Church consultants provide a valuable service to Christian churches throughout the country. A good consultant can offer the outside perspective that a church needs to get a clear understanding of the issues they face, and offer suggestions for working through them. Individuals and companies that provide church consulting services typically have a wide range of expertise in many of the issues that churches face every day. Some churches need help discovering their mission and vision as a congregation, while others need help in more practical matters, such as governance structures or financial issues. Still others aren’t sure what type of help they need—they just know they are struggling.
When a church falls into the latter category, bringing in a person or team that specializes in church diagnostics can be a good first step. An organization like VitalChurch Ministry offers several levels of assessments that can help a church determine where its specific issues lie. Following an assessment, VitalChurch Ministry also offers church consulting, typically through an interim pastor who will stay with the church for as long as two years!
VitalChurch Ministry’s website states: “Our experienced pastors can provide counsel (Proverbs 19:20) to church leaders on a variety of matters. Whether it’s coaching the pastoral search process, assisting with staff development, providing counsel on biblical eldership, or helping with succession planning, our pastors can offer godly guidance to your church.”
The VitalChurch Ministry team has a large group of seasoned pastors on staff, many of whom have served as lead pastors in the past. They don’t just offer churches book knowledge. Rather they offer their real, lived experience as those who have shepherded congregations and understands the struggles is involves. Their interim pastors as also those who feel a special call from God to the ministry of church revitalization. As the VitalChurch Ministry says, “Our team approaches church consulting from a pastoral perspective. It is our desire to walk with congregations through a complete revitalization process, rather than just identifying issues and offering advice.”
Before a church hires someone for church consulting, they should take a good look at what they actually need. Do they just need some outside counsel and helpful suggestions, or do they need to take a deep dive into all aspects of their church? When a church needs help that goes beyond the capabilities of the average church consultant, working with an organization like VitalChurch Ministry can be the best course of action—even though it will mean a longer term commitment and dedicating more resources to the church revitalization process.
For churches that are struggling financially, VitalChurch Ministry has a limited number of grants available to help them obtain the services they need to move forward.
