Date

4-7-2026

Department

Rawlings School of Divinity

Degree

Doctor of Ministry (DMin)

Chair

Brandon Pugh

Keywords

church decline, church growth, church revitalization, leadership strategies, Presbyterian, rural churches

Disciplines

Practical Theology | Religion

Abstract

Many Churches in the Presbyterian rural landscape have plateaued or are in decline. Little research has been done to address the causes and provide strategies for remediation. This study examines this problem in the Presbytery of the Central West, New South Wales, Australia. The purpose of the project is to identify factors causing church decline in rural areas and develop revitalization strategies for ministers and elders across the Presbytery. The research consists of two layered responses. The first layer identifies factors causing church decline and develops five strategies suitable for implementation. The second layer utilizes Mezirow’s transformative learning framework to track the readiness of leaders to implement change. These layers converge to produce the outcomes of the study. Although leaders were satisfied the strategies were theologically and practically sound, most were not willing to move to implementation. Leaders were uncertain about their ability to apply the strategies in churches with aging members and declining numbers, lack of motivation for evangelism, cultural resistance to the gospel, and denominational factors that hinder mission. Future research could expand the sample size, repeat the participatory action research cycle in other presbyteries, and further explore the influence of denominational factors upon the health of rural churches.

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