Like many urban churches in the 1950s, SCEMC believed: “If we built it, they will come.” In 30 years, it grew to over 200 members with multiple staff, vibrant services and a church bus. Then it lost momentum. In 2002, there were not enough skilled people to run the church’s board. Attendance dropped below 35 and annual budget fell below $45K. SCEMC was struggling to survive. This paper introduces a strategy advocating authentic practices of God-centered worship, Lord- honoring stewardship, loving fellowship and evangelism-oriented discipleship. It will trace and present an analysis of the rise and decline of SCEMC and will establish the biblical support for the centrality of worship, stewardship, fellowship and discipleship (“four ships”) in both personal spirituality and ministry. This paper argues that the promotion of the authentic “four ships” is sufficient and can spawn a culture that will impart personal spiritual vitality, induce clear ministry direction, relevant strategy and effective programming. The working plans presented is but one example how similar ministries can be turned around.

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