Peter Wagner believes that generally "church growth is a sign of church health." Many, of course, would take strong issue with him on that point. As LEADERSHIP looks at the subject of success from many vantage points, Wagner's article represents an important position for you to consider.

Why lead a church?

Experienced church leaders give differrent answers to this question. Most of the answers are sincere, and few can really be called bad. "To glorify God" should be and usually is the preamble. But more specifically, some lead a church to promote an outstanding Christian worship experience. Some lead to develop meaningful ties among Christians. Some lead to contribute to the social welfare of the surrounding community. Some lead to teach the Bible to believers. The list could go on and on. In most cases, specific goals of leadership combine several of the above in differing proportions.

But let's focus on yet another purpose of church leadership, namely, church growth. In a broad sense, church ...