In addition to ministers and staff, every church depends on a network of lay leadership and volunteers to move ministries forward. And much like any person in full-time church work, lay people often need a chance to be renewed and refreshed in their ministry calling.
“Churches are a place of much-needed worship and fellowship, but even churches can find themselves consumed by activity and needs, and depleted of spiritual perspective and energy,” said Keith Brownfield, Mission Service Corps missionary for church renewal in South Carolina.
Church Renewal Weekends, sponsored by the South Carolina Baptist Convention and the North American Mission Board, are providing opportunities for lay church members to reconnect with their ministry calling.
Church Renewal is a nationwide ministry, offered specifically to churches, that has equipped thousands of lay people who have become content to simply attend Sunday services. “Church renewal is more than a weekend activity. It is actually a lay-led spiritual journey that encourages the laity to develop and maintain a lifestyle of ministry and evangelism as commanded by scripture,” Brownfield continued.
Using a baseball diamond analogy to further explain the renewal weekends, Brownfield says that most people “get to first base” by accepting small roles in ministry to fill vacant positions.
“Unfortunately, most of us stay on first base forever,” Brownfield said, adding Church Renewal provides several avenues for lay members to continue “moving around the bases toward home plate in ministry.”
Renewal times consist of a series of opportunities offered as different types of weekends. The first part, Lay Renewal Weekends, are times “where the church is reawakened by the Holy Spirit to its purpose and passion by giving – laity a godly perspective of their roles in serving Christ,” he said.
After the first Lay Renewal Weekend, a church may decide to participate in a more intensive weekend where church members can learn about using their spiritual gifts in ministry. Through a third step, churches can then consider other opportunities for further equipping laity, including marketplace evangelism, Acts 1:8 Renewal, prayer and empowerment weekends, and other missions opportunities.
Brownfield says the weekend experiences have proven to be a success for churches in “mobilizing laity toward a deeper understanding of their faith, their service, and their need for ministry and family.”
Church renewal weekends are free of charge and are offered to any congregation in South Carolina who want to see lay people more committed in their family and church and motivated in their service to God.
“I have seen whole church bodies come together as one to nurture, encourage and uplift one another as the body of Christ should,” Brownfield said.
Find out more about Church Renewal Weekends at www.churchrenewaljourney.net.