This is why ecclesiology is important because if someone is going to attempt to pastor and lead an established church, it is important to have an understanding of biblical ecclesiology. That is, it is important to understand what the church is - based on how the bible describes it. Here are the foundational points of ecclesiology that are essential for revitalising an established church:
Priority #1. Refocus the church’s existence to give God glory. It does this through gathering together to offer worship together, to give heed to the preaching and teaching of God’s Word - the Bible. (Eph. 3:21)
Priority #2. Restructure the church as a body so that each part of the body functions accordingly. This requires that it be led by those who are gifted to do so. Just as a body is organised with each organ connected appropriately to function together as a whole, so it is with a church. Some believers are gifted to lead. Other believers are gifted to teach, or serve, or give, or encourage, or administrate, or show hospitality. Every believer should be able to contribute their gift or serve in some capacity (Eph. 1:22-23; 5:23; 1Peter 2:5).
Priority #3. Re-envisage the church as a functional family. The pastor has a fatherly duty to accept responsibility for creating a community of believers where people are known to each other, enabled to offer care to each other, and, to pray for and with each other. This necessarily involves having meals together in each others homes, and, together as a church family. When it meets together, children are safe, women are protected, and men are encouraged to be virtuous. Paul told Timothy that he should teach people how to treat older men and women, and younger women in particular - all with the respect (1Tim. 5:2; James 2:15). That is, people within a church should treat each other as family — as if they were brothers and sisters. The result of this re-envisaging will increasingly make the church attractive to people outside of the church who have no experience of family. This feeds into Priority #4.
Priority #4, Re-open hearts, minds, and hands, for the benefit of those outside of their church. In 1944, Archbishop William Temple, famously said, “The church is the only institution that exists primarily for the benefit of those who are not its members.” Archbishop Temple was only partly correct. The first three priorities are for the benefit of a local church. This fourth priority will be the most challenging for any church a new pastor is attempting to revitalise. It will take the greatest amount of time to achieve - especially if the first three higher priorities are ignored. A wise new pastor will lovingly exercise his shepherd’s authority to gently broadcast to his congregation that together, they should pray for God to bring new attendees into their church. And when God answers their prayers, and visitors begin to come to their church, they should warmly welcome them. Similarly, a wise pastor will describe what a warm welcome looks like - and doesn't look like.
One of the challenges that a new pastor and an established church will inevitably face in welcoming visitors to their church will be their self-perception. Many churches are comprised of friends. The challenge for such churches is to recognise that a church of friends is not necessarily a friendly church. Perhaps the best way for those who attend a church, where everyone is a friend, to recognise this, is for them to go and visit another church and experience what it is like to be a visitor to a church.
THE PURPOSES OF A LOCAL CHURCH
This week I took a call from another pastor who expressed concern that the Church was coming under an increasing number of attacks in the media over the last few weeks. Nearly every night this week on prime-time TV, there has been a damaging report on the state of the Church. On Monday night Four Corners aired a damning report on the Roman Catholic diocese of Philadelphia’s appalling handling of pedophilia committed by priests. A Current Affair, Today Tonight, have each exposed financial and psychological abuse of vulnerable people. On Tuesday night, The 7:30 Report presented a sickening exposé on how domestic violence is rife within the Evangelical and Pentecostal churches in Australia. And this Sunday night, 60 Minutes is reporting on a Baptist church in New South Wales that is in hot water. As I told this fellow pastor, it’s not that the media are attacking us, it’s that they have guns and we keep giving them bullets to fire at us! I want to pastor the kind of church that gives the media reasons to put down their guns. Here’s how we can do it.
The Psalmist declared that God was a safe refuge. The church needs to reflect this aspect of God’s character by also being a safe refuge. We want broken, hurting, damaged, lost and confused people to have good reason to feel safe when they come into our church on a Sunday. We do not want our message to sound like an attack on anyone – most especially, the vulnerable. For those who have observed us over the years, it has soon become evident that we help all-comers. On the occasions when I have been publicly attacked by someone opposed to Christianity, I have tried to engage with them which has often led to face-to-face meetings where I have heard their stories and listened to their pain. In nearly every instance this has ended amicably. When issues have arisen in the public arena we have used our profile and platform to contribute into the debate. (People still talk to me about our role in the Tamar Valley Pulp Mill development saga.) Of late, we have been quite outspoken about 
The Board of our church takes our responsibility to safeguard the welfare of those who enter into our community very seriously. We have installed video security cameras throughout our buildings and facilities. We are rolling out movement sensor lights around our facilities. We are replacing solid wooden doors with glass doors. We have mandated that every leader undertake Childsafe® training to be aware how to prevent, detect, or best deal with the abuse of children. We now require that everyone who serves on our rosters undertakes our 
Local churches are designed by Christ to governed by divinely appointed, spiritually gifted, competent, elders and deacons. Elders govern the spiritual climate and health of a church. They are required by Scripture to be people of exemplary character and spiritual discipline (
The extent to how much we care about people is not limited to their involvement on a Sunday. We want children to be safe in their homes. We want wives to be safe in their homes. We want husbands to be safe to be around. We hope that the peace people experience on a Sunday from being with God’s people in God’s presence is transferred into their lives and their homes. We hope that our worship of our Servant-Saviour translates into each of us increasingly developing a servant attitude toward those we live with, work with, learn with, and play with.