Church renewal is a term widely used by church leaders to express hope for revitalization of the Church (as well as Christianity in general) in light of the decline of Christianity in many western countries. The idea of a post-Christian era has made church renewal a popular topic of study among many commentators.
Various philosophical, theological, sociological, and practical reasons have been given for the decline of Christianity and the waning influence of the church, and various ideas have been proposed to halt the decline. This has led to the rise of a number of church renewal movements, such as the emerging church movement, the missional church movement, the confessing movement, the simple church movement, New Calvinism, and New Monasticism, among others.