The Healthy Church Staff Podcast
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The Healthy Church Staff Podcast
Replanting a Megachurch: The Bold Move That Saved Bethlehem Baptist
Bethlehem Baptist Church in Minneapolis chose to completely replant itself as City Church Minneapolis after facing declining attendance following founding pastor John Piper's retirement after 40 years. Their story demonstrates how legacy churches can choose gospel-centered renewal over nostalgia when faced with the question of whether their best days are behind them.
• After John Piper left, the church faced declining attendance despite his influential 40-year ministry
• The downtown campus made the bold decision to replant rather than continue declining
• Not closing or launching a satellite, but dying to self and starting over with new identity
• Process took years of meetings, prayer, and asking difficult questions about leadership and future
• The new City Church Minneapolis is smaller but healthier, younger, and more focused
• Faithfulness beats flashiness and health beats hype in church ministry
• Churches don't need to wait for decline to consider replanting or revitalization
• Sometimes embracing a smaller congregation can lead to stronger ministry
If your church is considering a replant or revitalization effort, reach out to us at podcast@chemistrystaffing.com for guidance through the discernment process.
Have questions or comments? Send to podcast@chemistrystaffing.com
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Imagine this what if a few years ago, your church was absolutely packed to the rafters and now half the seats are empty? What if your founding pastor just retired after 40 years and nobody knows what's next? This is the story about how one Minneapolis megachurch made a bold move and what it teaches every church leader about risk and renewal and the gospel's power to start fresh. Stick around. We're going to talk about Bethlehem Baptist, john Piper's old church and what they just did. That might be the most important case study your church needs right now. We're going to talk about that today, right here on the Healthy Church Staff Podcast. Hi there, my name is Todd Rhodes, one of the co-founders over at chemistrystaffingcom, and I'm your host here on the podcast.
Speaker 1:Okay, john Piper pastored Bethlehem Baptist for over 40 years and his preaching drew thousands of people. It really influenced a generation. Matter of fact, john is still an influencer in the church in America and his ministry really anchored a massive downtown footprint in Minneapolis. But after he left, attendance started to dip and, like many legacy churches, bethlehem had to ask eventually, is our best behind us? Every church with a founding leader hits this wall at some point or another, and the real question is do you preserve the museum or do you plant something new? And the people of Bethlehem decided we're going to do something new and they decided to replant themselves. So the downtown campus decided to replant itself as a new church City Church, minneapolis. They weren't closing, they didn't launch a satellite, they were dying to self and starting all over again.
Speaker 1:And that kind of move takes some guts. It also takes a church that loves the gospel more than nostalgia. I remember being in one legacy church, oh, probably 10 years ago, and I remember they actually had, they had tried to move on as best they could, but they had a huge heritage from the past and they actually had a museum, a room that served as a museum, where, where they had under glass the Bible of the founding pastor, it had his open to his favorite passage with his little bookmark and his little notes in there. So this is something that's really hard when your church has a history and a heritage. Okay, maybe not at the scale, but you still you have a history and a heritage.
Speaker 1:So this wasn't a quick decision, this wasn't a weekend decision. It took years of meetings, it took a ton of prayer, of consulting and asking some really hard questions, questions like? Who would stay? Who would lead? Would John Piper approve? Those are questions that you have to ask, and the answer came through careful discernment and it came as a result of the willingness to let go of the past for the sake of the future of Minneapolis and the future of the gospel impact of that church. Okay, so the new church is smaller, but it's healthier City Church Minneapolis, launched in the same building with a new name, a new structure, a new leadership. It's smaller, it's focused, though it's younger, it's healthier.
Speaker 1:And in a world obsessed with growth metrics, this story has to remind us at least it does me that faithfulness beats flashiness and health beats hype. So what can your church learn from this? There's a few things I think right. Even if you're not in this exact situation, and even if John Piper wasn't your last pastor, you don't have to wait to replant right. Involve your congregation early, let legacy inform the future, but don't let it dictate your future. And maybe you need to embrace smaller for the next season if it means that you can be stronger. And remember sometimes death leads to resurrection. That's the gospel, after all. So that's it. That's a story of how a megachurch has chosen to replant over continuing decline and how you can too.
Speaker 1:I hope you've enjoyed this edition of the podcast. I'd love to hear your comments. Drop me a comment If you're listening on the podcast. You can email a comment to me, podcast at chemistrystaffingcom. If you're watching on YouTube, leave a comment down below.
Speaker 1:And I would love to hear has your church considered either a replant or a revitalization effort? I'd love to hear from you. You can reach out anytime. Podcastchemistrystaffingcom and reach out too. If you're considering this and you're like Todd, I don't even know where to start, I'd love to help you. We've got people on our team that could come alongside and help you start this discernment process. Right, it's not going to work. It's not going to be a month decision or a two-month decision. I think it took them about two years. But we'd love to be able to hold your hand through that and give you some good advice through that and, if there's any way, I can help reach out podcast at chemistrystaffingcom. All right, that's it for today. Thanks so much for joining me here on the Healthy Church Staff Podcast. I'll be right back here. Hope you'll join me again tomorrow.
