REGENESIS: BREATHING NEW LIFE INTO CHURCH MINISTRY

We all know the feeling when we just want something different—when something needs to change. As pastors, we’ve been there. It’s not that the church is dead or even declining, though it may be. But maybe the energy starts to wane, attendance becomes predictable, baptisms become infrequent, and the spark of kingdom mission feels more like a distant memory than a daily reality. We also know that sometimes we get caught up in our routines and fail to notice that complacency has set in. We know when we need new life. Around the country and even here in Nevada, churches face the realities of complacency and even decline. We at the Nevada Baptist Convention are committed to helping churches get and stay healthy, and there is good news: the path to maintaining or regaining a healthy church doesn’t necessarily require a complete overhaul or admitting total failure. Your church may simply need some new life or a fresh approach to or reorientation to mission—a regenesis of sorts.

Catching Decline Before It Takes Root

Churches don’t typically die overnight. They drift. They plateau. They slowly lose momentum. And strong leaders recognize these early signs not as a verdict against them but as an invitation to reimagine, realign, and recommit to their mission. The Regenesis process isn’t only for churches on their absolute last leg—though, it may be a path to pursue for such churches. Regenesis is for churches who may be plateauing, who may be starting to decline, or who may simply feel they have gotten distracted from their primary mission to make disciples. Regenesis is a path to church health that “opens the hood” so to speak, that evaluates the processes and activities of the church, and realigns them with a strong commitment to mission.

Right now, five churches across Northern Nevada are walking this journey and it has been amazing. These churches are all at different places in regard to church health—not all in decline. In fact, some of these churches are doing fairly well. But each of these churches have felt the need to recommit themselves and think strategically about how they are engaging the work of disciple-making in their communities. These churches are not just going through motions—they’re experiencing something profound. Unity and excitement is building. Missional insight is emerging. Each church is growing in the sense that God is doing something fresh and meaningful in their midst. It is hard work but these teams are recognizing that each has been placed where they are, by God, to proclaim the gospel and to make disciples. They are being stirred and motivated to “be the church” in their communities to the glory of God.

What This Really Looks Like

These churches aren’t just checking boxes. They’re deep-diving into honest evaluation. “What values are we communicating?” “Where are we missing missional opportunities?” What programs are no longer serving our community? How can we be more intentional about discipleship and outreach? These teams are asking hard questions, evaluating ministries, and rethinking “It’s how we’ve always done it.” This is vulnerable, sometimes painful work, but these churches are finding excitement as they dream about what God can do—what God plans to do—through them in their communities. As we wrap up this process in the next couple of months, these churches know this is only the beginning. There is much more work to do, but they are ready to engage the mission to which God has called them.

An Invitation for You

Perhaps you are a pastor who is sensing something needs to change. Maybe your church isn’t in crisis—but you know you could be more effective. You want to see the gifts of your congregants deployed for the glory of God. You want to see lost people around your church confronted with the gospel, changed by the gospel, and committed to the gospel. You want to see more people saved, baptized, and discipled in your church. You want to see your church healthy, thriving, and active in the work to which God has called His church. We want to invite you to consider being a part of a new Regenesis cohort in your area starting this Fall. Regenesis is a 9-month process focused on church revitalization and renewal toward mission, and we plan to have a cohort in each of our associations this year. But we understand that 9 months may seem like a long commitment, so we want to give you a preview of what the process can do and what it would look like for your church to participate.

We’re hosting two Regenesis One-Day events this May:
• Las Vegas: May 13th at Foothills Baptist Church
• Reno: May 14th at Crosspoint Community Church
These aren’t conference-style lectures. You will be given insights and principles you can apply in your churches right away. This is a day of training in reorienting your churches around mission. Come check it out—it will be edifying. But at that training, some of you may realize you need more than what you can get in one day. We would love for you to consider joining one of our cohorts this fall. But would you at least come check out this one-day training?

Your Next Step

You can register by clicking one of the links below to register for the Regenesis One-Day training closest to you. Each of these training events will take place at a local church from 9 am- 2pm, and lunch will be provided. It will be a great day, and we hope you will consider joining us us. If this is not for you and your church, would you pray for us as we work together to invest in building strong churches throughout our state? Perhaps your role in this will be to come alongside another pastor to encourage and even equip him and his team. We are better together as Nevada Baptists, and we hope you will engage in the Regenesis journey whether through participation or through prayer.

Bradley Linkins
Assistant Director/Discipleship Strategist
Nevada Baptist Convention