Between What Was and What Will Be: Liminality, Mission, and the Work of Practical Theology

I was recently speaking with a colleague about her congregation, which has been forced to relocate temporarily while their new church facility is being built. In the middle of our conversation, she paused and described this season as a “wilderness time.” It was an instinctive choice of words, but also a deeply theological one. Without naming it directly, she was describing a liminal space.

Liminality, from the Latin limen meaning threshold, names that disorienting in-between. It is the space where what was is no longer viable, and what will be has not yet fully taken shape. In missional theology, this space is not an interruption to the church’s life. It is often the very place where God does some of the most significant formative work.

Liminality as a Missional Reality

Missional theology insists that the church does not possess a mission. Rather, God’s mission possesses the church. This reframing is crucial in liminal seasons. When a congregation loses its building, even temporarily, it often feels like a loss of identity. Established rhythms are disrupted. Institutional memory is unsettled. The question quickly surfaces: Who are we now?

That question, unsettling as it is, may actually be the most missional question a church can ask.

In Scripture, wilderness is rarely wasted space. It is the context in which God reshapes identity.

Israel is formed as a people not in Egypt or even initially in the Promised Land, but in the wilderness. The early church is scattered before it is multiplied. Even Jesus is driven into the wilderness before the launch of his public ministry.

My colleague’s church, displaced and disoriented, is not outside of God’s mission. It is being re-formed within it.

The Crisis of Identity and the Opportunity

When a church building is removed from the equation, something revealing happens. The distinction between church as place and church as people becomes unavoidable. Liminality exposes where identity has been overly tied to structure, space, or program.

This exposure can feel like loss, and in many ways it is. But it is also diagnostic.

A wilderness season surfaces the implicit theology a congregation has been operating with:

  • Do we believe the church is primarily a gathered event or a sent people?
  • Is our identity rooted in what we do on Sundays, or in who we are throughout the week?
  • Have we confused stability with faithfulness?

These are not abstract theological questions. They are lived, embodied tensions, and this is precisely where practical theology becomes indispensable.

How Practical Theology Helps in Liminal Space

Practical theology is not simply the application of doctrine. It is the disciplined reflection on lived faith in real contexts. It asks: What is God doing here, and how do we participate faithfully?

In liminal seasons, practical theology provides at least three critical functions.

It names what is happening.

My colleague called it a “wilderness time.” That is more than a metaphor. It is theological interpretation. Practical theology helps leaders and congregations move from vague discomfort to meaningful naming. What we name, we can engage.

It reframes disruption as formation.

Without theological reflection, disruption feels like failure. With it, disruption can be discerned as formation. Practical theology invites the church to ask not, How do we get back to normal, but What is God forming in us that could not be formed before?

It guides faithful experimentation.

Liminal spaces are dynamic and uncertain. Old models no longer fit, and new ones are not yet clear. Practical theology encourages iterative, context-sensitive practices. It allows communities to try, reflect, and adjust. Small experiments become faithful responses rather than desperate measures.

The Missional Edge of the Wilderness

There is a paradox at the heart of liminality. As internal clarity decreases, missional potential often increases.

A church without a building is forced outward. It becomes more attentive to its surrounding community. It must reconsider how it gathers, where it serves, and what truly constitutes its witness. In this way, liminality can strip away inherited assumptions and reorient the church toward participation in God’s mission in its local context.

This does not romanticize hardship. Wilderness is difficult. It involves grief, uncertainty, and sometimes conflict. But it is also generative.

The question is not whether a church will pass through liminal seasons. The question is whether it will recognize them for what they are.

Leading Through the Threshold

For leaders, the temptation in these moments is to resolve ambiguity as quickly as possible. There is a desire to stabilize, to fix, and to return to something recognizable. Premature closure, however, can interrupt the deeper work God is doing.

Leading in liminality requires a different posture:

  • Patience instead of urgency
  • Discernment instead of control
  • Curiosity instead of fear

It also requires helping people remain in the space long enough for transformation to occur.

My colleague’s description of her church’s “wilderness time” is not just a passing comment. It is a theological diagnosis. The building will eventually be completed. The congregation will gather again in a more permanent space. But the deeper question remains:

Who will they be when they arrive?

If they engage this liminal season with theological attentiveness and practical wisdom, they may discover that the most important construction project is not the building, but the re-formation of the people themselves.

That kind of work rarely happens in comfort. It happens in the wilderness.

Revitalization Begins with Listening, Not Doing

If you spend any time in church revitalization circles, you’ll hear the same question: “What should we do?”

It sounds like the right question. It isn’t.

That question assumes revitalization begins with action, with strategies, systems, and execution. Scripture points in a different direction. Revitalization does not begin with doing. It begins with listening.

The Problem: We’re Already Listening, Just Not to God

Most leaders are not failing to listen. We are listening to the wrong voices.

We listen to statistics, critics, podcasts, conferences, and often our own ambitions. Even our prayers can become one-sided conversations where we do all the talking. In a ministry culture that rewards activity and innovation, listening becomes secondary, if it happens at all.

I’ve sat in meetings where hours were spent mapping out what to do next, and not a single minute was given to asking what God might already be saying. We left with a plan, but no discernment.

That isn’t revitalization. It’s just activity without direction.

The Order Matters: Listen, Then Lead

As leaders, we are called to listen and then lead, in that order.

We have no business leading God’s people if we have not first heard from God. Scripture makes it clear that God speaks and that those entrusted with spiritual leadership carry the responsibility of discerning His voice. When leaders fail to listen well, the consequences are not theoretical. They are often deeply damaging.

Activity without discernment is not leadership.

Why Listening Is Foundational to Revitalization

1. Listening Renews Strength

Isaiah 40 grounds this reality. Those who wait on the Lord renew their strength.

Revitalization is demanding work. It stretches you emotionally, spiritually, and relationally. Without divine renewal, you will not sustain it. Listening is not passive. It is the means by which God strengthens His leaders for the work ahead.

2. Listening Clarifies Direction

Nehemiah models a pace most of us resist.

Before he approached the king about rebuilding Jerusalem, he spent months praying, fasting, and waiting. Only after receiving clarity from God did he act. Many leaders reverse that pattern. We act quickly and seek clarity later. It becomes “ready, fire, aim.”

Listening aligns action with God’s direction rather than our assumptions.

3. Listening Re-centers the Work

Revitalization cannot be driven by our preferences, timelines, or ambitions.

God has never asked, “What do you want to do?” The better question is always, “Lord, what do You want to do?”

Listening displaces ego. It recenters the work on God’s purposes rather than our plans.

Scripture Is Clear: God Speaks, But We Must Hear

Throughout the Old Testament, the prophets spoke with a consistent authority: “Thus says the Lord.” Their role was not to generate ideas but to faithfully communicate what they had heard. These calls to return to God echo across generations and are often ignored, with sobering consequences.

Jesus continues this emphasis in the New Testament. At the end of the Parable of the Sower, He says, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.” The issue is not the seed. The issue is how it is received. When the Word is not rightly received and applied, it does not produce a harvest.

In Revelation, Jesus repeatedly tells the churches, “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.”

God is speaking.

The question is whether we are listening.

Failure to listen is not a minor oversight. It is disobedience.

A Slower, Better Starting Point

This may feel unsatisfying if you are looking for a strategy or a checklist. But that instinct, to begin with action, is where many revitalization efforts go wrong.

The better path is slower. It is quieter. It is more dependent.

Do not rush to act.
Wait.
Pray.
Listen.

God will make clear what needs to be done and when. That clarity is not given to the hurried. It is given to those who are willing to be still long enough to hear His voice.

Revitalization does not begin when the church starts moving.

It begins when leaders start listening.

When You Feel Like Quitting: The Power of Staying for Church Revitalization

Every pastor eventually faces a difficult moment: the realization that they can no longer inspire their congregation to move from the comfort of their seats to actively serving others in the streets. For many, this is the tipping point. They dust off their resumes and begin searching for a new assignment, convinced their calling to that particular church has ended.

But is it really over? Research indicates that significant spiritual and numerical growth in a church often occurs between years five and seven of a pastor’s tenure. Yet the average pastor stays only about half that long. What could happen in God’s kingdom if both the congregation and the pastor committed to working together for His glory in their local church?

Church revitalization demands a different mindset—one rooted in long-term strategic progress. A church in need of renewal requires a leader who stays committed, even in the hardest seasons of ministry, rather than fleeing when things get tough.

I understand the temptation. No one dreams of serving in difficult places. As a revitalizer myself, I’d love every assignment to feel like a Christian utopia: no complaints, overflowing offering plates, and families with children filling the pews every week. The reality, however, is often quite different. The hard, undersized, struggling church is frequently the exact place where revitalization ministry is most needed—and most fruitful.

Lessons from Moses: Called and Equipped for the Hard Places

In my devotions, I came across a passage in Exodus 35:4-9 that deeply challenged and encouraged me. It reminded me that God not only calls us but also equips us for the specific place where we serve. Moses faced incredibly challenging people while leading God’s work, and I suspect many pastors and revitalizers today encounter similar obstacles.

The temptation is real: “If only I had the right people in the right town, everything would be better.” But when a church pushes back against leadership instead of moving forward in unity, the revitalizer must learn to pare down personal ambitions and lean into God’s plan.

Moses discovered he could not build the tabernacle alone. God called him to lead the project, but the materials, resources, and willing hands had to come from the very people he was serving. In the same way, a church revitalizer is called to serve with the people, not against them. The leader’s role is to cast vision, offer encouragement, and help uncover and deploy the gifts already present in the congregation.

The Four “Everyone” Principles for Revitalization

The church is for everyone, and effective revitalization involves encouraging four key “everyone” principles drawn from the example of Moses and the Israelites.

1. Everyone Has a Heart to Serve

Through prayer, Moses saw that each person had a unique part to play (see Exodus 35:20-21). A revitalizer seeking to change the culture of a church must tap into the spiritual power that comes only from connecting people deeply with prayer.

Prayer cannot be an afterthought in revitalization efforts. Dedicated times of prayer—both personal and corporate—are essential to break yokes of bondage, heal old wounds, and free hearts to serve God with renewed passion and sanctification.

“A revitalizer who is going to help change the culture must tap into the spiritual power only found in plugging the people into prayer.”

2. Everyone Has an Ability to Help

Moses realized he couldn’t construct the tabernacle through his own effort alone. Revitalizers must recognize the same truth: hard work and personal dedication are not enough. Transformation requires a team.

Like Moses, leaders in revitalization are called to encourage, share, and help expose the talents God has placed in His people. Even those who feel physically limited can contribute powerfully through prayer and financial generosity. It takes the whole body working together to turn a dying congregation into a living, thriving witness.

3. Everyone Gives God Glory Through What They Have

Revitalizers must regularly pause, look at their church with fresh eyes, and ask God to reveal the gifts He has already deposited in the people. No leader can do this work alone, but with God, all things are possible.

In Exodus 35:4-19, Moses called the entire community to bring what God had commanded—not through demands or manipulation, but by leading them to respond to God’s direct call on their lives.

4. Everyone Is Called to Give Freely

Everything in revitalization must be done for God’s glory, not the leader’s. Moses never took credit for the people’s response. God used their faithfulness to meet every need—so much so that the offerings eventually had to be restrained because they had more than enough (Exodus 36:6-7).

When the people of a church fully surrender to God’s call on their individual lives, the needs of the church can be met by the church itself.

A Divine Opportunity, Not a Mistake

Every church is unique and must be approached as such. A revitalizer cannot simply repeat methods that worked elsewhere. Instead, they must seek what God specifically wants to do in this location, with these people.

The current setting is not an accident. It is a divine opportunity to freely give ourselves to the Savior and watch Him bring new life.

Serving in a small, struggling church is never easy. Leading revitalization in a congregation that clings tightly to the past is even harder. Yet Scripture provides a clear, time-tested plan—no need for reinvention. As Moses remained faithful to God’s call, today’s revitalizers must hold fast to their calling, their location, and the people God has entrusted to them.

With God’s help, and through the faithful participation of His people, revitalization will come.

What about you? If you’re a pastor, revitalizer, or church member feeling the weight of a hard season, take heart. God equips those He calls, and He often does His greatest work in the most unlikely places—when His people choose to stay and serve together for His glory.