Church Growth
![What If We Made Disciples And Left Church Growth To God? What If We Made Disciples And Left Church Growth To God?](https://www-images.christianitytoday.com/images/77307.jpg?h=168&w=300)
Imagine all the time, money and resources that have gone into church growth in the last generation.
Is it naïve to wonder what the world and the church would look like today if all that effort had been invested exclusively in church health instead?
Is it possible that if ...
![Do We Need A Broader Definition Of Church Growth? Do We Need A Broader Definition Of Church Growth?](https://www-images.christianitytoday.com/images/76727.jpg?h=168&w=300)
There's more than one way for churches to grow.
But over the last forty years or so we've been given one model of church growth almost exclusively. Get more people in the building.
That model is so prevalent that when I dare to suggest that many small churches are healthy ...
![5 Mistakes More Likely To Be Made By Big Churches Than Small Churches 5 Mistakes More Likely To Be Made By Big Churches Than Small Churches](https://www-images.christianitytoday.com/images/76600.jpg?h=168&w=300)
Big churches serve many great roles in the body of Christ. And the church growth movement that spawned many of them has been a great blessing to me and so many others in ministry.
But numerical growth, while great, does not come without challenges.
In my last post, 5 Mistakes ...
![If Your Church Is Healthy, Why Is It Still Small? If Your Church Is Healthy, Why Is It Still Small?](https://www-images.christianitytoday.com/images/76490.jpg?h=168&w=300)
Oh my. That question.
“How can you say your church is healthy if it’s not growing?”
If I’ve been asked it once…
But I still don’t know how to answer it.
I wish I did. Because it’s a perfectly valid question.
But life doesn’t tie itself ...
![Why I've Stopped Reading All Those '10 Reasons Your Church Isn’t Growing' Lists Why I've Stopped Reading All Those '10 Reasons Your Church Isn’t Growing' Lists](https://www-images.christianitytoday.com/images/76022.jpg?h=168&w=300)
I love my church. I want it to be strong, healthy and growing.
That’s why I read church ministry blogs and books, go to conferences and seminars, listen to podcasts… whatever I can get my hands on. I’m always looking for the best advice I can find.
But I’m ...
![The Folly of Trying to Measure Success In Christ’s 'First Shall Be Last' Kingdom The Folly of Trying to Measure Success In Christ’s 'First Shall Be Last' Kingdom](https://www-images.christianitytoday.com/images/75643.jpg?h=168&w=300)
We don’t measure the things that matter.
We measure the things we manage.
One of the unquestioned premises of the church growth movement is that when something matters to us, we measure it. So we count things like church attendance in an attempt to measure a church’s ...
![Is Church Growth a Solution Looking for a Problem? Is Church Growth a Solution Looking for a Problem?](https://www-images.christianitytoday.com/images/75552.jpg?h=168&w=300)
We’ve invested a lot into the art and science of church growth in the last 50 years.
It makes me wonder. After such a massive output of time, energy, research and money, have we become like the proverbial man with a hammer who sees everything as a nail?
Is that why church ...
![Why I've Stopped Saying ‘Church Growth’ – And What I Say Instead Why I've Stopped Saying ‘Church Growth’ – And What I Say Instead](https://www-images.christianitytoday.com/images/73929.jpg?h=168&w=300)
I’m a huge supporter and promoter of growing churches.
How can I not be? Jesus said he’d build his church, and I always want to be on Jesus’ side.
But I’ve stopped using the term Church Growth when I talk about it.
I never tell our church staff, volunteers ...
I hate either/or choices. I like both/and.
But life doesn’t always give us that.
Take church growth and health, for instance.
Usually, a choice for church health is also a choice for church growth. But not always. Sometimes it's one or the other. Especially in a smaller ...
I read another one of those church growth blog posts recently. You know the ones. A list of steps your church can take to break through whatever growth barrier you’re facing.
It was a very good list. Every one of the principles was about church health. In fact, as I read ...
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