Sam Rainer Says Churches Must Focus Outward and Serve Their Neighborhoods

Sam Rainer, pastor of West Bradenton Baptist Church in Bradenton, Florida, president of Church Answers, and a co-founder of Rainer Publishing, is hopeful about the future of the American church, even though its past several decades have been difficult and the pandemic added further challenges. Rainer consults on church health issues. His book, *The Church Revitalization Checklist*, published by Tyndale, is meant to encourage pastors and offer a path toward a renewed and more effective church.

According to Rainer, most churches are smaller than they were before the pandemic, but their core is as strong as it has ever been. He said nearly every church struggles with evangelism, outreach, and knowing and serving its community. “The healthiest churches inwardly are the ones that are most focused outwardly,” he said. He also said that churches are facing issues with assimilation and attendance frequency. If members who once came weekly begin attending every other week, attendance can fall by half even when no one has left.

Rainer said the pandemic turned out worse than most people expected. “We’re more than two years into this now, and we’re still struggling,” he said. He believes every church needs revitalization, though not necessarily the whole church, and he said parts of any church may need renewal. Depending on who is counting and how, there are about 350,000 churches in the United States, and Rainer said somewhere between 8 of every 10 established churches will identify as needing some form of revitalization.

Rainer said that change has always been a feature of church life. He pointed to the 1920s, the 1960s, the fall of communism, the rise of the internet, and the pandemic as periods of rapid change. He said the church needs to adapt to people who change without altering Scripture, the Great Commission, or the Great Commandment. He also noted that people are living longer, so a local church may now include up to five generations, compared with two or three in the past. He said bridging that many generations is harder, and that older members may resist change because the church is a stable part of their lives.

For pastors facing polarization, Rainer recommended listening. “You shepherd at the local level, not the national level,” he said. He added, “You will never be able to please everyone, but you can listen to everyone.” Rainer also said every church should pursue growth while also loving its neighbors and discipling the people within its body. He noted that there are only 1,500 to 2,000 megachurches in the United States, and said smaller and midsize churches will accomplish much of the church’s work in the future.

Rainer described the present as an opportunity for pastors, saying that churches on every street corner can own, love, and serve their neighborhoods. He summarized a principle for pastors who want to avoid becoming CEOs rather than shepherds: “serve first and leading second,” which he said would lead a congregation toward what God has called it to do (Micah 6:8). He said he is encouraged by the neighborhood church, which he believes is primed for a comeback. “It’s not inevitable, but I do believe the neighborhood churches that grasp their mission on a very local basis will do quite well in the future.”

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