“As Jesus looks over His present-day disciples, particularly those whom He is holding responsible as stewards of the resources that should be used for church growth, He must frequently say, ‘O ye of little faith.’ . . . Remember, the indispensable condition for a growing church is that it wants to grow. … Wanting to grow and planning for growth is another way of applying biblical faith.”
-Peter Wagner, 1976
in Your Church Can Grow (Regal)
“I don’t think there’s anything intrinsically wrong with the church-growth principles we’ve developed, or the evangelistic techniques we’re using. Yet somehow they don’t seem to work. … The real battle is now a spiritual battle, and as we are learning how to fight and win those battles, we are going to open the way for evangelistic techniques to have a much greater influence on our society than we’ve seen before.”
-Peter Wagner, June 24, 1991
in Christianity Today
“Most churches could be two-thirds smaller and lose nothing in power. In most churches, the first third are committed, the second third are peripheral, and the third third are out. … Millions of people every week, in decreasing numbers but increasing power, are saying, ‘Church growth is not the point. Faithfulness to our Lord Jesus Christ is.’ “
-Robert K. Hudnut, 1975
in Church Growth Is Not the Point (Harper & Row)
“There’s always been an evangelistic arm of the Christian church-‘Go and make disciples of all nations.’ I have no quarrel with that, just with techniques that go for breadth at the expense of depth. The church growth crowd will go to any length to increase the size of membership, which does not necessarily increase the size of commitment. People can be brought into churches through huckstering techniques, who later become lapsed Christians. But to the extent that church growth people are now including discipline, that would be a good sign.”
-Robert K. Hudnut, 1991
in an interview
“Not that the church is an end in itself. It’s solely God’s means to the end of extending his kingdom throughout the world. Indeed, the church finds its significance only in its living relationship with its Head. It preaches not itself, but Christ Jesus, its Lord. It does not exalt itself at his expense.”
-Arthur F. Glosser, 1977
in Theological Perspectives on Church Growth (Presbyterian and Reformed)
“I still believe in church growth; it’s a biblical mandate. Where there are no Christians, there ought to be Christians. Where there are no churches, there ought to be churches. But I prefer church multiplication to church growth as a methodological concept; it avoids unhealthy preoccupation with wanting existing churches to get bigger and fatter. Actually my real problem with the church growth movement is its persistent unwillingness to come to terms with the societal implications of the kingdom of God.”
-Arthur F. Glasser, 1991
in an interview
Copyright © 1991 by the author or Christianity Today/Leadership Journal. Click here for reprint information on Leadership Journal.
