Church Growth

Church Growth
Use The Principles, Don’t Buy The Hype
When it comes to church growth and health, we need to lower the volume and listen with both discernment and faith.

The vast majority of the leaders in the church growth movement are good, godly, passionate people who truly want to advance Christ’s kingdom and be a blessing to other churches.

They write books and speak at conferences because they have a passion to share what they’ve ...

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Church Growth
The Modern Myth Of The Persistently Growing Congregation
The addition or multiplication of small congregations has always been the typical way the church has grown.

The persistently growing congregation is a relatively new phenomenon – and an even more recent expectation.

Aside from the grand cathedrals of Europe (which were often the result of politics and power more than faith), it wasn’t physically possible for local congregations ...

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Church Growth
Sorry, Pastor – Numbers Are NOT People
Church metrics can be helpful. But only if we use them wisely. And hold them lightly.

Numbers matter at our church because every number is a person.

No.

Just… No.

I don’t doubt that most pastors who say that mean it. And they truly do care for people. But numbers are not people and people are not numbers.

Most businesses are figuring this out, so why ...

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Church Growth
Let’s Ask Better Questions About Church Size
Instead of asking “what’s the best church size?” we need to ask “what’s the best church size for a given situation?”

What‘s the best church size?

Many church leaders might argue that, whatever your size, “just a little bigger” would be better.

Many house church attenders would propose that smaller is better.

There are followers of John Wesley’s Rule of 150 who make a good ...

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Church Growth
Why We Can’t Afford To Be Dismissive Toward Small Churches
The micro half of the body of Christ must be as fully encouraged, resourced and engaged as the macro half.

If ninety percent of churches were big and ten percent were small, it would be reasonable to dismiss small churches as being broken.

Irrelevant.

Lazy.

But the opposite is the case. Ninety percent of churches are small, while only ten percent are medium-sized, large and mega combined. ...

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Church Growth
Sorry, Pastors – The Growth Of The Church Is Not Up To Us
Preaching the Word, training disciples and ministering to the community may or may not increase the number of people who sit in front of me from Sunday to Sunday.

If the size of my church was up to me, it would have been a lot bigger a long time ago.

After all, like so many of my peers in ministry, I’ve followed all the rules. Preach the Word, train disciples, reach people, remove obstacles, lead and manage it well, and the church ...

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Church Growth
Real Church Growth Doesn’t Just Make Bigger Churches, It Heals Hurting Ones
It’s hard to say we love the church when we ignore, discourage or belittle its weakest members.

How did the church of Jesus grow for the first 1900+ years of its existence without any megachurches around?

That’s how long it took for the first megachurches to appear on the landscape. They’re the new kid on the church block. Until the middle of the 20th century, ...

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Church Growth
Is It Wrong If I Don’t Want My Church to Grow?
If you are intentionally or unintentionally putting up roadblocks that hinder your church from growing, remove them. Now.

One of the foundational beliefs of the church growth movement is that every church should desire to grow. And if you don’t want your church to grow, there’s something wrong. Probably something wrong with you.

So let me get right to it and answer the question in today’s ...

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Church Growth
Jesus And Crowds – An Unhappy Marriage
Jesus didn’t turn the crowds away when they found him. But he sometimes made himself hard to find.

Jesus didn’t value crowds. He didn’t even trust them (John 2:23-24). But he valued the people in them.

Even though they chased him everywhere he went, Jesus and crowds had, at best, a strained relationship. As pastors, we need to keep this in mind as we look at how ...

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Church Growth
The Top 3 Reasons Church Growth Ideas Usually Fail In Smaller Churches
We're often told that small churches are failing at church growth. But sometimes church growth ideas are failing in smaller churches.

I love church growth.

I also love the Church Growth Movement. It’s brought some wonderful benefits to the church in the last 40 to 50 years. A renewed emphasis on outreach, accurate assessment tools, and an openness to try new methods are just a few of the positives.

But ...

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