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.

The Church Revitalization Initiative (CRI) is designed to support pastors and lay leaders to use prayer, the gifts of the Spirit, written resources, and personal coaching to strengthen and revitalize churches seeking guided direction. There is no cost whatsoever to churches who choose to take part in CRI.

astors 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 217.726.7366 or by e-mail at wally@abcgrr.org

CRI Report – February 2025

Pastor Daniel Swihart from Open Door Community Church in Sterling Illinois shares his thoughts on where his church is in the revitalization process:   

“Perpetual church revitalization. When I first read that phrase in Lee Kricher’s book, For a New Generation, I wasn’t entirely sure what he meant, but it intrigued me. His definition was, ‘putting appropriate strategies in place to ensure that a church will connect with and stay connected with the next generation.’ That sounds nice on paper, but what does it look like in real life? How do we achieve perpetual church revitalization? 

Fast forward a few years since reading that, and I find myself still pondering how to achieve it. Our church could be considered ‘revitalized’ in many ways. We have increased our average worship attendance by over a third. We have had six baptisms and twelve new members in the last year. We have been averaging seven guests per week at worship. We are getting closer each year to a balanced budget, where the congregation’s giving covers all the operating expenses. We have not just grown but grown younger. Outside of my family, there were five people under 65 when I came four years ago. Now, we have around thirty. 

Yet the itching question in my mind is:  How long will it last? Will this new growth fall off in a year or two? Will it continue as long as I’m the pastor? What happens in five, ten, twenty, or fifty years? Will our church still be healthy and reaching the next generation for Christ? 

So that has brought me back to Kricher’s phrase: perpetual church revitalization. We need to put systems in place now as part of our revitalization process that will allow our churches to continue to thrive long after we’ve gone home to Jesus.  

We need to raise up leaders (both pastoral staff and lay) who will carry God’s vision for our churches forward into the future. We can’t just stop at revitalizing our churches; we must create church cultures that are continually seeking revitalization through new methods of delivering the ancient message of the gospel. We need perpetual church revitalization. 

And that is what the Church Revitalization Initiative has and is about.  Please think about what your church can be learning about being revitalized for Jesus Christ.” 

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

Wally Holt  

CRI Coordinator