“This Stuff Is Heart Work”: Dr. Ryan Coffey Speaks on Church Revitalization at Equip Lunch

Dr. Ryan Coffey, Pastor at First Baptist Church Somerset, led a discussion on Church Fostering and Partnerships with CKNB Pastors at the May Equip Leadership Lunch, hosted at Irishtown Baptist Mission.

This past Tuesday, May 5, pastors and ministry leaders from across Central Kentucky gathered at Irishtown Baptist Mission on Perry Avenue in downtown Lexington for another encouraging and challenging Equip Lunch. The featured guest for the afternoon was Dr. Ryan Coffey, Pastor of First Baptist Church of Somerset, Kentucky, and author of the newly released book Church Fostering: Revitalization Through Strategic Leadership.

Dr. Coffey shared key insights from his new book while also speaking candidly from his own experiences in ministry and church revitalization. While much of the modern conversation around struggling churches often centers on systems, staffing, programming, or finances, Coffey emphasized that true revitalization begins much deeper.

“There is no revival or revitalization of churches apart from repentance,” Coffey said. “This stuff is heart work.”

Throughout the lunch, Coffey repeatedly pointed leaders back to the spiritual condition of the church rather than simply organizational adjustments. He noted that many congregations misdiagnose their struggles by focusing only on surface-level symptoms.

“Churches believe they are struggling because of money problems, but that is the symptom of the true issue of the heart,” he explained.

Drawing from both research and ministry experience, Coffey challenged leaders to remember that revitalization must remain gospel-centered and mission-driven. The driving motivation behind healthy churches, he said, must be a burden for lost people and a desire to see communities transformed by Christ.

“The need of the lost being saved has to be the driving factor behind the heart change,” Coffey shared. “God can’t feel very honored in a community where 88% aren’t in church on Sunday.”

First Baptist Somerset has experienced significant evangelistic growth and renewed spiritual vitality in recent years. Coffey pointed to intentional outreach efforts such as the “Who’s Your One?” initiative as catalytic tools in that process, but he stressed that strategies alone are never enough.

“Who’s Your One has been a catalyst,” he said, “but the heart change had to be the foundational spark.”

Coffey also addressed the difficult realities many declining churches face when seeking renewal. One of the strongest themes of the afternoon centered on humility and the willingness of unhealthy churches to embrace new leadership, fresh vision, and needed change.

“Revitalization has to be gospel driven,” Coffey emphasized. “It can’t be about you or even your church.”

He continued by challenging churches that resist change simply for the sake of preserving tradition.

“For fostering to be effective, an unhealthy church must be willing to release authority and be open to the possibility of new leadership, new direction, and fresh vision,” Coffey said this is difficult because, “Change-resistant churches are often overly tempted to love tradition more than they love the Gospel. They’re stuck in preservation mode rather than transformation mode.”

As part of the discussion surrounding “church fostering” relationships between healthy and struggling congregations, Coffey outlined several indicators that such partnerships are functioning well. Among them were consistent and honest communication, visible progress in the work being done, and measurable objectives being accomplished together.

The afternoon proved to be both encouraging and convicting for those in attendance, offering pastors and church leaders practical wisdom while also calling them back to the spiritual foundations necessary for lasting kingdom impact.

We are thankful for Dr. Ryan Coffey taking the time to pour into the pastors and church leaders here in Central Kentucky and for the challenge to pursue churches marked not merely by activity, but by repentance, Gospel passion, and transformed hearts.