Revitalization

From Briarwood Presbyterian Church, Birmingham, AL

I. What is Lampstand?

Lampstand is a teaching, coaching, and mentoring ministry that equips and encourages church leaders as they pursue church vitality. For more than 25 years, the Lampstand team has come alongside churches to equip their leaders with Biblical principles for church planting, church revitalization, and church acceleration.

Lampstand uses the Biblical paradigm found in Jesus’ words in Revelation 2:5 to the church at Ephesus: “Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent, and do the works you did at first. If not, I will remove your lampstand from its place, unless you repent.” Remember, Repent, and Recover the First Things – this is the Gospel paradigm Lampstand uses to help revitalize churches that have fallen into spiritual decline and/or functional malaise.

II. The Three Tracks of Lampstand:

At their national and international conferences, Lampstand teaches the Biblical principles upon which church vitality is founded and sustained. Their teaching team of church planters and pastor-theologians also draw from multiple resources—theological, historical, and practical, as well as their own personal ministry experience.

All three Lampstand tracks are rooted in transcultural and transgenerational Biblical truths.

1) Church Planting (Igniting the Flame)

• Characteristics of a healthy church plant
• Centrality of ordinary means of grace methodology
• Vital signs of a Biblical church planter
• Planting an intentional Great Commission Church with a Great Commandment Culture

2) Church Revitalization Track (Embers to a Flame)

• Prioritizing the corporate ministry of prayer
• The centrality of the preaching of the Word
• Leadership Maturation, Mobilization, and Multiplication
• Discovering, Developing, and Deploying Spiritual Gifts
• The Great Commitment to the Great Commission

3) Church Acceleration Track (Fanning the Flame)

• Creating a healthy culture of change
• Avoiding the ego-driven church
• Redemptively managing dissension, division, & disagreement
• Can a Lead Pastor of a large church really effectively pastor?

III. Lampstand Coaching and Mentoring

Lampstand’s coaching ministry assists planters, pastors, and church leaders in taking the Lampstand Conference teaching from theory to practice. This involves a team of experienced planters and pastors who specialize in areas such as:

• Leadership prayerfully crafting a clear vision statement
• Having clear objectives that pursue the stated vision
• Developing a set of strategies and goals to meet objectives
• Arriving at a plan to make prayer a way of life in the church
• Identifying and analyzing strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats before the church
• Staying accountable to ongoing leadership discovery, development, and deployment
• Defining a process to equip the saints for the work of ministry
• Regularly assessing the progress of strategy development and implementation

Healthy churches develop leaders—yet far too often the church calls people to be leaders who have only a worldly view of leadership. Lampstand is committed to on-going leadership mentoring, as well as developing relationships that extend beyond our conference and coaching settings.

Their mentors equip and encourage pastors to grow as leaders who understand the priority of defining, developing, and deploying other leaders—men and women who do not merely lead in the church but also in their communities and in the world.