Davis - Revitalize: biblical keys to helping your church come alive again

I cant recall ever making this statement about a book: church leaders need this. Nine out of ten churches in North America are in need of some level of significant revitalization. Andy Davis has led true revitalization at one church for two decades. Revitalize will guide church leaders for many years to come. Incredible. Inspiring. Biblical.

Thom S. Rainer , president and CEO, LifeWay Christian Resources

I have served two churches during my lifetime. One was a church revitalization project, the other was a church plant. I can tell you that revitalization takes every bit as much skill, courage, and prayer as church planting. Andy Davis has spent years in revitalization work, and in this book he makes what he has learned accessible to others. I welcome this solid new contribution to the growing literature on helping churches come alive again.

Tim Keller , founding pastor, Redeemer Presbyterian Church, New York City

Thousands of churches in the United States are in numerical and spiritual decline. This means the task of church reform and revitalization is one of the churchs most urgent needs. For almost two decades, Andy Davis has modeled courage and biblical fidelity in pastoral ministry. He is a pastor who truly knows what it means to see God revitalize a church through the power of his Word. This resource is the culmination of Daviss expansive and biblical wisdom on revitalization. Pastors, no matter how experienced or inexperienced, need to read this book.

R. Albert Mohler, Jr ., president, Southern Baptist Theological Seminary

Some books contain a fair bit of biblical exposition but tease out rather poorly the implications for church life. Other are larded with practical tips sustained by only the most tenuous links to Scripture. Revitalize avoids both of these sad extremes. Born in the furnace of tough experience, this book is simultaneously encouragement and contrition, biblical exhortation and the voice of hard-earned experience, clarity on the gospel and clarity on the church. If you are a pastor and dont need this book at the moment, buy it anywaythe time will come when you will need it.

D. A. Carson , research professor of New Testament, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School

This is a really good book in so many ways. Pastor Andy Davis is humble and honest, biblical and practical, as he helps us understand what is required to turn around a dying church. And he is an excellent writer, which makes reading Revitalize a joy. I will refer to this book again and again in the future because it is a fount of wisdom. I cannot commend it highly enough.

Daniel L. Akin , president, Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary

Revitalize is not for the faint of heart. It will put iron in your backbone at the same time that it calls you to bend your knees before the Lord who alone can build his church. Written by a man of courage and faith, Revitalize reflects the realities of pastoral scars while extoling the beauty and power of Christs wounds to inspire a new generation of pastoral warriors. Dont look for simplistic techniques in these pages, but drink deeply of the pool of Andy Daviss pastoral experience that sparkles with biblical priorities on which Christ builds and rebuilds his church.

Bryan Chapell , pastor, Grace Presbyterian Church

The American landscape is filled with churches that are plateaued and declining. Thousands of congregations are in need of the sort of spiritual revitalization that can only be led by godly pastors and empowered by the work of the Holy Spirit. For this reason, Im thrilled that Andy Davis has written this timely book. Andy was my pastor for a decade at First Baptist Church of Durham. The final four of those years we served together as elders, where I witnessed up close and personal the prayerful implementation of the principles found in this book. Revitalize offers a great balance of Scriptural principles, real-life stories from the pastoral front line, and practical application. I pray this book becomes a valuable resource and a source of encouragement for pastors and lay leaders who long to see their own churches revitalized.

Nathan A. Finn , dean of the School of Theology and Missions, Union University

Andy Davis is an amazing man with an amazing story. I watched the revitalization of First Baptist Church of Durham from afar. As I read this book, I was freshly moved by this compelling account of what God did in that place through the faithful labors of this pastor. This book tells that story. Revitalize contains not only the story but also many wise and essential lessons about the important work of church revitalization from a thoughtful, courageous pastor who grew from this remarkable journey. I can confidently commend this work, as well as the man who lived it.

Brian Croft , senior pastor, Auburndale Baptist Church; founder, Practical Shepherding; senior fellow, Mathena Center for Church Revitalization, Southern Baptist Theological Seminary

With a title like Revitalize: Biblical Keys to Helping Your Church Come Alive Again , youd expect a manual of best practices on how to revitalize a plateaued or dying church. Instead, Andy Davis leads us through the Bible, preparing pastors, church leaders, and church members to be the kinds of vessels useful to God in his revitalization project. If you want a best practices book on what you can do to revitalize a church, youll need to look elsewhere. But if you want to be the kind of person God uses to revitalize his church, then youve got the right book.

Juan R. Sanchez , senior pastor, High Pointe Baptist Church