Five Steps in Growing Congregations

In a previous post, I outlined five factors that congregations that wish to grow, spiritually and numerically, must reckon with. These factors are largely related to the shifts that have taken place in our society over the last sixty years, resulting in our present reality of living in an increasingly, post-Christian world (the United States is the furthest behind in this process for different reasons and can learn from countries like Canada, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia, and New Zealand who are further along). These five factors must be considered when looking to take any of the five steps described below.  Let these five steps be conversation starters in your congregation regarding church growth and evangelism.   

1.     Stepping Up Prayer 

Often people will nod to this step and then say, “Yeah, but, what are we really going to do?” If we are not willing to make a concerted effort in becoming more prayerful congregations and to pray more regularly and intently for the spread of the Gospel in our communities, then we should put our spiritual car into park and not attempt to hit the highway of evangelism until our parish and ourselves as individuals have had a major spiritual tune up. Avoid this step at your peril.

2.     Stepping Up Discipleship 

Remember, the target goal is not simply to increase attendance and add to the membership rolls of your congregation. These are inadequate motivators in the work of evangelism. Our mission is to proclaim the Gospel, make disciples and love our communities in Jesus name. Disciples attend church regularly, but being a disciple and being a member of a congregation are not necessarily the same thing. If you do not know the difference between a church member and a disciple, find out. We will have to re-learn about discipleship, Christianity as a way of life, and how to offer preaching, teaching, and resources in our churches oriented to helping people with these goals in mind. 

3.     Stepping Up Welcome

Almost every church thinks of itself as friendly. The challenge is that research and anecdotal evidence suggest that many small churches are indeed friendly, with each other, but less so with new comers. For many, the prospect of showing up to a new place, much less a church, is an anxiety producing one. Have you thought through the entire experience of a first time guest from how they find you (for increasing numbers of people today they will start looking for you online…), get to you, park their car, find the right door to enter, find the worship space, know where to sit, and what to do, how to get to coffee hour (if you have one) and how you will follow up with them once they have left? This is just for starters. If you want a real eye-opener, ask a couple of people who have never been to your church to walk around the facility with you and give you their honest impressions!  

4.     Stepping Up Worship

This doesn’t necessarily mean bringing in a band and big lights and attractive lead vocalists. Small churches will not likely to draw individuals who are looking for a “big” church experience and vice versus. Most churches are small and such churches need to be seeking those who are looking for or who will better respond to a smaller, more family like experience of church. This is not an excuse for poor quality, however. Is the service well-planned and executed? Does the congregation participate strongly and devotionally? Is the worship space clean, well lit, and attractive? Are you sitting in an immense space with just a few people? Can you find ways to block off some of the space to give it a better feel? What can you do to improve your music? There are good pre-recorded options, find the best options you can. Piano and organ aren’t the only options for live accompaniment of congregational singing. Are there musicians in your congregation, what about your community? Is the preaching solid, clear, and oriented toward discipleship and Christianity as a way of life?  

5.     Stepping Up Invitation  

The best news you might read in this post is that drawing new people into a relationship with Christ and His Church (evangelism) does not require expensive programs, super talented preachers or state of the art facilities. Study after study, across denominations, continues to reveal that the number one reason people join a church or come to Christ is because someone they know invited them to church. That’s it. Yes, there is a place for marketing, web presence, dynamic preaching, stellar music and more. However, without an invitation to worship by a stranger, acquaintance, co-worker, friend, or family member, most people will never come to church anyway. We have to learn how to invite. There are ways of making that easier for many church folks who are often shy about these things. If you invite 10 people will all 10 people come? No. It will be a smaller yield and sometimes you will have to invite someone several times over a several month (or longer period) before they will come. But with God’s help we can do it. The future of our congregations depends upon it.