Do you believe God still fans the flames of renewal in struggling churches? He can. And he still does. One way God continues to breathe gospel life into struggling churches is through the raising up of men equipped to labor in the difficult soil.
The Mathena Center for Church Revitalization at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary serves the churches of the Southern Baptist Convention by providing pastoral resources and training to help in recovering and revitalizing the most at-risk churches in the convention. The Mathena Center trains students for revitalization, mentors aspiring pastors, and supports churches needing new life.
The Mathena Center recently celebrated its ten-year anniversary. The anniversary occasioned a newly remodeled campus center, the release of Dear Aspiring Pastor, a new book published by SBTS Press, and the return of alumni who carry on the Mathena Center’s mission to revitalize churches.
Brian Croft, Senior Fellow for the Center, and Michael Carlino, Assistant Director, reflected on ten years of preparing pastors for the fulfilling task of church revitalization.
“The Mathena Center has focused on two core priorities since its inception,” Croft and Carlino said. “First, providing biblical and practical content for pastoral ministry. Second, investing in men called to apply these principles.”
The Mathena Center developed a “three-legged stool” which guides interns and partners with the Center in the practical, yet challenging, task.
“Central to our mission is the three-legged stool for church revitalization,” Croft said, “The stool includes (1) pastoral theology, (2) healthy ecclesiology, and (3) personal soul care—each essential for the stability and endurance required to revitalize local churches. The stool answers the practical questions for revitalizers: Where do I go? What do I do? How do I survive?”
The Mathena Center’s one-year internship prepares aspiring pastors for the twists and turns of shepherding dying churches. Graduates of the internship came together in Dear Aspiring Pastor to help pass on encouragement to those considering church revitalization.
“At our 10-year celebration, we announced the release of Dear Aspiring Pastor,” Carlino said. The contributors include twelve alumni of our year-long internship now serving in pastoral ministry. The book reflects the Mathena Center’s investment in equipping men for ministry. Each contributor shares how the Center shaped their current ministry in the local churches they lead and serve.”
Church revitalization is a vital task that requires practical wisdom and the empowering of the Holy Spirit. Interns are challenged to place their trust in the full sufficiency of the Bible to restore the beauty and power of the gospel in at-risk churches. This ministry forms bonds between like-minded pastors who recognize the toll and reward of ministering in hard-to-reach churches.
“We believe God revitalizes churches through his word, by his Spirit, through the means of faithful men preaching and teaching,” Croft and Carlino said. “To that end, we are committed to training aspiring pastors to survive and even thrive in church revitalization. The return of 45 of our interns for our 10-year anniversary—many traveling at their own expense from across the U.S. and beyond—demonstrates the deep, mutual commitment between the Mathena Center and these men. We are excited to see how God will use this training, which will expand because of the new space on campus, to strengthen SBC churches worldwide.”
The mission of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary has always been to train, educate, and equip ministers of the gospel for faithful service in the local church and on the mission field. The Mathena Center for Church Revitalization extends this mission by focusing that training on some of the most challenging contexts—churches in need of renewal. Just as Southern forms pastors who think biblically and lead faithfully, the Mathena Center ensures that such men are prepared to enter struggling congregations with theological conviction, pastoral endurance, and gospel hope. In this way, the Mathena Center stands as both a fruit and a continuation of Southern’s broader commitment to serve the churches of the Southern Baptist Convention.