Church Revitalization Initiative (CRI)

About the CRI

The Church Revitalization Initiative is designed to come beside committed pastors and church leaders who are willing to do what it takes to revitalize their church. We know that we are living in difficult times; that is why we want to be of assistance to you. The regional staff and the CRI Coordinator have put together a process that we think will help you and we have also put together a team of qualified people to assist you in your area(s) of need. We don’t have all the answers, but we do have people who are willing to assist you.

There are presently 16 churches in the CRI ranging in size from 20 to over 100. Pastors and church leaders are working very hard to help their churches go through the process of revitalization.

If you are interested in getting involved in the CRI, contact the CRI Coordinator, Wally Holt, at 309-259-0065 or by e-mail at wallyholt63@gmail.com.

CRI Report

November 2024

When it decides to get cold it gets cold! We have no control over the weather; but one thing we can always count on is that Jesus will never leave us out in the cold. We just returned from a trip to Ohio to visit family for Thanksgiving where the weather was cold, but we shared a warm Thanksgiving time. As I work with pastors and leaders around the Great Rivers Region, I also feel that warmth of Christian love and excitement for doing ministry together. One of those pastors now shares with us about what is going on in his congregation:

God has blessed us with a great fall semester at the University Baptist Church in Champaign.  Two of our undergraduate students were baptized and became members of our church.  Both are international students who have powerful testimonies of God’s grace in their lives as the Holy Spirit brought them to faith and new birth in Jesus Christ.  Another student has been watching our sermons on YouTube and eventually began attending our in-person services.  We are meeting to talk about faith and discipleship.  We’ve been blessed this fall with a growing group of undergraduates who are strongly committed to Christ and interested in ministry and Christian leadership.  We are praying and equipping in the hope of seeing God’s powerful grace in the near future as these young disciple’s bear fruit that lasts.  Our graduate student and community cohorts are experiencing spiritual growth as well.  The future looks bright–all praise and glory to God!  If you would like to pray with and for us, please do; we always appreciate it. 

Grace and peace to you and yours.

Brett Smith, Pastor,

University Baptist Church, Champaign, Illinois

Please continue to pray for our CRI pastors and their church leaders as they move their churches through Revitalization.

Wally Holt , CRI Coordinator