I mentioned two things when I spoke one Thursday afternoon in Baltimore: there are only four things that grow a church, and I had never seen a church doing those four things that wasn’t growing. In fact, I challenged my listeners to put those four things in place. I said if they didn’t grow after that, I would give them $10,000.

About that time someone raised their hand and asked, “What are the four things?” So I shared the four things that grow a church.

1. You must constantly invite people to Christ and/or your church.
2. You must have a system in place to connect with them and cause them to return again and again.
3. You must disciple them into followers of Jesus.
4. You must send them back out into the community to be neighborhood missionaries.

Sounds simple, doesn’t it? But each of these four core processes takes time, energy, and money. Someone has to make sure they happen every day. Depending on the size of the church, it is either the pastor and volunteers or a paid staff person for each process.

But nothing else a church does matters as much as these four things.

Nothing else a church does matters as much as these four things. Click to read more.

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Then someone asked “How can we learn more about what these staff positions look like?”

“Well,” I said. “Our book on staffing pretty much explains it all. It’s called Effective Staffing for Vital Churches: The Essential Guide to Finding and Keeping the Right People.”

You can find the book at Amazon.com or through Baker Books. I think it is one of the best books our group has ever published.

But don’t take my word for it; read what others are saying about it.

• Rick Warren: “This book is a winner.”
• Dave Ferguson: “A tremendous help for church leaders.”
• Darrin Patrick: “I wish I had had this book when I started.”

We’re here to help you grow your church. Let us know how we can help.

Question: What are some practical ways to put these four growth methods to use? Share your ideas in the Comments section below.