How Can I Help My Church to Grow part 5

(Click here for the first post)

Wow. If you’ve read all four previous posts, you win a prize! (An autographed photo of myself leaping off Mount Everest). As stated in the previous posts, make sure you’ve addressed the preliminary questions about church growth before you get into how you might do it. 

Here are the final 2 of the 8 things you can do to help your church grow: 

7.     If you want your church to grow, Invite, Invite, Invite. 

Most people who get involved in a local church do so because someone invited them. People moving into town, looking up your church, and showing up, is becoming less and less the norm. Unless invited, many will never come. Invitations to Sunday worship are important (especially on big days). But so are invitations to other events (i.e. social gatherings, service projects, etc.). Different people will respond to different invitations. Much could be said about the art of inviting others, but keep in mind it takes practice to do well and time to see results from. 

8.     If you want your church to grow, You Grow. 


How are you growing as a Christian? Can you say you understand Christian beliefs and doctrines more now than you did five years ago? Can you say you’ve made real growth in living into the fruits of the Holy Spirit (love, joy, peace, patience, Kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control, Galatians 5:22-23)? How about in living out Jesus Great Commandment to “Love God” and “Love Neighbor?” (Matthew 22:34-40) A church of growing disciples is almost by definition, a church that is growing. The inverse is almost always true, too. 

Disclaimer A

Church growth cannot be reduced to a simple formula. There are best practices to learn from. Researchers and practitioners have written many fine books on the subject. If you and the leadership of your church aren’t learning from these resources, you should be. Different settings present different challenges and opportunities for church growth (e.g. urban, suburban, small town, rural, etc.). You can be faithful. You and your church can try and try, and sometimes, for a host of reasons, growth in numbers doesn’t happen. HOWEVER! (see below)

Disclaimer B 

The church growth we’ve talked about in this blog series is holistic. If you commit to a holistic approach to the faith, it is almost certain, that church growth of some kind will take place (including in numbers). People will grow in their understanding of the faith. People will grow in their service toward neighbor. People will grow as faithful spouses, friends, parents, grandparents, godparents, and more. People will grow as disciples of Jesus Christ. (People will grow sick of five-part blog series! Well, I hope not.) 


So what’s your next step? How will you take this blog series and begin applying it to your personal efforts at helping your church to grow? How will you encourage your church’s leadership to address some of these areas? In all cases, there are things church leaders can do to encourage growth. Share your thoughts, objections, and questions in the comments below.