Church Growth

Church Growth
15 Surprising, Tweetable Truths About Church Growth and Size
Are you interested in church growth? Do you like Twitter? Then you'll love these. Even if you don't agree with all of them.
15 Surprising, Tweetable Truths About Church Growth and Size
Image: David Hall | Flickr

Some principles about church size and church growth need an entire blog post to describe. Some require a book.

Others can be said within the current 140-keystroke limit of Twitter. Like the following 15 truths.

Because they come from my perspective, on the small side ...

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Church Growth
Feeding the Flock In a Count-the-Sheep Culture
Is it possible to find success in ministry outside the church growth numbers? It depends who gets the credit.
Feeding the Flock In a Count-the-Sheep Culture
Image: grassrootsgroundswell | Flickr

We want numbers to verify our successes.

There are two huge problems with that sentence – and they’re found in the words numbers and our.

First, not all successes have numbers to verify them.

Second, the successes of the church are not our successes.

We ...

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Church Growth
Measuring What Matters: The Challenge of Church Metrics
Accurate church metrics are helpful. But we should never fool ourselves into thinking we can measure the immeasurable.
Measuring What Matters: The Challenge of Church Metrics
Image: antony_mayfield | Flickr

When something matters to us, we measure it.

That is one of the unquestioned premises of the church growth movement.

Unquestioned premises should always be questioned.

When we do so, we discover that church metrics don’t measure the things that matter. Because ...

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Church Growth
Your Church Is Big Enough
No matter what size your church is, you can do everything Jesus is calling you to do. And you can do it well.
Your Church Is Big Enough
Image: Susanne Nilsson | Flickr

Are you a small church pastor? Me too.

Have you ever felt like that’s not enough? Me too.

Today I have good news for both of us.

Your church is big enough.

Right now. Today. At its current size.

Your church is big enough to do what Jesus is calling you to ...

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Church Growth
Mind the Gap: When Your Next Church Growth Step Is a Giant Leap
Redefining church growth and ministry success on this side of a church growth gap.
Mind the Gap: When Your Next Church Growth Step Is a Giant Leap
Image: Pawel Loj | Flickr

Church growth is not a steady line.

Not only does it have ups and downs, it also has gaps. Some bigger than others.

In my church, for example, the growth from 35 to 200 has been an up-and-down, step-by-step, decades-long growth curve. But the next level of growth beyond ...

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Church Growth , Read These First – The Essentials
Two Lists: One for a Healthy Church, One for a Big Church - And They Don’t Overlap
The list of ingredients for a healthy church is short and simple. The list for a big church is large and complex. We need to know the difference.
Two Lists: One for a Healthy Church, One for a Big Church - And They Don’t Overlap

Do all healthy things grow? Yes.

Do all healthy churches become big churches? No.

But many of us have been ministering under that false assumption. We've been told there’s one set of ingredients. Use them to become a healthy church and it will inevitably become ...

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Church Growth
The Big Ask: Another No-Fault Reason Most Churches Will Never Be Mega
Most pastors can't make The Big Ask. Thankfully, it's not needed for a healthy church.
The Big Ask: Another No-Fault Reason Most Churches Will Never Be Mega
Image: Ray Larabie | Flickr

“Most churches will never be mega, because you can't build megachurches on regular givers alone. You need some huge donors. And there’s not one pastor in a million who can successfully do The Big Ask. Who can put their arm around the shoulder of a wealthy donor ...

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Church Growth , Read These First – The Essentials
Why 'Step Aside So the Church Can Find a Pastor to Grow It' Is a Bad Idea
Six reasons most small church pastors should stay, even if the numbers are static.
Why 'Step Aside So the Church Can Find a Pastor to Grow It' Is a Bad Idea
Image: Glenn G | Flickr

There are broken churches in the world. Broken churches with failing pastors.

Most of those churches are small. Thankfully. But that’s just because 90 percent of all churches in the world are small.

So yes, there are good reasons for failing pastors to leave failing churches. ...

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Church Growth
11 Types of Healthy Churches That Often Stay Small
No church should settle or stay stuck. But not every healthy church gets bigger.
11 Types of Healthy Churches That Often Stay Small

“If a church stays small, they must be doing something wrong. It can’t possibly be healthy.”

This has been an underlying assumption of many in the church growth movement. (Although it’s usually more subtly stated than that.) But, as with any assumption, ...

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Church Growth
I Don’t Want My Church to Be Small. But It Is. Now What?
In our push for church growth, let's not forget the importance of church health.
I Don’t Want My Church to Be Small. But It Is. Now What?

I don’t want my church to be small. It just is.

I want my church to grow numerically. But it’s not.

I follow all the how-to lists to get it to grow. But they don’t work.

I’m told to pray more. So I do.

Plan better. So I do.

Work harder. So now I’m burnt ...

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