When your church wants to grow - part 1
Here are some questions to consider first.
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In a numbers-obsessed culture, bigger and more are better. (Why else would we allow a handful of billionaires to hold the entire United States hostage?) This belief carries over into churches whether we realize it or not. The decline of mainline Protestantism and the shrinkage and closure of congregations are prompting panic in members as well as pastors. This worry is often expressed as “our church needs to grow.”
I understand the concern because I swim in these same waters. There are also legitimate reasons to seek church growth. If you are feeling or hearing this desire, I encourage your congregation to consider these questions:
What makes growth important to you?
In addition to attendance and/or membership numbers, how else might your congregation define and measure growth?
Who (not currently in your congregation) is your church really good news for?
How do newcomers come into your congregation? How do they find a sense of belonging?
What is the vision of the congregation? How would growth help you live into it?
How open is your congregation to changing for/being changed by the participation of newcomers?
What would you (clergy and congregation) be taking on through growth? What would you be giving up? What is your willingness to take on/give up these things?
What resources would your congregation draw upon to serve an increased number of people if newcomers weren’t able to contribute to the church financially?
What excites you about the possibility of growth? What gives you pause?
I strongly advise against taking on any major efforts to grow before serious discussion of the above.
In my work with clergy and congregations, often the discussion is how to grow numerically from pastoral to program size. Here’s what those designations mean:
The pastoral size church has 50-150 people. Often there is a solo minister, though sometimes there is an associate minister or part-time specialized minister (e.g., youth minister). New people primarily come into the congregation through the minister, either because the minister has cultivated relationships with them or because visitors are drawn to the minister’s sermons or worship leadership. The minister is involved in (and likely drives) all facets of ministry, including providing most or all of the pastoral care and attending most or all committee meetings, which can limit programmatic offerings and lead to pastoral burnout.
The program size church has 150-350 people. There are multiple ministers on staff, and the senior minister casts a vision and equips other staff to oversee the vision’s implementation in their respective ministry areas. New people primarily come into church through small groups. Without a foothold in a small group, visitors get lost in the congregation and usually stop attending.
This article is part 1 in a three-part series. In Thursday’s post (part 2), which is the monthly bonus post for paid subscribers, I will share graphics formatted to Power Point slide dimensions that you can download and use to help your congregation understand the difference between the different church sizes. In next Tuesday’s post (part 3) I will outline the changes that congregations need to be prepared for in bumping up from pastoral to program size.
The information for this three-part series comes primarily from Center for Congregational Health training manuals and Israel Galindo’s excellent book The Hidden Lives of Congregations: Discerning Church Dynamics.