For generations, the cultural script for an Episcopal church was predictable: if the red doors were open, people came. Success was often measured by how well a congregation maintained that status quo.
Today, that script is getting rewritten. Church attendance is no longer the standard cultural default. Many neighbors have no history with the Episcopal tradition, and others may feel hesitant to step inside a sanctuary at all. In this shifting landscape, traditional metrics and language often fail to describe the true health and potential of a worshiping community.
Navigating this new world requires a fundamental shift in perspective and new language to go along with it, says The Rev’d Shirley Smith Graham, the Diocese of Virginia’s Minister for Congregational Vitality.
“Every church has a future,” she said. “We live in a time where we are adapting to a lot of changes, and we need to be maximally flexible about what that future can look like.”
Assistant Bishop Mark Bourlakas, who works closely with the Office of Congregational Vitality, notes that this clarity is essential for the mission-centered Diocese of Virginia.
“The Holy Spirit of God is always active and bringing newness to the particular communities that exist around each one of our churches,” he said. “The question for us in each new moment of the forward mission of the Gospel is how are we listening and making ourselves aware of the Holy Spirit’s movement? What newness and challenge are we preparing ourselves for as we live ever more fully into our discipleship in Jesus’ name? This is the work of congregational vitality.”
To move forward with flexibility, purpose, and clarity, the Diocese is introducing five ways of describing church vitality. This action-based framework isn’t a ranking system, but a pastoral tool to help a congregation express where it has been, where it is, and where it is going.
Smith Graham said churches align naturally in one of the following five descriptors of congregational vitality. “These are not limiting, but empowering them in their faithfulness and growth.”
1. Working Their Plan and Strengthening
These churches exhibit the markers of thriving communities. They are self-sustaining and have a workable model for ministry with no major challenges to their daily functioning. The work here is about ongoing growth, following a vision-oriented plan to build strength through participation, membership, and outreach.
The Goal: Ongoing vitality and ensuring that stability becomes a platform for deeper growth in faith and outward ministry.
2. Revitalizing
Revitalizing parishes are those deep in a process of discernment and planning. These congregations are identifying practical, achievable action steps to grow in vigor, skills, and ministry. This stage often involves learning how to function in new ways to help the community continue to thrive, whether as a single church or through collaboration with others.
The Goal: To strengthen the areas of ministry that work while honestly addressing and adapting those that no longer do.
3. Redeveloping
Redeveloping occurs when a church recognizes it is moving toward the end of a specific institutional lifecycle. Rather than managing a slow decline, the community chooses to relaunch with a new vision, culture, and resources. This state requires a willingness to use capital and diocesan guidance to build a sustainable, practical plan for a new beginning.
The Goal: A radical re-imagining of the church’s identity and mission for a new generation.
4. Challenged
A challenged parish consistently struggles to fulfill its basic canonical responsibilities. The sticky issues here are not just temporary hurdles but fundamental questions of sustainability. This state requires the most intensive support and the most courageous honesty from both the parish and the Diocese.
The Goal: To move past the isolation of struggle and enter into a deep discernment about the most faithful path forward.
5. New Faith Communities in Development
This is the state of fresh imagination. It begins with a group discernment process to address a specific missional need in a specific place. It’s a season of high energy where worship is at the center and a plan is being built from the ground up, supported by diocesan staff and financial resources.
The Goal: To address a missional need by planting a new worshiping community with a sustainable plan for the future.
Why this New Wording Matters
Each church faces specific holy work as it seeks to thrive in the mission of loving Jesus, embodying justice, and being disciples. Using this language, said Smith Graham, allows a community to stop apologizing for being in a hard season and start asking: “What does faithfulness look like for us, exactly where we are?”
The descriptive states stop comparisons between parishes and instead offer “a palette that a church can use to paint their own picture, to describe themselves, to get help and the resources they need, to coordinate with other churches,” she added.
By identifying these five states, challenges are transformed into a roadmap. It allows every congregation, from the newest mission to the most established parish, to see themselves clearly and move toward a future that is not just sustainable, but truly joyful.
This framework is meant to help every community find its unique way forward.
“For some churches, their model still works, and they can keep working their plan and strengthening,” Smith Graham noted. “For others, the way they are no longer works, and so they are in serious revitalization. Each of these states is one potential way forward.”
Looking Ahead
The Communications Team will be preparing stories about each of these developmental states and giving examples of how congregations are using them to grow.