Over the years, I’ve worked with a lot of pastors and congregations who claimed they were ready to grow their churches. I’d love to tell you that virtually all of these congregations flourished, but the truth is, that’s rarely the case. The fact is, most churches fail to grow because they miss out on […]
In the introduction of 21st Century Strategies for Church Growth, my primary purpose is helping a pastor decide whether or not they can handle the heat in the kitchen of church growth. The following excerpt challenges each reader to question themselves about why they’re in ministry in the first place. It comes across as […]
“I just didn’t think it would happen to me.” Those words played hide and seek in my head while I listened to his all-too-common story. Kenneth’s first call to a church had started pretty well. He’d heeded the advice of his seminary professors and spent his first year just “loving on” his congregation and […]
The church growth movement has taken a bad rap the past decade. Many unfair comments have been made in an attempt to either discredit it or make it obsolete. I’m sure there are many reasons for the attempts to either discredit or make the movement obsolete. At worst the attempts were the acts of […]
“Culture eats strategy for breakfast and lunch,” says business thinker Jim Collins. But when it comes to church growth, strategy shouldn’t be left off the dinner table. Here’s how to strategically implement the four pillars—Invite, Connect, Disciple, and Send—to transform your church into a thriving community.
Invite: The Strategic Art of Outreach
Inviting isn’t just about opening […]
The term “church growth” means all sorts of things to different people. Some see no problem whatsoever. Others find it to be controversial.
The question that defines it for me is? Do your pews or seats look like this image on a Sunday morning?
Somewhere between 15 and 20% of Americans will worship as Christians this […]
Some of you may remember the Church Growth Movement of the sixties and seventies. Great leaders such as Donald McGavran and Win Arn led the movement and soon every church in town was running programs like Bring a Friend Sunday and doing follow-up with visitors. Every time you turned around, there was a new […]
Recently a troll caught one of our posts about radical disciple making and took it out for an attempted thrashing. To be honest, I get amused when someone takes us to task because we’re so focused on church growth. “It’s all about the numbers for you guys” as if that’s some sort of an […]
Over the next several months I’ll be working on what we consider the foundations for church growth. It’s based on the nine strategies we’ve identified as the core for faithful, effective, and sustainable church growth in the 21st century. As I write, I’ll be posting segments here … and I’ll endeavor to post something […]
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