How Can I Help My Church to Grow part 4

Parts: 1 (here)  2 (here) 3 (here)

Do you really want to help your church to grow? Then make sure you’ve answered these two preliminary questions first: Why do I want my church to grow? and What do I mean by church growth? (Really, these questions are so important! Start there, first! Please!) 

Here are 3 more of the 8 things you can do to help your church grow:

4.     If you want your church to grow, Warmly welcome.

Warmly doesn’t mean descending on guests with frantic glee, “Oh, look, someone new!” It does mean reaching out to each individual or couple or family graciously. There is no formula here. Some people want a lot of interaction, other don’t. However, going to a church where nobody says anything to you (except the pastor and ushers) can be off-putting. If someone looks like they need some help (e.g. what page to turn to, where a room is, etc.) gently offer to help them. They may want your help. They may not. Respect their wishes.

5.     If you want your church to grow, Support your Pastor. 

Supporting your pastor doesn’t mean agreeing with her about everything. It does mean holding your pastor up in prayer. It means encouraging your pastor when the church, and especially they personally, are facing challenges. It means offering critique and disagreement in ways that will build up your pastor and not tear them down. A healthy church supports it leader. Supported leaders tends to lead more effectively. Leadership in a church almost always involves many leaders, support all of them. Well led churches are more likely to grow. 

6.     If you want your church to grow, Serve the Community.

As discussed in an earlier post, the kind of church growth we are talking about is holistic. This should reflect growing in Jesus’ Great Commandment to Love God and neighbor (Matthew 22:34-40). Yes, this means within the congregation, but also beyond the church. Find ways to serve your community (e.g. feeding the hungry). You don’t serve the community as a means of growing, you serve the community as a means of being faithful Christians. However, a church that is making a difference in people’s lives is a church better positioned to grow. 

While you’re waiting for next week’s post, you can review the previous posts and see what might be your next steps for helping your church to grow? (Some will note there were no jokes in this post. That’s because I received a complaint from the Ecclesiastical Anti-Fun Society). 

When do you think about these three ways to grow your church? Share below.

How Can I Help My Church to Grow part 3

Part 1 (here) Part 2 (here)

Do you really want to help your church to grow? Then make sure you’ve answered these two preliminary questions first: Why do I want my church to grow? and What do I mean by church growth? If you’ve answered these questions, hurrah! (I’m happy!) If not (I’m sad). 

Here are 8 things you can do to help your church to grow. 

1.     If you want your church to grow, Pray for it. 

Yes, pray. The kind of holistic growth we’ve been taking about in this blog series requires God’s help. No Christian individual and no Christian congregation can become all they should be without the power of God’s grace operating in their life. Pray individually for your church’s growth and pray regularly. 

2.     If you want your church to grow, Be there. 

In terms of numbers alone (which is not the end goal of Christian growth), you can increase attendance in a congregation in one of two ways: 1) attracting new attenders and 2) by encouraging current attenders to worship more regularly. Be there each Sunday, unless there is some good reason for you not to be there (e.g. staying at home to watch my latest yodeling video). When there is a major event, be there. A church can’t grow without a core base of faithful worshippers and attenders.  

3.     If you want your church to grow, Worship well. 

It’s not enough to just show up and do time in a pew week after week. Worship well. Participate fully in the service, sing (even if you don’t have a good voice), pay attention to the sermon (even if it isn’t that great), respond with energy to shared responses, and in general be dialed into what is happening. Not only will this benefit your own spiritual life, but potential newcomers pick up on the dynamics of worshippers when they visit. A church full of half-engaged worshippers isn’t very attractive, a church that is worshipping well is.  

We’ll have to stop here, my yodeling class starts in a few minutes. So while you’re waiting for next week’s post, you can ponder this very difficult riddle: You find me in December, but not in any other month.  

What do you think about these three ways to grow your church? Share in the comments below.

How Can I Help My Church to Grow? part 2

Part 1 (click here) 

In the first post of this series, we set aside the question of how you can help your church to grow, in order to first address an important preliminary question: Why do you want your church to grow? If you aren’t clear about the why stop here and start over again.

Assuming you have a good reason for wanting your church to grow (e.g. more pews to clean) then you need to answer a second preliminary question: What do I mean by church growth? This is a complicated question. Church growth can be measured by numbers. Increased numbers of members, attenders, and so on. Attendance and membership numbers are not insignificant. They can be worth tracking. However, our obsession with numbers can result in a skewed understanding of growth. People will often say to me, “Wow! That was a great service. There were so many people!” or “It’s too bad, so few showed” (Also, people often say to me, “That joke you told was the funniest I’ve ever heard…”). 

But what if I told you (insert meme here), that at the service with the high attendance, the music did not go well, the preaching was subpar, and, the large number of guest attenders were mostly ignored by the regular congregation? In this case, the “high attendance” service sounds less than successful, right? And what if I told you that at the service that was sparsely attended, a man who had been away from the church for years, had a quiet but meaningful spiritual experience (with simple music and preaching) leading him to begin to make some important life changes and to become active in that particular congregation? (Sounds pretty, good, right? So does my yodeling, btw). 

High attendance by itself doesn’t translate into individuals, couples, and families growing seriously in their faith. It also doesn’t translate by itself into outreach and difference making in the wider community (e.g. The Great Commandment, The Great Commission). There is growth in faithful habits (prayer, worship, service, etc.). There is growth in the fruits of the Holy Spirit (e.g. love, joy, peace, patience, etc. see Galatians 5:22-23). There is growth in understanding and living Christian beliefs and practices. There is growth in people giving the pastor gift cards to Starbucks. This is all church growth (Minus the gift the cards, that’s what we call a joke folks).

Now that you’ve answered the what you mean question and previously answered the why question, we can now move back to the original question: How Can I Help My Church to Grow? (While you’re waiting for the next post, you can clean the pews at your church. Fun, right?)

What about you? Why do you mean by church growth? Feel free to share in the comments.

How Can I Help My Church to Grow? part 1

The first thing you can do to help your church to grow is put this question down (on your immaculate kitchen counter) until you’ve answered preliminary question number one:  Why do I want my church to grow? 

Is it because your church is getting smaller and the volunteer workload is becoming unbearable? That is a difficult situation, but not a great reason to want to grow your church. There are lots of organizations out there with an aging and shrinking volunteer base, but does this reality motivate you or me to join these organizations to solve their problem?  Yeah, not really. Wait you say! What about our declining budget, surely people will want to come help solve our church’s financial problems? Yeah, not really. 

Ok. How about I want my church to grow because my church has been important to me? You've grown in faith there, made friends there, been supported through the best and worst moments of your life there. You've been challenged and equipped to live life differently and impact your world with love at your church. Those are pretty good reasons to want your church to grow. Those reasons aren't just about you and your church’s needs, but about how other people can be blessed because of your church, too. There are other reasons. All sound reasons for church growth should align with Jesus’ Great Commandment to “Love God and Neighbor” (Matthew 22:37-40). 

Speaking of God, that I hope, would be an obvious reason to want your church to grow. There are lots of organizations, groups, and movements that help address social ills or bring people together for mutual support (like my Thursday night Texas yodeling class) but it is only the Christian Church that exists specifically to help people encounter God through the person of Jesus Christ in the power of the Holy Spirit. Jesus’ Great Commission, “Go…make disciples of all nations” (Matthew 28:16-20) should also motivate our efforts at growth. The Great Commandment and the Great Commission should complement one another, resulting in growing numbers of disciples, growing in the practice of love.

Now that you’ve answered the why question, you’re ready to answer a second preliminary question: What do I mean by church growth? (Yes, for original readers that means you’ll have to wait until next week for the next post. You can clean your counter in the meantime).

PS: Feel free to share in the comments why you want your church to grow.

More than Animals: Francis of Assisi

When was the last time you stripped in front a gathering of your hometown, with the local bishop and your own father in attendance? When was the last time you kissed a leper? When was the last time you walked unarmed into the camp of your civilization’s enemy, to preach Christ? These colorful events are a few of many in the life of the saint. On another occasion, Francis preached to the birds. I preached to a parrot once, but he said he’d only accept the Gospel if I gave him a cracker (I apologize to members of Polly’s family for this joke).

Francis was born in Assisi, Italy, in 1182. His father was a wealthy cloth merchant. Francis showed more interest in parties and poetry, friends and fanfare, than he did in God. As a teenager he wasn’t particularly interested in his father’s business or his academic studies. He was enjoying the good life. At twenty, he joined the local army in a battle against a rival city state. Perhaps Francis saw this as an opportunity to become a romantic hero and win renown for himself through valor on the battlefield. Instead, he was captured and imprisoned. 

After his release, he began to encounter the poor and they began to affect him in a new way. In one encounter, he exchanged his expensive attire, for that of a poor man’s clothing. During this period, he began to reflect upon his life and to pray over his sins. These and other incidents culminated in his renouncing his wealth and position in order to live simply among the poor. This move was directly inspired by the words of Jesus, "If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me" (Luke 9:23 NRSV). He preached simple sermons. He cared for the sick and the outcast. He begged for his food. 

I know what you’re thinking: "Wow! That sounds like an exciting life, with comfortable accommodations and interesting people with glittering Instagram accounts. Sign me up." In fact, that is exactly what happened! (Minus the Instagram accounts, Francis’ handle @Liveswith Lepers never went viral). Women and men, from many walks of life began to follow Francis as he followed Christ through the path of poverty. Francis was not sullen. Francis radiated joy. He passionately loved God, people, and of all of creation. (Oh yeah, his feast day is October 4).

Very quickly, men joined Francis in being “little brothers” or friars minor. Thanks to Clare of Assisi, women soon followed.  Over 800 years later, people continue to be inspired by the life and witness of this poor man from Assisi. In popular devotion, Francis is near the top of the heavenly all-star list. Did he love animals? Yes, from the birds to the wolves. Did he love creation? Yes, from brother sun to sister moon. Did he love people? Yes, from the prince to the peasant. But most of all, inspiring all his other loves, was Francis’ love for God.