Jan
8
How do you grow a 3 year old church of 40 regular attendees without modifying doctrine or practice?
January 8th, 2009 posted by
admin
I will accept answers from the spiritual to the practical…
-Pastor has stated that he could handle up to 200 members.
-Reformed Presbyterian/Calvinist, affiliated with larger denomination.
-1 full time pastor
-Church is located in an urban area in the midwest. “rents” space from another church.
-Meets twice on Sunday for worship, once on Wednesday for Bible study.
-Regular monthly fellowships (3-4 times a month)
-Majority white/families, people of all ages
-online weekly newsletters
-quarterly print newsletters
-sermons downloaded to popular sermon website
-no radio ministry
-denomination frowns upon TV ministry
Blackacre says:
January 11th, 2009 at 2:03 am
Hand out newsletters in front of other churches.
Put up a website (more than just sermons: give it more unique content).
Have a community event (i.e.: Easter egg hunt, play, musical)
Procreate.
hasse_john says:
January 12th, 2009 at 2:35 am
If you want to grow as a club, the main thing is to express appreciation of other members. that will establish solidarity. If you want to grow in YHVH, get closer to scripture. That will drive some away, and draw others, who want to be closer to the Almighty.
idahomike3 says:
January 14th, 2009 at 12:44 pm
Practice what you preach…if you are doing that…and it is in accord with The Word and Will of God… then you will grow according to God’s plan for your congregation… just that simple…
smokinindausa says:
January 17th, 2009 at 10:25 am
If you attend a church you will be putting yourself under the authority of Satan. God has declared the end of the church age in his book The Bible.
The law of the LORD is perfect, converting the soul: the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple. Psalm 19:7
When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet stand in the holy place, whoso readeth, let him understand, Then let them which be in Judaea (the local churches) flee into the mountains: (to Christ) Matthew 24:15,16
For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God (the local churches) : and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God? 1 Peter 4:17
Phoenix - Vixen says:
January 17th, 2009 at 11:13 am
Advertise.
Do tons of projects in the community.
Reach out to a drug treatment facility.
Volunteer to minister in prisons, nursing homes, etc.
Have “Bring a friend” Sundays with a brunch.
Show people what a great church you are through the projects you perform.
RICH @www.hvac-for-beginners.com says:
January 17th, 2009 at 5:56 pm
You start by switching your focus from “growing the church” to saving the lost. We are not called to grow a church we are called to be the light of the world. To do that you go to the lost and show them the love of JESUS. Then you count on GOD to do the rest through the Holy Spirit.
Out For Justice says:
January 19th, 2009 at 5:08 pm
Grab your Bible and hit the pavement! (Matt. 28:19-20, Mark 16:15)
Make sure to mention the Ten Commandments when witnessing. They make the gospel message make sense.
(Jame 4:6, Gal. 3:24, 1 Tim. 1:8, Ps. 19:7)
Raphael says:
January 21st, 2009 at 11:35 pm
God will grow at the rate He wants. Pray about it. Possible go out and witness to people, spread the word and God will do the rest. Don’t understand why frown on TV, Jesus did say to spread the message around the world and TV is only second to the internet.
Suzanne says:
January 23rd, 2009 at 3:46 am
Although your pastor thinks he can “handle” up to 200 congregants, the fact is this: the Church won’t grow by God’s graces unless He decides the pastor can “handle” more people.
Sadly, most (but not all) of today’s Churches are large because they are “seeker friendly” and cater to parishioner’s “itching ears.” Nowadays, it’s more likely to be the smaller Churches where God is truly moving.
So my advice to you is stop trying to “grow” the Church. If God truly wants it to grow, it will.
salvation says:
January 23rd, 2009 at 11:59 am
You have to go soul winning. Go out and invite people to your church. We have calling on Monday night. The deacons and anyone else goes out and invites people in. The Pastor does too. By word of mouth, and handing out tract’s. We just split off a church last January. We left with over 200 people. Not everyone came with us. We run 135 to 185 people. We invite people. Our teens and children go out on Wed. nights every so often, and hand out tracts and invite people to come. We have at least three new families come in every week to see what we are all about. We have a new Pastor who preaches the Word, and challenges us to read the Bible through in a year, and study it. He teaches sin is sin. We are in a rural area. There are little towns all the way around.
doug says:
January 26th, 2009 at 2:54 am
People honestly need not concern themselves with “growing” a church. That is honestly God’s job. Let him work and all the church really needs to do is heed his voice.
Unfortunately that’s the issue I have with “most” organized religion. They are in it for themselves and not for God.
Thrice Blessed says:
January 27th, 2009 at 6:32 am
I am not sure what you mean by not modifying practice… you will have to DO something I would think…
First pray.
Then reach out to the community, you say you are in an urban area… surely you come up with some charitable actions in the community?
My church has even had free car washes at local gas stations, where we wash the cars just to be a blessing to others and not to raise funds… we tell them God bless you and hand them a simple business card for the church. Thats it, no preaching at them, no requirement that they attend, just tell them we want to bless them and let them be on their way.
That is only one idea of course, other things like bringing food into poor neighborhoods and distributing it, praying for people, visiting those who are sick and helping out, volunteering to help with repairs around the home and yard work… all of these things have been ways I have seen my church reach out to the community around us.
Basically live out the teachings of Christ and people will be drawn to you. Don’t focus on numbers as much as truth and love.
Oh, and in case anyone thinks this is wrong because of the lack of preaching at the car washes, this society has grown dull to the preaching of the gospel… people don’t care to hear words until see action. Preaching happens too, especially after the community gets used to seeing you in action… but when it comes right down to it most people don’t care how much you know (even about God), until they know how much you care.
falisrm says:
January 28th, 2009 at 1:18 am
everyone should be baptized in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints
Tanya Pants says:
January 29th, 2009 at 11:18 am
Drop it into water. It should expand about 100x
Honky Cat says:
February 1st, 2009 at 6:55 am
Assuming you are already Christian-
#1. Most important of all-the pastor must be able to deliver a sermon that is true to scripture and be relevant to todays society that also “gets through” to the people. It must not be just a sermon-it has to connect to lives of the people- thats imperative. A pastor that can not connect is the single largest hindrance to church growth.
#2. You must have worshipful music. It must be user friendly. It has to be simple enough for the people to participate. It can not be 500 year old hymns. It can not be Charismatic dance music. Praise and worship type contemporary music is great. No 7-11 songs. That is a song with 7 words that you sing 11 times.
There is a general rule of thumb that works- if you music is not great, then do no more than 1 song. If its good, then maybe 3 short songs. The better the music the more the people can tolerate. Learn how to stop it when its not going well. Poor music will sink your ship. With no music at all the church will eventually die, but poor music will kill it sooner.
#3.
(a)You must provide services for prospective visitors- nursery and babysitters are a must. Do not allow a crying baby in the sanctuary. Be nice-but put a stop to immediately.
(b) Provide community services in a non-church setting. For instance- hold tax preparation seminars, parenting classes, money management classes-things that prospective members may need that will allow them to be around your church people with feeling threatened. Get to know the community.
Now, you are 3 years old and only have 40 members. That is not good. You are definitely doing it wrong. Being Reformed Calvinist-is it possible that you guys are just too tight. Maybe you need to relax a bit and not be so formal. Do you guys evangelize the community (go out and witness)? Maybe you could do some home Bible studies, and invite neighbors. If/when you do-”go easy”, be careful not to frighten the people away. Lost people are easy to frighten.
If anything I said makes sense–feel free to email me and I would be happy to talk to you. I am currently in my 3rd church start up as we speak. I am more the spectator in this last one.
KAL says:
February 2nd, 2009 at 9:07 pm
Marketing, marketing, marketing! In no particular order, here’s some of what I thought…
1. Invite-a-friend campaigns…my church hands out business card-sized invitations to a special message (or message series) from time to time to all the members…we’re challenged to give the card to someone we meet that week.
2. Signage — visibility is important for most “retail” businesses…more so for a church since new people in town often look for churches while they are driving around. Since you rent from another church, this may be a challenge esp. if you don’t have access to their existing signage. Get creative…rent a portable sign and use creative messages to get attention…use colorful banners hung beneath the existing sign (or wherever the other church will allow)…and what about the possibility of a billboard?
3. Web site — if you don’t have a site, create one…even a simple one-page “flyer-type” site is enough to start. Design it with appropriate key words so people looking for a local church can find it. I saw a study once that said as much as 70% of the searches on Google were “local” (meaning they included the name of a specific town). For example, if you lived in Tulsa, you would want to make sure the word “Tulsa” and the word “church” appeared on your site as many times as reasonable…copyright notice on every page…you can even add it to the name of the church (e.g., “First Church of Tulsa” would come up high on the list for people searching for “church” and “Tulsa”).
4. Yellow pages (including online listings)…many people look for churches in the yellow pages both before and after moving to a new location.
I could keep going but this answer is already too long *smile*…it all comes down to offering people something they are seeking and then finding creative ways to make people aware of you!
Timmay says:
February 3rd, 2009 at 9:52 am
pray. advertise. witness to the lost. circulate more newsletters, weekly and quarterly, to the community at large. advertise some more. start a radio ministry. pray some more. stay true to core beliefs and don’t do tv ministry. as revenues grow, hire an evangelist. start a network of small groups (this works really well btw). once you reach 200, plant another church given that money allows for that. pray some more. organize mixers/events that target people of all ages. lastly, pray without ceasing.
Janis B says:
February 5th, 2009 at 12:43 pm
I think many local churches try to grow their membership using the ‘world’s way’ to increase their numbers. It is better for the members to grow spiritually and to reach out to their neighbors.
It sounds that you are doing all the right things. Each member or regular visitor should be connecting with friends and neighbors who are in need of a church family.
Don’t be discouraged. It will grow according to His plan and His plan may be for you to be a small number of “called out” believers.
Our group has been together for 5 years. Our numbers in attendance are around 75 for morning and 35 for night. Big difference. We have a youth ministry and Wednesday night bible study where we have about 40 counting all the workers. Most of our new members and visitors come through individual outreach.
Email me your sermon download site. I enjoy learning online through audio/video.
alanpballou says:
February 6th, 2009 at 5:49 am
You don’t, the Lord does according to Acts 2:47. Our job is to make disciples in the way mentioned in Matthew 28:19-20 below, preach the Word according to 2 Timothy 4:1-4 below, and prepare God’s people for the work of service according to Ephesians 4:11-16.
May the Lord bless you, and if I may be of service to anyone for absolutely free, then please contact me (1 Peter 4:10). Alan Ballou.
Matthew 28:19-20
19 Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen. NKJV
2 Timothy 4:1-5
4:1 I charge you therefore before God and the Lord Jesus Christ, who will judge the living and the dead at His appearing and His kingdom: 2 Preach the word! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching. 3 For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; 4 and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables. NKJV