Are you leading a church through revitalization and running into resistance at every turn? You are not alone. Resistance is one of the most common challenges pastors face when trying to move a church from where it is to where God wants it to be. The question is not whether you will face it. The question is whether you know how to handle it well.

In Episode 45, Bart Blair and Nathan Bryant cover keys 3 through 6 of their six-key framework for handling resistance in church revitalization.

Key 3: Communicate the Vision Often and Clearly

Vision is your most powerful tool for overcoming resistance. People do not want to be managed. They want to be inspired. Cast a compelling, biblically grounded vision that answers four questions: Why are we doing this? Who are we? What are we going to do? And where are we going? Bart and Nathan talk about why vision leaks, why repetition is leadership and not redundancy, and how to use testimonies and stories of life change to reinforce the vision you are casting.

Key 4: Honor the Past While Moving Forward

Most resistance in a church revitalization is tied to something with real historical significance. People are being asked to let go of something they have valued for years, sometimes decades. Bart and Nathan share practical ways to celebrate what God has done in the church's history, allow people to grieve what is changing, and become the kind of pastor who knows the church's story well enough to carry it forward with honor. The goal is to be married to the mission without being married to the methodology.

Key 5: Know When to Push and When to Pause

Pace and timing matter as much as direction. Going too fast causes people to fall off. Going too slow kills momentum and loses your window. Bart and Nathan talk about how to identify low-hanging fruit for early wins, how to build a team that can read the room, why a well-timed pause can actually accelerate change, and why squandering momentum is just as dangerous as moving too quickly.

Key 6: Know When Resistance Has Become Conflict

Not all resistance is the same, and the way you respond to pushback needs to change when resistance turns into conflict. Bart and Nathan walk through the red flags that signal the shift, including when people stop questioning a decision and start questioning your right to make it, and when individuals begin organizing others around their opposition rather than bringing concerns directly to leadership. When that happens, you need a different set of tools.

Episode 43: Keys 1 and 2 for Handling Resistance in Church Revitalization

Episode 44: Grieving the Loss of the Church You Love, featuring author and pastor Larry Davis

Episodes 39 and 41: Six Keys to Managing Conflict in a Church Revitalization

The Revitalize My Church Podcast helps pastors of smaller, struggling churches navigate change and reorient to a new and healthy future. Hosted by Bart Blair, Director of Church Revitalization for Assist Church Expansion, and Nathan Bryant, Executive Director of Assist Church Expansion.

Subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts. If this episode has been helpful, leave a rating and a review, and share it with a pastor who needs it.

Visit us at RevitalizeMyChurch.com for show notes, resources, and more.

Can a dying church really come back to life? Pastor Larry Davis says yes, but not the way most revitalization books tell you.

In this episode of the Revitalize My Church Podcast, Bart Blair sits down with Larry Davis, author of "Grieving the Loss of the Church You Love" and Associational Missionary for the Eastern Baptist Association. Larry has personally led three church revitalizations and has assisted or consulted with more than 110 churches. His perspective on revitalization is unlike anything most pastors have read or heard.

Most books on church revitalization assume every church should live. Larry challenges that assumption directly. Drawing from Scripture, the Kubler-Ross stages of grief, and more than two decades of hands-on revitalization work, Larry makes the case that a congregation cannot embrace something new until it has genuinely grieved what was. That single principle changes everything about how a pastor should approach a struggling church.

WHAT YOU WILL LEARN IN THIS EPISODE

Why the local church has a natural life cycle, and what Scripture says about it
How the five stages of grief (denial, bargaining, anger, depression, and acceptance) show up in a declining congregation
Why trying to lead change before a church is ready almost always backfires
How Larry navigated fierce resistance at Grace Seaford Church, including angry members at Wednesday night suppers
What the "meeting before the meeting" is and why it is never optional
How cascading communication works and why skipping the middle ring is one of the costliest mistakes in revitalization
What resurrection actually looks like for a dying church, and why it is different for every congregation
How to use a simple EKG framework to honestly assess the health of your church
Why reaching out for help early dramatically increases a church's chances of genuine renewal

THE FIVE STAGES OF GRIEF IN A LOCAL CHURCH

Denial: The church refuses to admit there is a problem. Bargaining: The church tries to fix itself without actually changing. New sign letters. A younger pastor. A new program. Anger: Blame gets directed at the pastor, the leadership, or the community around the church. Depression: The congregation begins to realize the decline is real. Larry explains the important difference between secondary depression and preparatory depression. Acceptance: The congregation finally becomes open to whatever God wants to do next. This is the threshold of resurrection.

ABOUT LARRY DAVIS

Larry Davis spent nine years as an aerospace engineer before answering the call to full-time ministry in 2003. Over 26 years of vocational ministry, he has personally led three church revitalizations, co-planted Grace Mardela Church, and has assisted or consulted with more than 110 churches. He currently serves as Senior Pastor of Grace Seaford Church in Seaford, Delaware, and as Associational Missionary for the Eastern Baptist Association.

His book "Grieving the Loss of the Church You Love" is available on Amazon and Barnes and Noble.

Website: https://www.pastorlarrydavis.com Speaking and consulting inquiries: pastor@graceseaford.org

BOOKS AND RESOURCES MENTIONED

Grieving the Loss of the Church You Love by Larry Davis: https://www.amazon.com/Grieving-Loss-Church-You-Love/dp/1597557811
Autopsy of a Deceased Church by Thom Rainer
Transforming the Rural Church in America by Shannon O'Dell
Our Iceberg Is Melting by John Kotter
On Death and Dying by Elizabeth Kubler-Ross

ABOUT REVITALIZE MY CHURCH

The Revitalize My Church Podcast is hosted by Bart Blair, Director of Church Revitalization at Assist Church Expansion. New episodes release on the 1st and 15th of every month. The podcast exists to help pastors of smaller and struggling churches navigate revitalization with practical, biblically grounded guidance.

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Resistance is one of the most common and discouraging challenges a pastor faces when leading a church through revitalization. You cast the vision, you lay out the plan, and then someone pushes back. Or a group pushes back. And suddenly it feels like the people you are trying to help are the very ones standing in your way.
In this episode of the Revitalize My Church Podcast, Bart Blair and Nathan Bryant dig into what resistance actually is, why it is completely normal, and how to respond to it in a way that keeps the temperature in your church manageable. This is Part 1 of a two-part series on handling resistance in church revitalization, covering the first two of six practical keys.

If you missed the previous two episodes on managing conflict in a church revitalization, go back and listen to Episodes 39 and 41 first. Resistance and conflict are related, but they are not the same thing, and understanding the difference will change how you respond to both.

RESISTANCE IS NOT A SIGN YOU ARE DOING SOMETHING WRONG

If you are leading your church through meaningful change and not experiencing any resistance, you are probably not changing anything that really matters. Resistance is the natural result of inertia. People who have worshiped, served, and sacrificed in a church for 20, 30, or 40 years have deep roots. Even people who say they want change often do not fully realize what they are agreeing to until the process is underway.
Resistance in a revitalizing church often comes from a few different places. Some people fear loss. They are not necessarily against the change itself, they are grieving what they might have to give up. Others are carrying the wounds of past attempts that did not work out. They tried things before, it did not go the way they hoped, and now their guard is up because they do not want to feel that sense of failure again. Others simply do not trust the leader enough yet to take a big step in a new direction. And some feel, even unintentionally, that the push for change is a criticism of everything they have built and sacrificed for over the years.
All of that is worth understanding before you decide how to respond.

WHAT MOSES CAN TEACH PASTORS ABOUT LEADING THROUGH RESISTANCE

Moses led a people who had cried out to God for deliverance for generations, received it through miraculous signs and wonders, crossed the Red Sea, and then spent most of the journey through the wilderness complaining. They wanted the promised land immediately. What they got was a long, hard desert walk.

Sound familiar?

A few things stand out from Moses as a model for pastors navigating resistance. The people said yes to the journey without fully understanding what they were signing up for. Moses did not always keep his cool, but he remained committed to the mission. He interceded for the people even when they deserved judgment, because they were not his adversaries, they were his people. And Moses did not have the full plan from day one. God revealed it over time, and Moses had to adjust along the way.

Revitalization is not that different.

KEY 1 - DO NOT PERSONALIZE IT, CONTEXTUALIZE IT

The first key to navigating resistance is refusing to take it personally. When a pastor becomes anxious or defensive in response to pushback, that anxiety spreads through the congregation and raises the temperature. Your defensiveness will escalate the situation faster than almost anything else.
Proverbs 19:11 says that wisdom yields patience and that it is to one's glory to overlook an offense. That is not weakness. That is strategic leadership.

Most resistance is not really about you. It is about the concept of change, the fear of loss, or the memories tied to something you are asking people to let go of. At the same time, pastors need to guard against making it feel personal to the people resisting. When change...

1. The Oikos Principle works everywhere: 95% of people come to faith through relationships with the 8-15 people in their "front row" - their coworkers, neighbors, close friends, and family members who watch how they live.

2. Church obesity kills mission focus: Most churches are programmatically obese, offering so many "good things" that the Great Commission gets crowded out. The average church attender has only 5 hours per week to give.

3. Outreach never happens naturally: Without intentionality, nurture always wins over evangelism. Churches must deliberately elevate the Great Commission first and often, or it will never take root.

4. Start with a simple strategy: Make a list of your 8-15 people, pray daily, invest in relationships intentionally, then invite them into environments where faith conversations happen naturally.

Are you struggling to keep your church focused on reaching lost people? Do you feel like your congregation is more interested in adding new ministries than making new disciples? You're not alone.

In this episode of Revitalize My Church, Bart sits down with Tom Mercer, author of 8 to 15: The World Is Smaller Than You Think and pastor of High Desert Church for 38 years, to discuss why most churches have lost focus on the only thing Jesus commanded us to do between His advents - make disciples.

Tom shares candidly about the challenge every pastor faces: "It's not that local churches don't do good things, but we do so many good things that the only great thing Jesus asked of us doesn't have any room to flourish."

This insight is particularly crucial for small church pastors who are constantly pressured to add more programs, more ministries, and more activities to compete with larger churches in their community.

The word "oikos" is a Greek term meaning "house" or "household" that appears throughout the New Testament. But Tom explains it means more than just a physical dwelling - it describes your relational world.

The Oikos principle teaches that every person has 8-15 people in the "front row seats" of their life - people who:

• Watch how you live

• Listen to what you say

• Include coworkers, neighbors, close friends, classmates, and family members

• Are supernaturally and strategically placed in your life by God

The data is undeniable: Tom has asked hundreds of thousands of Christians across five continents, multiple denominations, and diverse cultures one question: "Was the primary reason you gave your heart to Christ because of someone in your oikos?"

The answer? Virtually every hand in the room goes up, every time.

Tom shares the practical five-step strategy High Desert Church used to keep thousands of people focused on the Great Commission:

Step 1: Make a List

Help your congregation identify by name the 8-15 people in their front row. "It's only a dream until you write it down, then it becomes a goal," Tom explains, quoting NFL Hall of Famer Emmett Smith.

Step 2: Pray Daily

Encourage consistent prayer for these specific people by name. Most believers never take this step.

Step 3: Invest in Relationships

Be intentional about spending time with and serving these people. This is where most invitation strategies fail - people won't invite those they h...

Hosts: Bart Blair (Director of Church Revitalization, Assist Church Expansion) & Nathan Bryant (Executive Director, Assist)

1. Check your own heart first - Before addressing conflict, examine your motivations, attitudes, and potential contributions to the problem (Matthew 7:3-5)

2. Deal openly, not publicly - Address conflict transparently with appropriate parties in proper settings, never air dirty laundry from the pulpit (Proverbs 27:5-6)

3. Seek win-win solutions - Aim for outcomes that strengthen relationships and unity, not just "winning" the argument (Philippians 2:3-4)

4. Bring in outside help early - Don't wait until conflict becomes unredeemable; involve trusted third-party mediators from your network

5. Not every conflict ends in win-win - Sometimes the healthiest resolution is helping someone find a better-fit church where they can thrive

6. 94% of pastors report positive outcomes - When handled properly, conflict leads to better relationships, clarity, and stronger unity

1. Check your own heart first - Before addressing conflict, examine your motivations, attitudes, and potential contributions to the problem (Matthew 7:3-5)

2. Deal openly, not publicly - Address conflict transparently with appropriate parties in proper settings, never air dirty laundry from the pulpit (Proverbs 27:5-6)

3. Seek win-win solutions - Aim for outcomes that strengthen relationships and unity, not just "winning" the argument (Philippians 2:3-4)

4. Bring in outside help early - Don't wait until conflict becomes unredeemable; involve trusted third-party mediators from your network

5. Not every conflict ends in win-win - Sometimes the healthiest resolution is helping someone find a better-fit church where they can thrive

6. 94% of pastors report positive outcomes - When handled properly, conflict leads to better relationships, clarity, and stronger unity

In part two of this essential series on managing conflict during church revitalization, Bart Blair and Nathan Bryant tackle the final three keys that every pastor needs to successfully navigate congregational disputes and maintain unity.

Scripture Foundation: "Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye?" - Matthew 7:3-5

Before entering any conflict situation, church leaders must:

Stop making assumptions - We often walk into conflict having already decided what the other person thinks, why they're upset, and what their motivations are - usually all negative assumptions

Check your attitude - Are you viewing this as a headache to manage or an opportunity to build better unity?

Believe the best - 1 Corinthians 13 reminds us that love "believes all things" - enter the room assuming the best about the other person

Examine your role - Have you communicated clearly? Made promises you didn't keep? Created unrealistic expectations? You may have contributed to the conflict without realizing it

Even when conflict appears to be about decisions, programs, or practical matters, it almost always becomes relational. People...

Episode 40: Attributes of a Next Level Leader

Revitalize My Church Podcast | Guest: Ed Short | Host: Bart Blair

Keywords: next level leader, church leadership development, pastor leadership skills, small church revitalization, leadership attributes for pastors, how to become a better church leader, coaching pastors

TL;DR — 4 Key Takeaways

Next level leadership is not about jumping from good to great overnight — it's about intentional, incremental growth from wherever you are right now.
Effective church leaders develop a set of core attributes including God-dependence, self-awareness, relational competence, and a bias toward implementation.
Self-awareness may be the single most critical leadership skill: knowing your strengths to capitalize on, and your weaknesses to neutralize or delegate around.
Pastors don't have to do it all alone — identifying implementers and key people on your team who complement your gaps is a legitimate and powerful leadership strategy.

Episode Overview

What separates a good pastor from a truly effective church leader? In episode 40 of the Revitalize My Church Podcast, host Bart Blair sits down with church leadership coach Ed Short to unpack the key attributes of what Ed calls a "next level leader." Whether you're pastoring a congregation of 40 or 140, this conversation is packed with honest, practical insight designed to help you take your leadership from where it is to where it needs to be.

Ed draws on decades of ministry experience — from student pastor to executive pastor to lead pastor of three churches including a church plant — to offer a grounded, real-world framework for leadership development that doesn't require a massive budget or a seminary refresher. Just honest self-assessment and a commitment to growth.

About the Guest: Ed Short

Ed Short is a church leadership coach and consultant who serves on the Assist Church Expansion team alongside host Bart Blair. His ministry journey spans student ministry, executive pastoral leadership, and lead pastor roles at multiple churches. Ed is passionate about two things above all: evangelism — reaching people far from God — and discipleship, helping new believers begin to look like Jesus.

Ed's wife Carol is, in his words, "the best ministry worker I have ever been around" and serves as his most trusted ministry advisor. Ed's coaching work focuses on helping pastors identify their leadership ceiling and take measurable steps to break through it.

Note: Ed previously appeared on Episode 15 of the Revitalize My Church Podcast, covering how churches can navigate a pastoral search process. That episode remains the most downloaded in the show's history.

What Is a Next Level Leader?

Ed uses the analogy of a five-tool baseball player — think Willie Mays or Mike Trout — to frame what it means to be a next level leader. Just as the elite players in baseball excel at hitting for average, hitting for power, speed, fielding, and throwing, great leaders develop across multiple dimensions simultaneously.

But the goal isn't perfection — it's progress. As Ed explains:

"If you're a four, how do we help you become a five? If you're a six, how do we help you become a seven? Nobody goes from being a four to a nine."

The framework Ed has developed identifies a range of attributes, qualities, abilities, and mindsets that characterize next level leaders. Rather than feeling overwhelmed by the full list, Ed encourages leaders to identify three things they can capitalize on and two or three areas they need to neutralize or delegate around.

Key Attributes of a Next Level Leader

1. God-Dependence

Ed opens with what he calls his own weakest point — and it may be yours too. God-dependence means prioritizing prayer and reliance on God above strategic planning. Ed admits freely: "I would rather plan than pray." This honest vulnerabilit...

Hosts: Bart Blair (Director of Church Revitalization, Assist Church Expansion) & Nathan Bryant (Executive Director, Assist)

1. Conflict is normal in churches - 75% of 14,000+ surveyed churches experienced conflict; it's not an exception, especially during revitalization

2. Conflict differs from resistance - Resistance to change requires different handling than general congregational conflict between members

3. Face reality: conflict will come - Change creates conflict; prepare your leadership team to expect and plan for it rather than being blindsided

4. Move toward conflict quickly but wisely - Address issues within 48-72 hours to prevent escalation, but take time to pray and process first

5. Always go face-to-face - Never resolve conflict through text or email; digital communication strips away tone and escalates tension

6. Bring a witness - Leaders should include an elder or team member when mediating conflict to ensure accountability and accurate reporting

Conflict is one of the most challenging aspects of leading a church through revitalization. In this episode, Bart Blair and Nathan Bryant tackle the reality that 75% of churches experience some level of conflict - and provide practical keys for navigating it successfully.

Church revitalization creates a perfect storm for conflict:

• Change itself generates tension between longtime members and new vision

• Power dynamics shift as leadership structures evolve

• Resource scarcity creates disagreements about priorities

• Unspoken expectations lead to assumptions and misunderstandings

• Communication gaps allow gossip to fill the vacuum

According to the Faith Communities Today (FACT) study of over 14,000 congregations, the top sources of church conflict are:

• Member behavior (44%)

• Money and finances (42%)

• Worship style (41%)

• Leadership style (40%)

• Decision-making processes (39%)

• Program priorities (30%)

• Theology and doctrine (26%)

Before diving into conflict management strategies, it's important to understand that resistance to change is different from general congregational conflict. Resistance specifically relates to pushback against new initiatives, while conflict can arise from interpersonal issues, behavior problems, or disagreements unrelated to revitalization efforts.

This episode focuses on managing conflict that occurs between members and maintaining unity - a primary responsibility of church leadership.

Scripture Foundation: "Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance." - James 1:2-4

Rather than being surprised or defensive when conflict emerges, church leaders must:

• Normalize conflict without treating it as catastrophic

• Identify your four types of people: Categorize your congregation into sleepers (spiritually asleep), seekers (genuinely open), consumers (service-focused), and disciples (committed followers)—and focus your energy strategically on each group rather than trying to be everything to everyone.

• Simplify to transform: Stop adding more programs. Instead, focus on creating a discipleship culture through spiritual disciplines like reflection, gratitude, and confession that actually change hearts and behavior, not just knowledge.

• Lead from your own renewal: Pastors experiencing burnout should prioritize their own spiritual formation and daily gratitude first—this "rewires" your soul and naturally makes your church healthier and more missional.

• Build a scalable discipleship pathway: Multi-campus churches can maintain their DNA while reaching diverse communities by being intentional about discipleship at every level, from sleepers to mature disciples.

Pastor Daniel Im sits down with Bart Blair to discuss one of the most critical challenges facing church leaders today: how to disciple people in a way that actually transforms their lives and faith practices, not just fills their heads with Bible knowledge.

In this conversation, Daniel shares lessons from leading a 104-year-old multi-ethnic, multi-campus church in post-Christian Canada, and discusses his latest book, The Discipleship Opportunity: Leading a Great-Commission Church in a Post-Everything World. If you're a pastor feeling burned out, questioning your approach, or wondering how to reach and disciple people differently in today's culture, this episode is for you.

Daniel challenges the church growth mentality that prioritizes attendance and buildings over genuine discipleship. He explains why many churches create "Christian consumers" instead of committed disciples, and what a healthier framework looks like.

Daniel introduces the "quadrant" of people every church has: sleepers (spiritually asleep members), seekers (genuinely open to faith), consumers (who view church as a service to attend), and disciples (committed followers). Understanding these categories changes everything about your approach.

Rather than chasing larger numbers, Daniel shares a surprising insight: when pastors focus on daily gratitude, spiritual disciplines, and their own transformation, the church naturally becomes healthier and more missional.

From his experience at Beulah Alliance Church (now multi-campus with 12,000+ attendees), Daniel shares how to build a discipleship culture that scales without losing its DNA.

Daniel shares fascinating insights about how our brains actually change when we practice spiritual disciplines like reflection, meditation, and confession—and why this matters for church leaders trying to help people grow.

"My heart and my desire for you is that just like I pray every week, God, would you wake up the sleepers, the seekers, the consumers, and the disciples."

"It's so easy to just...