book, “Comeback Churches.”

In March, the KBC hosted a one-day conference to allow Kentucky Baptist pastors to hear Stetzer share what he and Dodson learned from surveying 300 churches among 10 denominations that had achieved healthy evangelistic growth after a significant season of decline.

But that was not enough, said Alan Witham, KBC’s church development team leader and strategist.

“Often we give good information through conferences, but we don’t follow up with a plan or process to implement that good information,” he indicated. “We wanted to take the additional step to give churches the opportunity to discuss the information, process it and then to talk about ways they could apply it in their setting.”

That is how the Comeback Church Process was born. Witham said the process is about helping churches apply proven and transferable principles for revitalization.

“It’s not that we’re trying to follow one particular church model, but we are asking, ‘What are the transferable principles we see from the research that could be applied in our setting?’” he noted.

Starting in April, the KBC planned five consecutive regional network meetings. With one meeting per month, each meeting focuses on one of the five key factors that Stetzer referred to as part of the comeback churches he studied. Those factors are leadership; vibrant faith; meaningful and active ministries for laypeople; intentional evangelistic efforts; and a “celebrative” and “orderly” mood of worship.

Johnny Spray, pastor of New Bethel Baptist Church in Hardinsburg, attended the initial session with Stetzer, as well as the ongoing regional network meetings. When he was called as pastor three years ago, New Bethel averaged 40 people in Sunday school and 70 for worship, he recalled. The church also had a history of feuding caused by struggles for power among its members.

Fortunately, the previous pastor had helped set the church on track for healing and already had some potential in place, Spray suggested. For instance, the church had a projector and a screen for worship, but they were not using them. Spray, 34, incorporated those tools and brought in a part-time minister of music to coordinate the choir and improve the worship services.

“Probably the biggest thing we did was go to age-graded Sunday school classes,” Spray noted. “They didn’t have those. As a matter of fact, they had one gigantic area for youth and a nursery and that was their catchall.”

The pastor also started a young-adult Sunday school class and since then, a man he had been mentoring has taken leadership of it. Spray also started a children’s church to help draw in the young families that compose a strong portion of the local demographic.

The worship attendance at New Bethel has more than doubled since the changes, Spray said, and Sunday school attendance is now closer to 75 people. Baptism numbers also have increased from eight the first year to 18 the second, he added.

During the process, Spray said he was spurred on by reading “Comeback Churches.”

“Through Ed’s book, I was able to see churches that have had some similar characteristics as we’ve had, and it offered some hope,” he commented.

Witham said churches that are interested in experiencing a similar comeback should contact the KBC regional strategist assigned to their area of the state. The strategist can provide an audio CD of Stetzer’s March presentation, as well as a comeback church survey to assess the strengths and weaknesses of the congregation as a starting point.

“The church development team members and specifically the regional strategists are available to engage in discussions with churches about how they can experience turnaround growth,” Witham noted. “We would also encourage pastors to connect with these network meetings. They’re scheduled in four different areas of the state so that pastors can go to a regional meeting close to them.”

Also, at each Super Saturday event in August and September, a Comeback Churches track will be offered so that pastors can further learn to implement the principles Stetzer and Dodson highlighted in their book.

Both Witham and Spray said that they would encourage pastors to read “Comeback Churches” for inspiration and guidance—but do not expect dramatic results immediately.

“I would definitely say go slow, love on the people and preach the Word. It’s a slow process,” Spray noted, adding that his church tried to start an AWANA program for the children, but it was too soon for the idea to take root. “It’s not going to be something that someone can come in and just revolutionize overnight.”