Author: Russell Lightner

When vision fades: the quiet crisis facing churches

I am convinced the root issue most churches face today is that they have lost their vision.

By this, I don’t mean they have no calendar or programs. I mean they do not have a clear understanding of God’s direction for their future. In my experience working with dozens of congregations, churches without vision operate on repetition, not expectation. They march through ministry from year to year without asking whether what they do helps the church become more faithful to Christ’s calling.

A church stuck in repetition simply reproduces last year’s calendar. Ministry leaders gather, adjust dates, and call it progress. Churches that lack vision rarely ask whether an event reached new people, produced disciples, or advanced the mission of Christ. Completion becomes the metric of success, not obedience.

A cycle of repetition leads to comfort and resistance to change. When fresh ideas surface, people protect what feels normal, often saying, “That’s not the way we’ve always done it.” Churches need a vision that calls them into the discomfort of obedience. Vision pushes congregations beyond what was comfortable into what God is calling them to become.

One reason churches lack vision is they misunderstand where vision comes from. Many believe it originates with the pastor. When the pulpit is vacant, ministry stalls. Activities decline. Decision-making is deferred. Members wait for the new guy to arrive with a vision message.

This dynamic resembles Israel at Mount Sinai. God invited the people to meet Him, but they refused, saying, “You go to the Lord … and bring back to us what He says” (Exodus 19). Israel preferred a messenger over a personal response to God’s calling. Similarly, churches often treat pastors as the source of vision rather than seeking Christ together under Scripture.

Churches need a vision that calls them into the discomfort of obedience. Vision pushes congregations beyond what was comfortable into what God is calling them to become.

Anthony Svajda Tweet

Pastors are under-shepherds, not vision originators. Jesus is the head of the church and the source of its direction (Ephesians 1:22–23). When churches look to Christ first for vision, they move beyond pastoral personality to missional obedience.

A church without a clear, God-given vision is stagnant at best and spiritually dead at worst. It may retain comfort-seekers who are satisfied with maintaining the status quo. But maintenance is not a mission and comfort is not obedience. Visionless churches carry on activities without kingdom outcomes.

Here are five questions to help you discern the health of your church’s vision:

  1. Can our leaders clearly describe where Christ is leading our church beyond simply sustaining current ministries? If vision is present, it can be articulated. If it cannot be named, the church may be operating on habit rather than direction.
  2. How do we define success—by faithfulness and fruit, or by attendance and completion? When events are evaluated primarily by whether they happened, vision has likely given way to routine.
  3. If pastoral leadership changed tomorrow, would the church continue moving forward, or pause and wait? A church that stalls without a pastor may be revealing dependence on personality rather than submission to Christ’s headship.
  4. Are we willing to stop good programs that no longer serve our God-given calling? Vision provides guardrails. Resistance to releasing familiar ministries often signals a preference for comfort over obedience.
  5. Do our people understand how their serving, giving, and discipling connect to God’s larger purpose for  this church?

When vision is clear, participation has meaning. When it is unclear, the ministry feels disconnected and obligated.

Does your church need help developing a clear vision to experience health and renewal. Sign up for the SBTC’s Regenesis process today!

God is moving in mighty ways

God has done tremendous things through the churches of the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention. From 120 churches in 1998 to almost 2,900 churches today, we are continuing to grow as a network. 

As that growth happens, our staff is always asking how we can serve churches more effectively and efficiently. We consider it a high honor to be able to come alongside churches and serve. 

As I did in our last issue, I want to highlight a couple of SBTC ministries that are doing a great job serving across Texas. 

Disaster Relief

Our SBTC Disaster Relief ministry, led by Scottie Stice, is second to none. I believe Scottie is the best DR director in the country, and we have an incredible group of volunteers. Whether it’s through feeding units, chainsaw units, shower units, mud out, or any of the other ways our teams serve, SBTC DR is willing and ready. For our DR team, it’s not just about crisis—it’s about sharing Christ in the midst of
crisis. If you have a desire to meet people in their moments of great need, reach out to Scottie and become part of seeing those needs met and sharing the gospel. 

SBTC En Español

This is another great and growing SBTC ministry. Luis González leads these efforts alongside Jesse Contreras, Juani Shelton, and Arlene Sanabria. They are leading the way in assisting Spanish-speaking congregations to fulfill the Great Commission. Through conferences, trainings, and planting new churches, this team is eager to walk alongside SBTC churches with excellence. If you want to find out how to be a part of this exciting ministry, Luis would be delighted to talk to you. 

The SBTC exists for the churches by the churches. We are so thankful for the opportunity to serve churches across our great state. We believe God is moving in mighty ways—and the best is yet to come! I love you and consider it a joy to serve you.

To connect with one of our ministry associates, contact the SBTC at 817-552-2500.

God puts people in our lives to help us

Editor’s note: Chip Parmer is pastor of First Baptist Church in Marlin. He recently shared part of his testimony with the Texan’s Gary Ledbetter.

Every church I’ve pastored for my 19 years has been a revitalization effort. We’ve been here [First Baptist Church of Marlin, southeast of Waco] for nearly two years. The church was running about 50 people at the time. One of the first things we noticed about the ministry was the church had no children’s ministry or youth ministry; they hadn’t for a long time. 

That was something we wanted to address, because if we’re going to try to reach our community, we need to reach younger families. That means we had to have something for their kids. 

Right away, we reached out to the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention and they put us in contact with Lexi Hood, who is a consultant for the convention. Lexi came in and worked with us, helping us develop a plan and a system for our first year of children’s ministry. 

That was about the time we met Janet Evans. Janet was from Marlin, but she had been with Cru for 40 years working all around the country, though mainly in New York. She was an amazing woman, a godly woman of prayer. And though she never had really worked with children, she said, “There’s a need and I’m going to step in.” 

Janet became our children’s director and she was faithful, plugged in. She helped so much in making sure the structure was there and that everybody had what they needed. And we started to see some slow growth. Last year, we probably ran two to three kids (after having no children’s ministry previously), but we were faithful with it. This year we transitioned to Awana, and Janet became our Awana director. And again, she just went all in, making sure we had well-equipped teachers and doing an amazing job helping everything run smoothly and on the right track. Once again, we saw some growth so that we now were seeing five or six kids each Sunday night. Janet was a way that God had answered a new pastor’s prayers. Overall, our church attendance had also risen by 10-15, and we’d even had some baptisms following our second VBS. 

[In February], Janet had gone out to dinner with some friends and got back in her car to go home and had an aneurysm and passed away. I was at a loss. I really didn’t know how to respond. I haven’t ever experienced that, didn’t know what to do. Our adult ladies, our teachers were crying. I mean, they were just so emotional about losing Janet, losing a best friend. Janet had played an integral part in leading some of them to Christ, developing their relationship with Christ.

SBTC consultant Lexi Hood leads Awana students at FBC Marlin.

So, I started praying and the Lord prompted me to reach back out to Lexi. I made the call, and Lexi was just amazing. She was comforting. She was compassionate. She prayed with us and then she said, “I’m going to start working on some things.” Within, I want to say 24 hours, she was formulating a plan to come help us minister to our kids and to our adults, because I think that’s the thing [the adult workers] that is sometimes missed. I mean, the kids are so important, but the teachers, they had such a close relationship with Janet and they were suffering, too. 

My wife, Clarissa, and I were at the Empower Conference about a week later and Lexi introduced us to Karen Kennemur. Karen leads children’s and family ministries for the SBTC, and she was like, “Hey, let me meet with y’all in the morning.” The next morning, Karen proposed to send a counselor to come to our church to talk with the kids and the children’s workers. That’s the plan we formulated, that they were going to come in, Karen and Lexi, and Lexi would lead it and then take the kids. The kids did a painting project honoring Janet that we hung up in the church, a stained-glass cross with her favorite Scripture on there for her. Then they brought in a counselor from Houston and she talked with the adults. Our adults needed that so much.

Awana students at FBC Marlin made this stained glass art in memory of their late Awana director, Janet Evans.

It just helped remind me that God puts people in our lives to help us and to be there—that we don’t have to have all the answers because God has all the answers. We can go to Him and He will direct us. Especially for me, it solidified that our state convention cares no matter what size your church is. When there’s a need, they’re going to meet it. Jeff Lynn [SBTC’s senior strategist for Church Health and Leadership] was also helping in the background. I heard from [SBTC Executive Director] Nathan Lorick. Everybody reached out to me, and that was a blessing and an encouragement.

I think anytime you come in and start facing adversity, you can get discouraged. At the same time, God used what has taken place with Janet to bring joy and even a little bit of rejuvenation and growth out of death. I often think about that passage where Jesus is talking about how unless a seed falls to the ground and dies, it doesn’t bear fruit. This is one of those instances where a death, although tragic and sudden—and we miss her—has produced spiritual fruit that I believe is going to be lasting and impactful. 

I think that’s a great testimony to a life lived for Jesus, that even when a great saint passes, God can still use that moment to bring forth more spiritual fruit. I think that’s a great testimony to Janet.

Make the most of every opportunity

Our family recently experienced major breaking news: Our 6-month-old grandson had his first taste of solid food. He started with mashed-up avocados and quickly graduated to sweet potatoes. He really liked the sweet potatoes, we’re told, and we know this because he apparently kept grabbing for the spoon to guide bite after bite into his mouth. 

Now, if you’re speeding along in life’s fast lane as a younger person, that may not land all soft and sentimental on your heart the way it did for new grandparents like us. Every “first” as a parent felt like a big moment; as grandparents, those feelings are sweetly amplified. The first time we held him. His first Christmas. The first time we heard him chattering some nonsense that sounded to us like a beautiful chorus … you get the idea. 

Not long ago, I came across a post on social media that provided a much different perspective: “At some point in your childhood, you and your friends went outside to play for the very last time—and nobody knew it.” I’d never thought about it that way and immediately began to consider other “lasts”—my last day of high school, my last day at work at the newspaper where I started my career, the last time I spoke to my mother before her death. 

Equally as fascinating to me are the “lasts” that are still to come. At some point, I’ll write my last article. Read my last book. Take my last breath.

"Be sanctified at work. Be sanctified with your family. Be sanctified at the ballpark. Be sanctified in the classroom. Be sanctified (gulp) on social media. Be sanctified in all things."

Jayson Larson Tweet

These realities ought not discourage us. Instead, they should excite us about the opportunities God will provide as we move through whatever time He has appointed for us. In Ephesians 5, Paul writes, “Pay careful attention, then, to how you walk—not as unwise people but as wise—making the most of the time, because the days are evil.” Other translations say we are to make the most of every opportunity. 

Today is a gift. It may not feel like one, and you may feel like you’ve been giving a lot more than you’ve been getting lately. But for those in Christ, the gift is so much greater—we are promised eternity in heaven with our Lord and Creator, living in a perfect place with no more pain or sorrow or struggle. Until we get there, God has given each of us a mission. 

On my best days, when I’m not sure what God wants me to do, I fall back on the command of 1 Thessalonians 4:3—“For this is the will of God, that you be sanctified.” In context, Paul is writing about sexual immorality, but the whole counsel of Scripture agrees that every follower of Christ is to apply this principle to every aspect of life. Be sanctified at work. Be sanctified with your family. Be sanctified at the ballpark. Be sanctified in the classroom. Be sanctified (gulp) on social media. Be sanctified in all things.

Why? Because someone within your hearing may be about to experience a first. It may be the first time they have interacted with someone who is a Christian. And in some cases, someone may be experiencing a last. I wonder how many times we come into contact with someone who is spending their last day on earth. It probably happens more than we think. 

All the more reason we should make the most of every opportunity. Be gracious. Be kind. Be honest. Be courageous. After all, we never know when it will be our first—or last—chance to do so.