Pepperdine University is a Christian university committed to the highest standards of academic excellence and Christian values. Its founder, George Pepperdine, was a lifelong member of the Churches of Christ, a branch of the American Restoration Movement. The university enjoys both a physical and spiritual connection to this heritage and feels an obligation to support the fellowship that has given it life and meaning. Through the Thriving in Ministry initiative and extensive research into the needs of the Churches of Christ, we face a sobering portrait of the decline of the Church of Christ, especially in the western region of the United States. The name of our program, the Restoration Initiative, seeks to rehabilitate an important word from the history of Churches of Christ (as part of the American Restoration Movement) -- a word that came to mean getting everything right and returning to some mythical pristine past -- by focusing on the large biblical themes of joining God in his “restoration of all things” (Acts 3:21). Through spiritual formation, instruction, mentoring, and teambuilding, we intend to focus our work to help renew congregations from Churches of Christ in the Western United States with the goal to help these churches make changes that will bring renewal, vitality, and effectiveness.