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Shawn Kennedy planted a church in San Diego that grew for fifteen years, then felt called back to replant the very church that first shared the gospel with him.
That church, Church at the Shores in Gulf Shores, Alabama, was three to six months from closing when Shawn arrived. Eight years later it is thriving.
Shawn unpacks what it actually took to turn the church around, including culture, finances, leadership structure, and a renewed sense of joy.
He also explains how the Fresh Start Network partners healthy churches with struggling ones to help them find new life.
Shawn shares an early look at his upcoming book on spiritual formation, inspired by a conversation with a vineyard's vine dresser in Tuscany.
If you lead a church that feels like it is running out of time, this episode is for you. You will hear from Shawn Kennedy, who has walked both sides of church revitalization. He led a healthy, growing church for fifteen years, then felt God calling him back to replant the struggling church that led him to faith in the first place. You will hear what he found when he arrived, what it took to turn the culture around, and how his work with the Fresh Start Network is helping other churches walk the same road.
Shawn was told the church had three to six months left before it would close its doors. He found a congregation of about thirty five people who were discouraged but still open to what God might do. The building was aging, finances were tight, and the previous pastor's approach had left the church with a difficult reputation in the community.
"A sick church can't laugh, and a healthy church can't stop laughing."
Shawn points to a story about Howard Schultz returning to Starbucks and immediately sensing something was wrong the moment he walked into a store. For Shawn, the shift at Church at the Shores was similar. Around eight months in, he began to notice a change in the atmosphere, a sense that the joy of the Lord had returned to the room.
The Starbucks parallel: Just as Schultz noticed a change in smell and feel before he could point to specific numbers, Shawn noticed a change in tone and laughter in the room before he could point to specific metrics.
Joy as a marker of health: Shawn describes joy, not attendance, as one of the earliest and clearest signs that a church is coming back to life.
Faces tell the story: Shawn now looks for people laughing and engaged as evidence that the culture has genuinely shifted.
Fresh Start Network was founded by Bill Malick, who helped see six thousand churches planted in the U.S. and abroad before turning his focus to churches that are struggling or dying. Shawn has served alongside Bill since the organization's early stages.
The mission in one line: Fresh Start's team often says it this way, we're not saving churches, we're rescuing missions.
The Fresh Start evaluation: A tool that helps church leaders understand where their congregation sits on the church life cycle, since every church moves through seasons.
Coaching and resources: Once a church has clarity on where it stands, Fresh Start comes alongside with relationships and practical next steps.
Partner churches: One of the most effective long term strategies Fresh Start has found is pairing healthy, life giving churches with struggling ones, either as a friendship partnership or a deeper family style partnership, to walk the replanting journey together.
Shawn spent fifteen years pastoring a church he helped plant near the University of California, San Diego campus. He never expected to leave it. When the church that first shared the gospel with him reached out and asked him to consider becoming their lead pastor, his first instinct was no. Two weeks of what he describes as disruption and disorientation followed, along with a sense that God was inviting him and his wife to take a step of faith. They moved back, and Shawn became the lead pastor of the same church whose gospel witness had shaped his own faith years earlier.
"Jesus writes the best stories."
Shawn is working on a book with InterVarsity Press centered on spiritual formation. The idea traces back to a conversation with a vine dresser at a vineyard in Tuscany, Italy, where Shawn was asked to officiate a wedding. The vine dresser told him that vineyards can produce usable grapes in three to five years, but the choice grapes used for wine take seven to ten years to mature.
Spiritual formation defined: Shawn describes it as the slow, beautiful work of God, carried out through relationships and practices over time.
A caution for pastors: He points out how easy it is to look for three to five year results when the deepest, most lasting growth often takes far longer.
Where would you say your church currently sits on the church life cycle?
What would it look like for your church to rediscover a sense of joy, not just improved attendance or programs?
Is there a healthy church nearby that could serve as a partner in your revitalization journey?
If this conversation encouraged you, share it with a pastor or church leader who needs to hear that a dying church can come back to life. You can find Shawn Kennedy and the Fresh Start Network at freshstartnetwork.com.
New episodes release on the 1st and 15th of every month. Subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts, and visit revitalizemy.church for more resources to help your church find its path toward renewal.
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