What Is Church Renewal?
What Is Church Renewal—and Why It Matters Now More Than Ever
Jesus said that the first command (in terms of priority and starting point) and the greatest command (in terms of magnitude and weight) is: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind”
Matthew 22:38
It’s impossible to know God’s will about how many people should be sitting in your worship service twelve months from now. You can’t know how big he wants your next annual budget to be.
But God has made one thing unmistakably clear—bolded, italicized, underlined, and highlighted. First and greatest.
And so, the central aim of church renewal must be the renewal of the heart.
Church Renewal is Renewal of the Heart
Metrics may be the easiest indicators of growth or decline, but they don’t provide a spiritual readout. They don’t evaluate the all-important thing: the heart. Attendance and giving trends may help us categorize churches as declining, plateaued, growing, or multiplying—but they can’t tell us whether a church is spiritually healthy.
Think about these two definitions of renewal.
Andy Davis: Church revitalization is “the effort to restore by biblical means a once healthy church from a present level of disease to a state of spiritual health, as defined by the Word of God.”
Tim Keller: “I am arguing that gospel renewal is an intensification of the normal operations of the Spirit (conviction of sin, regeneration and sanctification, assurance of grace) through the ordinary means of grace (preaching the Word, prayer, and the sacraments).”
What stands out in both definitions? They identify the target and the means.
Davis says the target is moving from a level of disease to “a state of spiritual health, as defined by the Word of God.” Keller sets the same target, but defines spiritual health more precisely as “the normal operations of the Spirit”—conviction of sin, regeneration, sanctification, assurance.
And what about the means? Davis speaks of restoration “by biblical means.” Keller expands that: “the ordinary means of grace”—the ministry of the Word, prayer, and the sacraments.
Before we categorize churches, assess pathways for change, install new leaders, or implement new methods—before any of that—we must first establish in our hearts the right target and commit ourselves to the right means.
Renewal Matters Because the Heart Matters
Perhaps you’ve heard the grim statistics—how many churches close their doors every week. Or maybe you’ve heard a painful story: a once-vibrant congregation now reduced to a handful of discouraged people, huddled together on Sunday mornings in a cavernous, undermaintained building, listening to a twice-baked sermon in a room that echoes with the absence of the next generation.
These statistics and stories aren’t just about buildings or budgets. They’re about the fading of gospel witness, the erosion of discipleship, and the loss of mission in communities that desperately need the hope of Christ.
Renewal matters because the church matters. Jesus shed his blood for the church (Acts 20:28). He walks among the lampstands (Revelation 2–3). He is committed to refining and reviving his people. When a church is spiritually healthy—when hearts are renewed, the gospel is clear, and love for God and neighbor is vibrant—it becomes a beacon of hope in a dark and broken world.
That’s why church renewal is not about nostalgia for the past. It’s about faithfulness in the present and fruitfulness for the future. It’s about seeing dry bones live again through the Spirit of God and the Word of God.
Renewal matters because the heart matters.
Does Our Church Need Renewal?
The obvious answer is yes—every church needs renewal. As Richard Lovelace reminded us, renewal is not a one-time event but a way of life.
Of course, some hearts are in more desperate need than others, and some churches are more acutely diseased than others. Just read Jesus’ letters to the churches in Revelation 2–3. Some were tolerating false teaching, others had grown lukewarm, and still others had a reputation for being alive but were, in truth, dead.
If your church has been experiencing decline in attendance or giving, those metrics may point to deeper spiritual issues. But it’s not the numbers that should drive our concern—it’s spiritual health. That’s the true target of assessment and prayerful attention.
Can a church shrink numerically even as it grows spiritually? Yes. Sometimes pruning precedes fruitfulness. Faithfulness to Christ may not always result in immediate growth, but it always results in a deeper dependence on Him.
That’s why a Church Health Assessment should start not with external trends, but with internal transformation. Is the gospel central? Is there conviction of sin and genuine repentance? Is there fervent prayer, love for the Word, and joyful obedience to Christ? These are the questions that renewal asks—and the Spirit uses to breathe life into his people once again.