Hemphill Center for Church Revitalization
Price Hall 117C | revitalization@swbts.edu | @SWBTSRevitalize
Established in August 2019, the Hemphill Center for Church Revitalization (HCCR) provides resources, equipping/training events, consulting services, internships, and ministry opportunities to meet the needs of pastors, church leaders, and the local church in general.
Working in cooperation with the national fellowship of state revitalization leaders and the church replanting team of the North American Mission Board, the HCCR is available as a resource for churches and state conventions addressing revitalization needs for the purpose of restoring churches for Gospel impact.
Resources
The Center for Church Revitalization is constantly working to develop resources to help churches thrive, and we’re constantly adding to our library of content.
Church Health Consultation
Apply for a free church health consultation to assess potential paths for revitalization.
Revitalization Sermon Series
This free series is a sermon-based, four-week preaching and small-group curriculum to impact a church’s respective community through evangelistic outreach.
Sermon & Worship Resource Collection
Churches without pastors or ministries without video production tools can easily access individual messages, sermon series, individual songs, and complete worship services.
Conference: Evangelism Engagement
In a May 14, 2020, conference, panelists Adam W. Greenway, president of Southwestern Seminary; Matt Queen, L.R. Scarborough Chair of Evangelism; and Kenneth Priest, interim director of the Center for Church Revitalization, discussed fresh approaches to evangelism, outreach, and Gospel invitations.
Conference: Preaching
This Fall 2020 conference focused on how pastors can preach for the purpose of revitalization.
Doctoral Concentration: Church Revitalization
The concentration in Church Revitalization is designed to effectively assess current trends in revitalization and equip students with the tools and biblical framework necessary to lead plateaued or declining churches. This concentration is available in both the Doctor of Ministry (DMin) and Doctor of Educational Ministry (DEdMin) at SWBTS.
Certificate in Church Revitalization
This 5-course certificate can be completed in two years, with courses intentionally scheduled to prevent pastors from missing their Sunday or Wednesday night responsibilities. Program courses will be offered on a rotation which may be completed in up to 24 months.
Matt Henslee, Executive Director: Collin Baptist Association
Matt Henslee is the husband of Rebecca, father of four princesses, and is the Executive Director of Collin Baptist Association in Fairview, Texas. He co-hosts Not Another Baptist Podcast and The Potluck Podcast, and is a guest on many other podcasts, conferences, and more.
He graduated from The Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in 2017 with his M.Div. and his D.Min. in Church Revitalization in 2021. He’s also the author of Replanting Rural Churches, Jonah Over Coffee, The People Walking in Darkness, and a few primers for pastors like Path for P.E.A.C.E., Evangelize to Revitalize, Text-Driven Invitation, and God Can Save Me? Additionally, he is the President of the SBC Pastors’ Conference, serves First Baptist Church of Farmersville, and is on the Leadership Council of the ERLC, as well as a frequent contributor to Lifeway Research (previously Lifeway Pastors) and many more blogs. He also serves as a Consultant with the Center for Church Revitalization at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary.
Terry Rials, Director of Missions: Western Oklahoma Baptist Association
Dr. Terry Rials serves the Western Oklahoma Baptist Association in Oklahoma as the Director of Missions after pastoring the Crestview Baptist Church of Oklahoma City for 28 years. He is a graduate of Oklahoma Baptist University (B.A., Applied Ministries), Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas (M.Div.BL), and earned his doctorate (D.Min.) from Midwestern Baptist Theological in Church Revitalization. He also serves as a Consultant with the Center for Church Revitalization at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary.
Dr. Rials is active in leading church revitalization efforts in Oklahoma and nationally. He is a frequent conference speaker and teacher. He wrote The Nuts and Bolts of Church Revitalization with Dr. Tom Cheyney. His second book, The Spiritual Mechanics of Church Revitalization, is expected out in the Fall.
Tim Smith, Director of Missions: Floyd County Baptist Association
Dr. Tim S. Smith serves as the Director of Missions for Floyd County Baptist Association, Rome, GA. Most recently he was on the Church Strengthening Team and served as the Discipleship Consultant for the Northwest Georgia region. The focus of his work was partnering with pastors and leaders to strengthening churches in their mission of making disciples.
Dr. Smith earned his D.Min. from the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, his M.Div. with Christian Education from Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, his B.S. in Education from the University of West Georgia, and his Associate in Arts degree in Religious Studies from Truett-McConnell University.
He has authored, co-authored or contributed to several resources including; Lead Your Group, Bringing LIFE to Adult Sunday School, Basics of Preschool/Children/Youth and Adult Sunday School series, Sunday School that Really Excels: Real Life Examples of Churches with Healthy Sunday Schools, Be a Catalyst: Start New Groups, The Sunday School Leadership Course, Training Your Sunday School Leaders, The Power of 10, Key Strategies of a Healthy Sunday School, Coaching a Winning Team, Evangelism through the Sunday School, and Training the Adult Sunday School Class Leadership Team.
Tim is married to Cathy and lives in White, Georgia. They have adult two children and two grandchildren.
Jim Grant, Executive Director: Galveston Baptist Association
Dr. Jim Grant is a 25-year veteran from the Air Force, retiring in 1997. He has pastored four churches in Texas and Illinois. Dr. Grant is a Southwestern Seminary alumnus, graduating with his Master of Divinity with Biblical Languages in 2002. He has also earned his Doctor of Ministry from Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in 2013, with a concentration in Church Revitalization. Dr. Grant has been involved in Church Revitalization for most of his twenty-two years as a pastor.
He is a contributing writer to the national magazine on revitalization called Renovate. Dr. Grant is a conference speaker and has co-authored Church Revitalization is Rural America. He has been married to Kathy his wife for 45 years. They have two daughters and six grandchildren. Dr. Grant began his current position in December 2018. He also serves as a Consultant with the Center for Church Revitalization at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary.
Leon Moore, Church Consultant: Dallas, TX
Dr. Leon Moore serves as a church consultant with the Center for Church Revitalization at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. He has over thirty years of experience in church ministries, including the marketplace, and has prior managerial industry experience in retail, banking, and healthcare finance.
He is certified with the Society for Church Consulting and does consulting and volunteer work with the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention. Furthermore, he is a frequent speaker at the Southern Baptists of Texas EQUIP conference and chairs the Church Planting Committee of the Dallas Baptist Association.
He participated in Southwestern Seminary’s Revive the Nation preaching revivals and Crossover evangelism. He also does church revitalization consultations in urban and rural settings. In 2018, he hosted a conference on church health and revitalization in African-American Baptist Churches at Criswell College.
Dr. Moore received his D.Min. from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, M.A. from Dallas Theological Seminary and MBA from the University of Minnesota. Additionally, he is a Certified Church Administrator (CCA) through The Church Network.
He is married to Joyce Moore, and they are the proud parents of two daughters and one son-in-law.
Join the HCCR Team
With the HCCR’s Certificate in Church Revitalization, you can be trained to assist nationally as a church consultant for church revitalization.