I am afforded the opportunity to preach and teach in churches across many denominational and ethnic lines. I get to serve new church plants, as well as older churches that have considerable history. By this calling I am allowed to see renewal from many different angles.
I have drawn attention to "emergent" churches in recent weeks. Today I write about an old church, Randolph Street Baptist in Charleston, West Virginia. Spiritual life is presently being renewed in and by the Holy Spirit at Randolph Street. I taught in Charleston on mission and evangelism in a lovely Saturday Seminar setting on May 21. I then taught the adults on Matthew 18:21-22 yesterday, May 22. I also preached from Matthew 9:35-38 in the worship celebration that followed. Then last evening we had an open house at the pastor’s home and I spoke to a number of the folks who have loved me and prayed for me here in Charleston for twenty years. It was a delightful weekend in every way.
What thrills me the most about these developments is to see how the Spirit has moved to begin a process of renewal at old Randolph Street Church. As I write, from within a guest aprtament at the church, I note that this building is situated in an old part of west Charleston, the state capitol. A Salvation Army facility is right across the street and some small relocation housing nearby. A postal facility lies to the west and a Goodwill service building is behind me. This is not a neighborhood where the "boomer generation" church growth folks would seek to build a growing witness for Christ. The feel is clearly 1950s.
For nearly four decades this church has been in numerical decline. The experts would have advised this church to close or move two decades ago. But the experts are often wrong when it comes to renewal. Through these years Randolph Street has remained deeply committed to the gospel, despite its decline. And the pulpit has been ably filled week-by-week by one of the finest preachers in America, Thomas N. Smith, who has been here since 1984. The problem has not been the lack of commitment, the need for real sacrifice, or the right kind or effect of solid preaching. The problem has been misisonal clarity, and new blood linked with boldness and fresh vision. And the problem has also been the need for the power of the Holy Spirit poured out upon the gifts that God has already given to this lovely congregation. (None of this means that the church has been dead or unfaithful, just seeking God for a more abundant blessing upon the mission of this church to the city and region.)
In recent months God has given Randolph Street some fresh blood in the form of new people with a vision for this local church. These folk, united in love with others who have been very faithfully serving and praying here for many years, have been given a sense of the future that is all too rare among old churches in a declining state. A major element in these developments, humanly speaking, has been the willingness of Pastor Thomas Smith to stay put and love the people with deep love and pastoral integrity. These recent changes have come about because God heard the pleas of old faithful members as well as those of some younger people who wanted to do more for Christ and his Kingdom in downtown Charleston. It should be observed that this is almost always the case because the Spirit leads "young men to see visions, and old men to dream dreams" (Acts 2:17; Joel 2:28).
Randolph Street is also unique in that this new vision includes racial reconciliation. The church is not seeking to put blacks and whites together for the sake of a political agenda. The leaders have come to see that the vision God has given to this particular church must include this kind of mission and they are pursuing it with a measure of fear, but with Holy Spirit given boldness joined with deep Christian love. They hired a minister of music and outreach this month who is an African-American. This man, Dr. Mark Holmes, is multi-talented, filled with love for Christ, and has a number of relational contacts within this city. He has added a new element to the spirit of celebration on Sunday morning that is obviously preparing the folks for an influx of people and spiritual growth that I believe will be nothing short of astounding in the next few years.
What I see here could well become a model for many others. I would urge churches in the cities of America, and in the racially shifting neighborhoods, to not flee to the "better" areas. It will most often take courage and faith to stay. It will take even more to change. Let me illustrate. Several of the older members at Randolph Street commented to me last evening that the changes here are not easy for them to process at all. I said to them, "I am not surprised. You are human and this demands hard work on your part." I then said, "Stay with the church, and do not attack or undermine what God is doing here, so long as Christ is preached and people are coming to know and love him."
This congregation is coming to realize in a new way that the church and its mission does not belong to them but to Christ. They are called by God to be faithful, not just happy and satisfied. They are willing to count others as more important than themselves. This is the key. A leader, and those who serve with him, must embrace this biblical principle amd model it. This is why Randolph Street is making progress and moving toward full blown renewal.
The future of Randolph Street is one that I will watch with much interest and real prayer. It could well become a model church for many similar churches that I am allowed to encourage. I believe many churches like Randolph Street can be renewed if pastors and people will seek God together, welcoming the fresh wind of the Holy Spirit, and seeking to employ the new wineskins that God gives to those who desire his kingdom above their own comfort zones and emotional security.
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John, your experience lines up with something I read recently. I hope it edifies. Sorry for it’s length. It’s worth it.
Bill Yount is a man late in his years with a gift of encouragement in the prophetic that I find helpful in seeing things with hope in God. His words follow:
I SAW GOD WALKING PAST MANY CHURCHES THAT HAD ‘ICHABOD’ WRITTEN OVER THEIR FRONT DOORS . . . AND THEN HE MADE A U-TURN!”
Suddenly, I heard the captain of the Lord of hosts shouting to a multitude of mercy angels, “About face! There has been a change in orders! We must go back and rip the ‘Ichabod’ signs off of the front doors of many of the churches that we had posted up earlier.
“A SEASON OF RESURRECTION IS NOW BEGINNING: IF GOD CAN RAISE A DEAD MAN . . . CAN HE ALSO RAISE A DEAD CHURCH?”
How many of us are ready and praying for God to start raising the dead? We often limit God thinking of Him raising a dead person, but God’s resurrection power right now is searching the earth looking for greater challenges to bring greater glory! I believe He is out to raise the “dead” dead! I believe Jesus waited to make sure Lazarus was good and dead in the grave four days before He showed up so everyone could see His glory when he was raised!
I believe I hear many of God’s people crying out this hour, “Lord, if you would just come and heal and restore us and give us a great revival! But it is too late, for our church is now dead!”
“Revival” means to bring back to life something that has died. If something is dead and is revived, it means it was once alive. Maybe you feel that your church was never alive to begin with. But be careful. God may be saying, “I was here before you were, and I will be here even if you leave.” If you sense your church has died, your church is probably right on schedule for God to show up!
“USUALLY WHEN WE FEEL LIKE LEAVING OUR CHURCH IS WHEN GOD FEELS LIKE COMING INTO IT!”
I am not saying that the Lord will never call some people to leave one church and go to another, but make sure it’s Him calling you out and make sure you leave a blessing behind you! How you leave one church will be how you enter the next one! If you leave prematurely from getting offended or arguing, you will never find out who was right.
“JUST ONE HEART BEAT OF PRAYER CAN CAUSE GOD TO MAKE A U-TURN!”
Even prayer from the outside can do something on the inside. I saw huge chains that had grown strong around the outside of many churches, with locks appearing to seal their doom. But I heard “revival” angels saying, “Although there seems to be no life inside of these places, we must go in, for there are people in other churches praying for this one. Get the addresses of these churches who are praying for this dead one . . . We will surely visit them with great power!”
“MANY CHURCH BUILDINGS SITTING EMPTY WILL BE FILLED AGAIN WITH GOD’S GLORY!”
I saw church buildings that had long been emptied and sitting vacant. I then saw the dove of the Holy Spirit descending upon these rooftops as though He was finding a divine place to rest. Because of what I just saw, I said to the Lord, “Someone must be praying for these seemingly God-forsaken churches. No one else is even left inside to pray anymore!”
The Father responded, “My Son is praying for these. When people stopped praying for these ancient ruins and the people they represent, My Son didn’t. He lives forever to make intercession for His Church. That is what He lives for! That’s one of the reasons He Himself was raised from the dead!”
“IF THE CHURCH YOU ATTEND SEEMS TO BE DYING OR DEAD . . . BE ENCOURAGED. DEATH IS WHAT QUALIFIES IT FOR REVIVAL!”
by Bill Yount