church_planting1_med

“How’d you grow your church?”

I get asked that by church leaders a lot.

I’m always stumped because there’s not really just one specific thing that I can think of other than, “it’s a God thing.”

But I get what they’re after.  Most church leaders have a good heart and want to grow their church for God’s glory.  They’re not looking for gimmicks. They just want a thoughtful response.

So, to be honest, when asked that question several things come to mind.

1. Passion

A church leader should ask himself, “Why do I want to grow the church?”

I’m convinced that the answer should be “because people without Christ will spend eternity in hell separated from God.”

Nothing matters more than that.

If people mattered to God enough for Him to sacrifice His only Son, then we should do no less.

2. People

The second question a leaders should ask is, “Who?”  Who will I gather as a team? It takes a team to fulfill a dream. The church was designed to be a body with many parts.

Great leaders are people with great dreams.

Great leaders are people who build great teams.

If you’re trying to grow the church without growing a team, you’ve already failed.

3. Programming

The third question is “How?” How will we design a weekend experience that lost people will love?

In my experience you must have at least 3 elements:

  • Good preaching
  • Good music
  • Good children’s ministry

Notice I said good and not great. I don’t believe you have to have a celebrity preacher, a rock star worship leader, and a “second only to Disney” kids program to reach people.

In fact, I think too much excellence can be a turn off for many people.

With that said, you DO have to have some fundamental elements in place.

  • The preaching cannot be boring and must relate to real issues real people are facing.
  • The music can’t suck.
  • The kids ministry must have workers that actually care about children.

If you have those three pieces in place, you can do A LOT wrong and still GROW!

My $.02 worth.

What’s yours?

1 Comment
  • Scott Creager
    Posted at 14:34h, 04 June Reply

    I would add a good environment. Friendly and ,especially in America, modern. We used to keep our cars till they quit or wrecked, now we trade them in every 3-5 years. Computers every 2-3, now once a year. Apps are upgraded daily. Seems at times nothing is good enough. Modernization helps connection.

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