Ed,
I just met last week with the pastor of Central Community Church in Mattoon, IL. They fit your comeback church description. They were in decline for 40 years. They were down to 10 people in attendance. 4.5 years later they are running 600 and growing.

Comeback church in Louisville, KY: Watson Memorial Baptist Church. They have, after a period of significant division, rebounded to become a growing, multi-ethnic congregation.

Comeback church: Watson Memorial Baptist Church in Louisville, KY. Pastor Kevin Smith has led the church, after a period of significant division, to become a growing, multi-ethnic congregation.

Declergified: My home church definitely fits into this category. We have a church of about 275 members. 3 out of 4 Sundays of the month we meet in homes around our region (we call them Home Fellowships). There are 20-25 adults in each home and we have a time of worship, body ministry, teaching of the Word (including Children's ministry, not babysitting) and then we share a meal together. Each home fellowship has a leader, an assistant, a worship leader and an administrator. Our senior pastor and two assistant pastors rotate through the groups each week. Leadership positions are based on proven character above any kind of seminary degree (although that is definitely welcome).

Once a month we have our 1st Sunday service in our ministry center where all 10 home fellowships come together for our "family meeting" on the first Sunday of the month.

You can find out more here:

http://www.harbourchurch.org/

Declergified! We just started our first satellite campus in downtown Grand Rapids, Mi. Our ministry leaders are unpaid volunteers pulled from our main campus :) It was an incredible process allowing God to tell us who the ministry leaders were going to be as we were preparing to launch the campus. It's been even more incredible to see them grow in their relationship with Christ as they grow in their leadership roles!
www.daybreak.tv

Ryan and Jenny Duffy
Campus Pastors

Ed,
We are so excited about what God is doing at Briarlake Church! My prayer, our prayer, is that we are able to serve as an example of what can happen when a church decides it is willing to try something new to reach those who are lost.

Briarlake just celebrated 50 years at the same location. So it has a rich traditional history. 5 years ago we only had one traditional service led by full orchestra & choir with exception of Christmas & Easter when we would need to add an additional service. We averaged around 3-5 baptisms a year.

Now we still have the one traditional service (w full orch. & choir in Sanctuary) but now have two very non-traditional services (led by a rock band, in a retro-fitted Gymn that is converted similar to a concert/theater venue) and have added a fourth service that is a smaller traditional, intimate, traditional service in our Chapel (led by piano & organ). We now average 7-12 baptisms every month & have just built an outdoor baptismal to assist w the this growth! We have traditional Sunday School and small groups that meet in homes. Worship is unbelievably diverse in attendance. You are just as likely to see saris as jeans and suits.

Another unique thing w us is our staff. We have staff members of differing ages and who have served on staff from 30 yrs to a few weeks. We have traditionally seminary trained staff and some who were lay people who we offered staff positions asking them to leave their secular jobs.

We aren't perfect by any means of evaluation but we made a decision not to be another dying church and have been willing to try new things, simplify what we do, and do everything with excellence all to share the redemption found in Christ with anyone and everyone. It truly is an amazing story!

Comeback: The Valley Church in Hermitage PA www.valleychurchfamily.com. This church is a restart/replant that is 1 year old, is growing... though maybe not nearly as fast as some of the above examples.

First Wesleyan in Nashville is in the third year of revival and growth after a two-decade decline. We don't look like we did 40 years ago, but we are again reaching our community with the gospel and seeing lives changed. Ours is also not the most dramatic in terms of numbers, but we are once again the church we should be. And our base of 10, which was older, and on fixed income, has been involved in the comeback process... and is still a part of it.

We may be to young as a church for the purposes of research, but our vision is one of a de-clergified movement.

The heart of Matthew’s Table is its missional communities. We envision elders preaching the Word and primarily living out their leadership role in a specific community at each self-perpetuating, self-propagating, semi-autonomous location. As such, smaller bodies of people gathering together makes more sense. These smaller missional communities allow for a more intimate community, contextualization, greater volunteering, and participation and a wider presence throughout the city as we start new sites.

Through these elder-led missional communities, each community becomes a missional presence. As people gather in community, they will be sharing their lives one-to-another, will be on mission, and will grow in their gospel understanding. The primary ethos of “being the church” is in the small gatherings throughout the week that will gather together three times a year with other missional communities for a celebration service.

De-clergified: the 200+ Bible study fellowships associated with Mission Arlington/Mission Metroplex in the DFW area? Info here: http://www.missionarlington.org/ourmission/ (click on the "Ministry Results" link listed on the right side of the page)--NOTHING else like it that I know about anywhere in the United States!

www.villagechurchirvine.com
de-clergified.... every member a minister is our goal.
Also having a comeback. Were a healthy mid-sized church then went down to 75 members with 8 on staff. Had to let all go but the pastor and children's director, and were unsure if we would have to close our doors. Have since merged with 2 other churches and are experiencing exponential growth. God has been super faithful to bless our little church, we're now at around 400 and growing! And we're aiming to become missional gospelers to boot thru our community groups;) Loving what you share, thanks!

De-clergified:
Multiple elders. All bi-vocational.

Church ministries done by family groups (small groups) that are led by volunteer facilitators.

More questions contact me through email.

My family and I have been attending a "comeback" church for a few weeks to see if it a good fit for our family. Lee Park Baptist had less than fifty people attending four years ago. They now have over 700 attending the two worship services and over 400 in Sunday school.
Email if you would like a contact.

Ed, I have been planting a church here for 18 months. We have no ordained clergy, I am deacon & a student under care (PCA).

I think that this is kind of rare in our circles. we are up around 40 @ our weekly service & we have several other weekly ministries.

I could forward you a copy of my most recent report to presbytery if it is of any use to you.

pax,

Watson Chapel Baptist in Madisonville, TN would classify as a comeback church. For years the attendance was less than one hundred. Now their attendance is over 1500. Watsonchapel.net

I have just started a D.Min. research project on "restart churches." Through that I may discover some churches which would qualify for your research. My website gives an opportunity for these types of churches to post their story, as well as interact with each other, gain insights, and benefit from information posted there. Early in the new year they will be able to participate in my research questionnaire which will hopefully benefit all restart churches. www.restartchurches.com