Church Revitalisation

This talk first of all attempts to show the urgent need of church revitalisation which is a relatively new concept in Europe. Much thought and energy has gone into church planting over recent years, but if for every new church planted an older church disappears little progress is being made overall for the spread of the Gospel.  We draw out the theological underpinnings of the concept before moving on to a survey of the various approaches which are currently being used, mainly in the North American context, where the necessity of church revitalization has begun to become increasingly important. Finally we  give a more detailed description of the approach which is being currently used in the European situation by the FIEC group of churches in the UK. Phil Walter also contributes.