JEFFERSON CITY – Dying churches are loved churches.
For 25 years, John Still and his family poured into Spring Valley Baptist Church. It was their home, a congregation dedicated to the truth of the gospel. Still was faithful in the roles God gave him within Spring Valley, even as the church declined and then plateaued. He and his wife took on more responsibilities, but as the church shrank, ministries were consolidated or abandoned out of necessity. At times, he felt defeated and saddened, but Still maintained hope that God was in control of Spring Valley’s future.
“We just weren’t very good at sticking,” he says, referencing the congregation’s attempts to be out in the community. Their hearts were in the right place, but they couldn’t identify their root problems, much less fix them.
When their pastor retired, Buddy Funk, who has since become the Director of Resound Network at the Missouri Baptist Convention, stepped in as an interim pastor. He and Gregg Boll, the Blue River-Kansas City Association’s Director of Missions, introduced Resound’s evaluation process to Spring Valley. The congregation created a task force to discover their strengths, weaknesses, and possibilities.
Some of those possibilities, like closing the doors for good, were disheartening but revealing. “Your eyes are opened [through Resound’s process],” Still says. Quickly, the team realized how dire the situation was, and the impact of their decisions weighed heavily on Still. He added that they should have investigated their options sooner, but the good things about Spring Valley blinded them to the full picture.
Another complication came in the form of a generous monetary gift a late member had left to the church, a gift that would aid in operations despite their otherwise dwindling resources. However, because they weren’t growing or successful in “sticking” in the community, the team realized that once that gift ran out, the church would be in the same situation.
So, they explored their options with the help of Resound, and through much prayer and careful consideration, they pursued adoption by a church with more resources who could help them revitalize and re-engage with their community on a deeper level.
This dying church, beloved by many, saw a chance at new life.
Mark Clifton, the Executive Director of Revitalization, Replant, and Rural Strategy for NAMB, took over for Buddy Funk as interim pastor in order to aid the congregation in finding “the right partner.”
The congregation “often referred to what they learned from the Resound Network,” Clifton says. “They found the Resound Network to be incredibly helpful in making decisions and moving forward.”
Eventually, Clifton connected Spring Valley with Lenexa Baptist Church. The leadership at Lenexa engaged in conversations about history, hopes for the future, and their shared desire to see the gospel brought to Raytown.
Still recalls being excited about Lenexa’s rhythm of honest reassessment and effective pivoting; a lack of those characteristics had contributed greatly to Spring Valley’s decline.
Meanwhile, Clifton had invited Jonathan Slade to preach a few times. Slade was called to ministry in the area, and he was waiting for God to open a door, which He did at Spring Valley. Slade became the next interim pastor, but he wasn’t an interim for long.
After much prayer and investigation, Spring Valley decided to come under the umbrella of Lenexa Baptist Church as Reach Raytown, and Lenexa hired Slade to be the new full-time pastor.
Executive Pastor Jim Fruth of Lenexa Baptist Church says that 1 in 10 churches he speaks to about adoption or re-planting are actually willing to do it. It comes down to control, and most congregations cling tightly to things like music style, schedules, and other preferences, so much so that it prevents them from following through on change even when they know it’s needed. Revitalization isn’t, according to Fruth, commissioning fresh people to implement “old playbooks” as if the old plans would work should the members have more energy, time, or resources. It’s more about praying about real change, reassessing, and formulating new plans for moving forward.
Spring Valley was unique because they had been prepared by Resound Network and interim pastors for what revitalization would entail. They were convinced that they needed it before they even connected with Lenexa Baptist Church.
On the 75th anniversary of their founding, in October of 2023, Spring Valley had a closing service. “It was a great experience,” Clifton says. “We had a lot of former members come, and they shared a lot of great stories of what the church had meant. It was a way of turning the page and saying, ‘That’s the past 75 years, and now we’re looking forward to the next 75 years.’”
There was a four-month shutdown between the last service of Spring Valley and the “soft opening” of Reach Raytown on January 7, 2024. The church began a major remodel which is not yet completed. They’re looking to add staff, and they’re still developing ministries and ministry structures.
“The sausage is still being made,” Fruth says, and he looks forward to what God will do through Reach Raytown in the next few years. However, where once there was a declining congregation on the verge of dying, the future is now bright.
Fruth says, “There’s a core group of people [at Reach Raytown] who want to see Jesus be glorified… They want to see people in the community be reached with the gospel, and they’re willing to lay down their preferences and follow a new strategy to see what God will do.”
“We’re still learning as we go,” Still says, and even though they’re no longer Spring Valley, those who remained from Spring Valley days feel a responsibility to see those resources stewarded well. They want to honor the legacy of the saints who built the church that was the foundation for Reach Raytown.
Since the soft-launch, God has worked in the community. When asked what God has done in Reach Raytown’s first year, Slade says, “What hasn’t he done?”
Slade says that congregants have opened their hearts to the brokenness of the community around them and the needs there.
“Our homicide rate, this shouldn’t be normal,” Slade says. “The violence rate shouldn’t be normal. The decline in our education system shouldn’t be normal. And the church is the answer. The gospel is the resolve, and we have to do our part in this community. It was through teaching and preaching and spending time [together] eating meals and bumping shoulders when the heart of Christ began to be shared. Scales began to come off.” He says arguments about renovations or the new way of doing things turned into awe of the work God was doing. “Now,” Slade says, “it’s [conversations like] how we can’t believe God sent over 970 folks [to us] through outreach.”
Slade says much of the work God has done is due the older members of the congregation devoting themselves to the furthering of God’s kingdom, even as they sacrificed some of their own preferences and comfort to do so. They let their hearts be changed, and they’ve seen their church grow to between seventy and eighty regular attenders; when Slade first preached there, only a dozen members filled sanctuary.
One of the biggest shifts in mindset is how children are welcomed. Instead of being corralled out of the way, children are celebrated. Slade says, “One day a member pointed out fingerprints on the glass door, and she says, ‘You know, I used to see those fingerprints and get frustrated. Now, I’m grateful.’”
Slade continues, “God cares about his sheep, no matter how young or how old. Every member is precious,” he says, describing the multi-generational unity as a way “to honor the past and look forward to the future.”
Reach Raytown is a congregation revitalized through adoption, and now, Still says, they are starting to “stick” in their community.
Plans for 2025 include finishing renovations, holding a grand opening, and expanding ministries. One of their biggest challenges, according to Slade, will be “not taking space from the community but using space for the community.” He also talked about expanding their summer school program into an after-school program.
A revitalized church is a God-glorifying church, and Still says that God is opening the community’s eyes to the work being done there for His Kingdom. The community is noticing that God’s people are there to serve them and meet their needs.
“I look at [our community]… through a lens of hope,” Slade says. “I’m in hopeful expectation of what God will continue to do this year, and I have plans for him to exceed my feeble expectations… hopefully he blows that out of the water.”
Slade says Reach Raytown’s story is an example of how the church works together: MBC Resound Network, the local association, the North American Mission Board Replant team, and Lenexa Baptist have combined efforts in the journey to seeing Reach Raytown thrive for the good of God’s Kingdom.
For other churches who may find themselves in a similar position as Spring Valley, Still advises them to establish a team to do what they did with Resound Network. He emphasizes the importance of prayer and communication, always keeping the congregation apprised of what the team discovers. To Still, taking the time to assess and not rushing into decisions is very important, but he warns, “Don’t put [asking the tough questions] off because one day the inevitable will happen: the doors will close.” He says out of those questions and through Resound’s process, Spring Valley found they were not alone, and they were given the resources they needed to move forward.
A dying church, a loved church, a revitalized church: the story of Spring Valley becoming Reach Raytown is the story of God’s work and His faithfulness.
To learn more about MBC’s Resound Network, contact them at resound@mobaptist.org or request information at resoundnetwork.com/start-a-conversation/.