CHURCH REVITALIZING - Terms We Use

In the Old Testament God said, “If as one people they speak the same language…then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them” (Genesis 11:6). In the New Testament, God reversed the language challenge at Pentecost and how the gospel is global, unbounded by language (Acts 2:5-6).

We have many new leaders beginning to attend our churches who are unaware of the language and terms we use. Below is an alphabetized list of revitalize church terms you may hear people use among us. If you have questions or comments, feel free to contact us anytime. We are here to serve you with excellence. If there is any way we can do that better, please let us know.

accountability - this is one of our four Nazarene church minimums; we practice accountability with one another throughout the church at every level

agenda harmony - we believe agenda harmony is created by the Holy Spirit. It happens in a church when the church development plan being followed is embraced by everyone

agenda of Jesus - the agenda of Jesus is created by the Holy Spirit. It is the plan of Jesus to unite believers in a local church to work together to achieve His mission

apprentice group leader – this is the first step in the leadership development path of a local church; a person willing to assist a grow group or serve group leader. They can also be referred to as “Timothy’s” (from Paul’s relationship to Timothy in the New Testament).

believeritis - a church disease that develops where believers think like customers. It commonly occurs in consumer societies, where unhealthy church members who pay their tithe expect to “be served” instead of serving (Matt 20:28).

believing prayer - the practice of prayer, filled with faith, that expects God will answer

church – a group of people who are led together by the Holy Spirit, have an accountable lay or clergy leader, meet at a regular time to experience worship and community, and who are aligned with the church’s mission of disciple-making. We believe churches should operate with at least the four minimums of: 1) worship, 2) community, 3) accountability and 4) mission. Churches make great progress when they create a church development plan.

church board – persons elected by church members to lead the church

church budget - an estimate of both income and expenses of the church for the year

church, culturally-conditioned form - the understanding that the form the church takes may look different in different cultures and contexts, even with located in the same town or on the same district. For examples, click here.

church culture - the attitudes, customs and behaviors that develop within a church over time; these may be healthy or they can become unhealthy. Developing a healthy church culture is one of the most important responsibilities of both the pastor and church leaders

church development - one of our seven Nazarene essentials, this is the process used for every church on every district to be interdependent, sustainable, healthy and multiplying.

church development plan - the plan of the church, created together by the pastor and church leaders, for the church to be healthy, make Christ-like disciples and multiply leaders; it is to be updated annually and shared with the district superintendent so he/she can celebrate the progress of the church (122)

church health - a condition that occurs when all seven Nazarene Essentials are effectively being practiced by the church’s members

church life-cycle - a series of stages many churches go through over time, i.e birth, growth, maturity, plateau, decline, drop out and death. Understanding the church life-cycle can aid church leaders as they develop revitalizing, relaunch and restart strategies.

church planter – like the apostle Paul in the New Testament, an individual God calls to begin a new church. For more church planting terms, click here.

church priorities - the decision of the pastor and church leaders to focus on some issues as more important than others within the life of the church. Church conflict is minimized greatly when the church has agreement on priorities.

church size - for purposes of resourcing Nazarene congregations, we define small as churches with 2-99 worshippers, intermediate as churches with 100-499 worshippers and large as churches with 500+ worshippers.

clergyitis - a church disease that develops when a congregation is preoccupied with their pastor and this “clergy focus” hampers the development of church loyalty, spiritual gifts and individual church commitment

clergy leader – a church member who feels God’s call to a lifetime of ministry and pursues ordination; they may be licensed ministers, deacons or elders (532-534)

coach - someone who establishes an accountability relationship with a church planter, pastor, mission area leader or superintendent for the purpose of resourcing them in specific areas of either local church or district development.

community - this is one of our four Nazarene church minimums; we commit to develop community within the church by practicing its New Testament characteristics (Acts 2:42-47; 4:32-35).

conflict resolution - one of the 10 components we address in R.AN.D. revitalizing training; healthy churches learn how to resolve conflict in a way that builds healthy relationships.

contagious church culture - a church with attitudes, customs and behaviors so healthy that members invite new people regularly

corporate sanctification - is a principle taught by Jesus; this is when when a local church sacrifices part or all of itself to multiply the work of God’s church (John 12:24); parenting a new church, revitalizing the church to reach outsiders, supporting WEF, relaunching or restarting the church are all examples.

cultivating healthy church soil - this principle is grounded in the teaching of Jesus (Mark 4:1-26); it is the biblical process we follow using Nazarene Essentials to develop a healthy, multiplying church

discipleship process – our process of helping people along the journey of grace to become obedient followers of Christ. Many churches design the journey to help new people take what they call next steps

evangelism – sharing the good news that through repentance and forgiveness of our sins, we can have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ

fasting - to abstain from all or some kinds of food, drink or behavior, for spiritual purposes

favor with God - is mentioned dozens of times in the Bible and is something we are to seek. In our journey of grace, it is God looking at us with high regard, kindness and good will.

favor with people - is mentioned dozens of times in the Bible and is something we also pray for as a gift from God. It is people looking at us with high regard, kindness and good will.

fruitfulness - developing more and better spiritual fruit as a Christian; it includes the fruit of the Holy Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23) and the fruit of disciple-making (Matthew 28:19-20)

God moment - a spiritual step forward that a person takes in their relationship with God, in response to the Holy Spirit’s prompting. We believe the Holy Spirit can do more in a five-minute God moment than we can do in five years of organized church activity.

groups inventory – the process of identifying and listing all serve groups and grow groups within the church, along with all existing group leaders and apprentice leaders

grow group leader – a person responsible to lead any “disciple-making” group within the church, either for children, youth or adults. These may be short-term or long-term classes or small groups. Every church has and is a collection of discipleship groups and ministry groups.

healthy, multiplying church - a congregation living out the 7 Nazarene essentials and with a system in place to multiply new leaders

intermediate church - a congregation that has 100-499 worshippers

journey of grace - a framework for disciple-making that includes prevenient grace, saving grace, sanctifying grace and sustaining grace

large church - a congregation that has 500+ worshippers

lay leader – every Christian not called to be a clergy leader. A leader is someone with influence and this is why we believe everyone can be a leader.

lay minister – a member serving in a specialized assignment such as a church planter, co-vocational pastor or staff pastor who does not (at the present time) feel a special call to become an ordained minister

lay pastor – a trained leader who has completed 6 classes and earned a Lay Pastor Certificate; also has trained to develop skills and responsibility of multiplying serve and grow group leaders

leadership community – a scheduled gathering of church leaders for communication, encouragement and training, sometimes hosted by the church board; is extremely helpful for developing new leaders within the church

leader development path – a planned process healthy, multiplying churches use to develop leaders such as serving as 1) an apprentice group leader, 2) serve group leader, 3) grow group leader, 4) church board leader, 5) department leader, 6) lay pastor and 7) church staff.

local (licensed) minister – A lay leader who has demonstrated leadership skill, senses God’s call to a lifetime of ministry and pursues ordination. A local license is given to this minister following an interview and action by the church board (531).

macro multiplication - the action of a church to launch an internet campus, multi-site campus; another term for church planting. This is the natural result of all healthy churches and spiritual movements.

managing complex change - one of the 10 components we address in R.AN.D. revitalizing training; healthy, multiplying churches never stop changing and their leaders learn to manage this on-going change in positive ways for the church

martyrs - persons who are killed because of their religious faith; those willing to follow Jesus to the death revolutionized the early church. People willing to die fuel a movement.

mentor - an experienced and trusted advisor; someone willing to invest in another leader, informally sharing with them when asked

micro multiplication - the process healthy, multiplying churches use to recruit and train new leaders; all of these churches establish and use a leader development path

ministry focus group - used by Jesus early in his ministry (Matt 10:5-6), the intentional plan to reach one group of people first before trying to reach everyone

ministry evaluation process - the process the church goes through to evaluate a ministry’s effectiveness; includes reviewing the purpose, the target group, number of leaders being used, what measurable results are being achieved, etc.

ministry planning process - the process the church goes through prior to beginning any new ministry; includes defining the purpose, the target group, what leaders are needed, what measurable results will be achieved, training required, etc.

missionary thinking - developing the mindset in a local church that every member is a missionary reaching people in their world with the gospel and the church is a training center to support this

missional framework - one of the 10 components we address in R.AN.D. revitalizing training; healthy churches learn how to create a path for missional thinking and behaviors that move the church forward

mission point - a small group or bible study not designed for existing Christians but for people new on their journey to faith.

model of ministry - the form a church intentionally takes to reach a specific group of people with the gospel. For examples of different models of ministry, click here.

movement momentum - measured by the number of pastors and lay leaders on a district who are committed to revitalizing, relaunching and restarting existing churches and starting new healthy, multiplying churches

multiplication miracles - the result of pastors and churches who practice corporate sanctification to multiply the Kingdom of God; many times leads to new people, finances, etc. as we practice what Jesus taught (Luke 6:38)

Nazarene Essentials - the seven characteristics of healthy Nazarene churches and behaviors of Nazarenes throughout the world

Nazarene movement - the combined activity of church leaders on 480+ districts throughout the world, starting new churches and revitalizing existing churches; every week we start 27 new churches and have 2,800+ new people join the church

NazAssessment tool - a church assessment tool local churches can use, based on the seven Nazarene health characteristics

next steps -

non status-quo church - a church that has made the decision to join the Nazarene movement, not committed to keep things the way they are, but moving the congregation to become a healthy, multiplying church

ordination – the act of granting ministerial authority, done in a sacred ceremony at the annual District Assembly. Ministers must complete both educational requirements and 3 years of service prior to ordination.

outsiders -

outsider passion -

pastor cohorts -

planning for continual change -

present realities assessment -

prevenient grace -

R.AN.D - a Research ANd Development ministry of the USA/Canada Region to assist local churches in the revitalizing process, using both pastor and local church cohorts.

repentance -

relaunch -

restart - the process of taking an existing congregation and intentionally creating a church plant culture within the church, so it can begin again in a healthy way

revitalize - the process a pastor and church leaders intentionally follow to regain the characteristics of a healthy, multiplying church

sanctifying grace -

saving grace -

self-leadership - one of the 10 components we address in R.AN.D. revitalizing training; leaders of healthy, multiplying churches have learned that before we can effectively lead others, we must learn to lead ourselves.

serve group leader – a person responsible to lead any “serving” ministry within the church, i.e. ushers, greeters, money counters, trustees, missions, worship, church board, communion, media, outreach, etc. Every church has and is a collection of ministry groups (groups that serve) and discipleship groups (groups helping people spiritually grow).

small church - a local congregation with 2 to 99 worshippers

spiritual anemia - a church disease where the kingdom, multiplying heart of Jesus needs to be renewed because Christian fellowship and social service have replaced spiritual renewal and evangelistic outreach.

spiritual breakthrough -

spiritual gifts -

spiritual momentum

spiritual movement -

spiritual planning -

spiritual protection -

spiritual steps – In disciple-making, we encourage everyone to take the spiritual steps of baptism, joining a ministry group to serve, a discipleship group to grow, and becoming a giver and an inviter. We also encourage people to make a complete commitment to God and live life filled with the Holy Spirit.

status quo -

stewardship -

structuritis - a church disease where member’s thinking is opposed to planning for continual change and is instead dominated by church structure. Rules, regulations and organizational traditions are central instead of the church’s beliefs and values.

sustainable -

templeitis - a church disease that develops when a congregation is preoccupied with their building and wrongly think ministry only happens within its four walls.

three circles of church culture -

three “climate” components

three “desire” components

three “resources” components

timeline & critical milestones -

vision description

worship -

worship services, life-changing - one of the 10 components we address in R.AN.D. revitalizing training; healthy, multiplying churches learn how to create the environment where God moments happen in people’s lives. They do this by learning to design life-changing worship services.