Kevin G. Harney - The U-Turn Church: New Direction for Health and Growth

The U-Turn Church

Copyright 2011

Kevin G. Harney and Bob Bouwer

To protect the privacy of the individuals whose stories have been shared by the authors, some of the names and details have been changed.

Scripture quotations identified NIV are from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION, NIV Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984, 2010 by Biblica, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any meanselectronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwisewithout the prior written permission of the publisher. The only exception is brief quotations in printed reviews.

Published by Baker Books

A division of Baker Publishing Group

P.O. Box 6287, Grand Rapids, MI 49516-6287

www.bakerbooks.com

E-book edition created 2011

ISBN 978-1-4412-3214-4

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is on file at the Library of Congress, Washington, DC.

A special thanks to the congregation of Corinth Reformed Church in Byron Center, Michigan. Your willingness to try new things, follow God in new ways, sacrifice for the sake of those not yet in Gods family, and serve with passion was a key to the amazing U-Turn we experienced together.

Kevin G. Harney

For the glory of God I thank Faith Church (RCA) for their obedience to God in reponse to the U-Turn process. From the humble beginnings in a gymnasium to campuses in Dyer, Cedar Lake, Valparaiso, Sheridan, and soon Hammond, you have been supportive and prayerful. You are truly an amazing church. I also thank my wife, Laurie, and my children, Courtney (and Joel), Caitlin, Grant, and Carley. You not only walked alongside me in this journey, but actively participated as servants yourselves. I would also like to thank my assistants, Mary Ann Van Amstel and Pam Gibson.

Bob Bouwer

Introduction

Welcome to the Journey

Why Make a U-Turn?

Have you ever been driving down the road and suddenly realized you were heading in the wrong direction?

We all have.

What do you do when this happens?

The answer is simple. You look for the closest place to make a U-Turn. You get back on track.

Today, many people drive with a Global Positioning System. With the technology of a GPS, you would think none of us would ever get lost again, but this is not the case. It is still possible to end up heading in the wrong direction. If you have a voice-activated GPS, you know what happens in these frustrating moments. A pleasant voice says, Recalculating. Then it gives you a new route.

A GPS helps you find the best route to get to your desired destination.

In the church, there are times when we could use a Spirit-led recalculating moment. We didnt mean to wander off, but something happened, and the church veered off course. Over time, it becomes clear that we need to move in a new direction. The old way of doing things is not working. The tried and true approaches are not bearing fruit. The call to Go make disciples of all nations (Matthew 28:19) is still in our hearts, but we dont see an influx of new believers coming into our local church. We want to see Christians grow into full maturity, but many seem to be on a spiritual pause.

In these moments we hear the voice of the Spirit saying, Recalculate. God calls us to make a U-Turn and try a fresh new direction.

The gospel and truth of Gods Word do not change, but the way we do ministry, our approach to worship, and how we reach our communities, need to be reexamined. This is the U-Turn moment many churches are facing today.

Maybe it is where you are right now.

You Are Not Alone!

If you look at your church and have a deep sense that something fresh and new needs to happen, you are not alone. If you hunger for a movement of the Holy Spirit that will lead to greater joy in your church, a season of harvest where souls are changed for eternity, and new passion in your own spiritual life, you are not alone. If your church has hit a plateau or is losing ground, you are in good company.

A majority of churches in the U.S. have stagnated or are declining. That is the sad truth.

The focus of this book is to give hope as you enter a Spirit-directed U-Turn journey that will lead to a season of health, faithfulness, growth, and new vision. This is not a fantasy concocted by a couple of hyper-optimistic pastors who have no idea what they are talking about. The U-Turn journey is one the authors of this book have traveled and helped many other churches navigate.

We know there are congregations all over the U.S., and the world, that are longing to take new steps forward and move in fresh directions.

Sadly, they feel stuck.

Some are shackled by the chains of tradition and an unhealthy clinging to past ways of doing things. Others feel they lack the vision or leadership needed to move in a new direction. Still other churches worry that making a U-Turn will mean compromise of their commitment to Gods Word, their denominational distinctions, or their cherished values. For some congregations, the very structure of their church government dictates against what it takes to make a U-Turn. These kinds of roadblocks can stand in the way of a church setting a new course for their future. In this book, we look at what stands in the way of local congregations thriving, and we offer very practical ways to move past these obstacles and into a new and hope-filled future.

The U-Turn Church will draw illustrations and lessons from two churches that have experienced healthy transformation over years of walking through a U-Turn strategy. Bob Bouwer will tell the story of Faith Church and Kevin Harney will share the journey of Corinth Church. Out of these two congregations, lessons will be gleaned that you can use in your process of making a U-Turn.

A Tale of Two Churches

Faith Church was a traditional, mainline church positioned in an urban area on the southern fringes of Chicago. It had passed its growth peak and was losing about twenty-five members a year. When they began their U-Turn journey, Faith Church had about two hundred seventy-five people in weekly worship.

Today, Faith Church is a vibrant and growing congregation with over four thousand worshipers gathering weekly in three weekend worship services on the main campus in Dyer, Indiana; a Sunday service on the Cedar Lake campus; a Sunday service on the Valparaiso campus; and in three on-site video-venue services called The Well. Faith Church plans to begin four or five more multi-site locations in the next five years (with an intentional focus on growing the diversity of their congregation).

Corinth Church bought new land and built a new worship center, but was still struggling and stagnant when they approached their one-hundredth birthday. It was a small country church on the outskirts of Byron Center, which is on the edge of Grand Rapids, Michigan. Corinth Church was right in the middle of a farming community. In one hundred years of ministry they had grown from a handful of families to about two hundred fifty worshipers. They had used the same order of worship, morning and evening, for almost a century and were staunchly locked into a traditional mold.