Keep people from leaving. That's the priority focus of churches in the Preservation phase of the typical church lifecycle.

Churches in this phase put very little focus on reaching new people for Jesus, and there’s a strong desire to “return to the good old days.” 

Decision-making gets bogged down in multiple committees and divisive church boards, making it almost impossible to implement ministry changes.

Financial decline leads to protecting turf, rather than investing in ministry initiatives to grow the church’s Kingdom impact.

Leaders tend to dwell on the problems, blaming those problems on things that are beyond their control (like a global pandemic, for example) rather than investing time and energy into solutions.

Any of that sound familiar?

In Part 2 of this conversation, Tony and Amy explore Preservation phase, and sharing some specific changes churches need to make—and that pastors need to personally lead—if they find themselves here during this season.

For the full episode transcript, links mentioned during the show, and to download the Leader Conversation Guide, visit this episode's Show Notes at theunstuckgroup.com/episode157.

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