Word Count: 890 – Est Reading Time: 3 Minutes
What’s Up
You can’t grow a church by wishing harder. You grow it by taking the right steps in the right order … and tracking the numbers that tell you whether those steps are working.
So What
Most pastors want growth, but most churches are stuck in the same loop … preach, program, hope, repeat. And when nothing changes, we either blame culture, blame the younger generation, or blame the town. (Spoiler alert: it’s not the town.) Growth isn’t mysterious. It’s sequential. Miss a step and you create friction. Hit the steps consistently and momentum starts showing up in real, measurable ways. Not just in attendance, but in baptisms, new relationships, and a church that actually reaches the unchurched.
The Point Is
Step 1: Get Mission-Clarity
If your mission takes a paragraph to explain, it’s not clear. People can’t follow what they can’t repeat. The number to watch here isn’t attendance … it’s alignment. How many of your leaders can state the mission without looking at a wall plaque? If the answer is “not many,” you’ve got your first growth barrier. (And that’s just the beginning … mission alignment comes next!)
Step 2: Pick Your People On Purpose
You’re not called to reach everybody. You’re called to reach somebody. Growing churches know who their ideal guest is, and they build Sunday conversations and ministry decisions around that person. The number here is simple … how many intentional community connections did you make this month with the kinds of people you’re trying to reach? If the answer is “none,” then you’re not targeting … you’re hoping.
Step 3: Make Sundays About Real Life
Unchurched people aren’t looking for more church talk. They’re looking for real solutions to real problems … parenting stress, marriage strain, money pressure, anxiety, loneliness, purpose. When your preaching connects Scripture to Monday morning, people lean in. The numbers to watch are guest feedback and return rate. If guests don’t come back, it’s rarely because they hated your exegesis. It’s because they didn’t see how it mattered.
Step 4: Build A Guest Pathway
If your guest experience depends on whoever shows up to volunteer, it’s going to fail. Every time. Guests need clear signals … where to park, where to take kids, where to go after worship, who to talk to, what to do next. The number here isn’t how friendly your people think they are. It’s how many first-time guests you can identify by name every week. If you can’t name them, you can’t shepherd them. If you don’t get contact information, you can’t build a relationship. It really IS that simple.
Step 5: Follow Up Like You Mean It
A guest who leaves without connection is a guest who disappears. Follow-up isn’t “nice.” It’s necessary. The number to watch is completion rate … how many first-time guests received a meaningful touch within 6 hours, within 72 hours, and within 7 days? If you don’t know, your follow-up is probably random. And random follow-up produces random results. (Follow-up is why getting the contact info is SO important.)
Step 6: Create Next Steps That Matter
People don’t move from visitor to disciple by accident. They move because you gave them a clear next step that feels safe, valuable, and relational. The number here is next-step engagement … how many guests took one meaningful step within 30 days? A connection card. A coffee with the pastor. A newcomers gathering. A group. Serving. If that number is near zero, you’re not guiding … you’re just hosting.
And … ?
Now let me connect the dots. When pastors say, “We need to grow,” what they usually mean is, “We need more people in worship.” Fine. But attendance is the end of a chain, not the start of it. You don’t get consistent attendance growth until you’ve got mission clarity, a focused target, relevant Sundays, a guest pathway, real follow-up, and next steps people actually take.
And that’s why I’m using the phrase church growth by the numbers this week. Not because I want you counting for the sake of counting. But because numbers keep you honest.
How many leaders are aligned with the mission? How many community connections did you make with your ideal guest? How many first-time guests did you identify by name? How many got a real touch in 72 hours? How many came back within four weeks? How many took a next step within 30 days?
Those numbers don’t replace prayer. They don’t replace the gospel. They don’t replace the work of the Holy Spirit.
They do replace denial.
We believe the church is the best delivery system for the gospel of Jesus Christ. If the delivery system is clunky, confusing, or careless with guests, people still hear the message … but fewer stick around long enough to be transformed by it.
This week’s Catalytic Conversation is built around this sequence. We’re going to walk through the numbers that actually reflect growth, and I’m going to show you how to tell which step is breaking down in your church right now.
Because when you know where the breakdown is, you can fix it. And when you fix it, growth stops being a miracle you’re waiting on and starts becoming stewardship you’re practicing.
Action!
Register now for this week’s free Catalytic Conversation and get the step-by-step growth sequence, plus the numbers that prove it’s working. https://effective.effectivechurch.com/webinar-registration
