I spent the first year of the Project looking around to see who was doing effective congregational revitalizations and trying to figure out what these pastors were like. There were discernable patterns. Here is an excerpt of my impressions of these successful pastors, as I have described them for Project leadership. These pastors have been in their churches for various lengths of time.
Circumstances are vastly different.
In addition to the initial conversations, many of the pastors have joined the Bethany Prayer Circle and called me occasionally to mull options. Before the Assembly, I invited a representative selection of 30 of the very best pastors to meet in small groups at the Assembly to talk about their experiences. I sent eachof them the attached questionnaire. I received back 24 questionnaires and 16 of the pastors came to several small group meetings I hosted. Here are my preliminary notes from this work.