How a Church Grows

Most church plants are not growth phenoms. They follow a typical curve that Ed Stetzer is famous for talking about, and these churches don't grow in the same way over time. As the dynamics in the plant change, the mechanism of growth has to change as well...

- In the early stages, a church plant grows from the sole efforts of the church planter.

- As a team gathers, the core group helps the church grow by inviting their social network.

- At launch, the church grows from advertising and outreach events.

- In the post-launch lull when social pools are tapped and money is gone, the church grows when non-staff people in the church start additional ministries and small groups.

- As momentum gains and ministries expand, the church grows through word-of-mouth.

- To grow any further, the church has to form sub-congregations within the larger whole. Second services, additional locations, age-based congregations, etc.

- At critical mass, the crowd draws other crowds.

- The final stage of growth is church reproduction... or else decline.

Comments

[Clayton Bell]

Great post. Where are you all?

[Ruth]

I have to wonder..where does God fit into your thinking? You make no mention of Him at all.

The Bible makes it plain that it is God that gives the increase in His church, not man. One of many passages concerning this would be Acts 2:47 "And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved."

So where is God in your thinking?

[Ben]

Hi Ruth, have you read any more of my blog besides this post? If you did, I don't think you'd be asking this question.

One of my top spiritual gifts is organization, and I love the systems God uses to grow his church. Just as living organisms are governed by physical laws, spritual organizations like the church are governed by laws as well.

Do you remember in Exodus 18 when Moses' father-in-law Jethro instructed him to appoint other leaders to care for the nation of Israel? The result was increased capacity to minister to people.

I get excited about that.

Remember when Stephen & the others were appointed to help minister to the Greek widows in Acts 6? Increased capacity to minister! Awesome...

Or how about when Paul came back to the churches he started on his missionary journeys to appoint pastors and elders?

I love it that God will reveal organizational principles to us that help us reach more people and minister at a higher capacity.

This doesn't discount Acts 2:47 at all. As a church planter, I would bet that I understand this principle better than you do.

But on this blog, I spend a lot of time talking about systems and organizational principles in the church because that's how God has wired me. I praise Him for that. Where's your blog?

[Ruth]

Hi Ben,

Well I went back and read your blog, or at least quite a bit.

I still ask the same question...where's God in your church growth list.

We can talk about Jethro's concerns that Moses was doing too much, the Apostles concerns that they shouldn't be distracted from prayer and the word, or Paul's helping the churches appoint church leadership, but it won't get us any closer to the answer for the question at hand.

And no my friend, I don't think that being a "church planter" gives you more insight than myself, or anyone else, in understanding the word of God. What gives you understanding of God's word is study, prayer and most of all the Holy Spirit leading you into the truth concerning that word.

So my question stands.

[adam]

I think the key phrase here is "and they don't grow in the same way over time." While there are predictable and describable stages to the growth of the church, how and when that occurs is affected by so many factors, keeping the whole thing organic rather than merely organizational. Just as there are describable and predictable stages to human development, how and when these things occur are very different from person to person. Just sharing stories about my son and and the son of a friend of mine demonstrates this. While the kids are experiencing very similar stages, they do it in very different ways, reflecting the dynamics of their families, their personalities, and other genetic factors.

I think it's another good way of "preparing the field" for God's outpouring of His blessing. Rather than being passive while waiting for God's Spirit to fill and lead, we can be active by preparing for and ready to implement for the next stage, as God leads us there. We aren't passive about parenting, but actively preparing for the next stage, at the same time not rushing our kids into that next stage. That part happens by God's timing.

[Ben]

Adam, that's a great word.

Ruth, if you honestly think I've removed God from my theology of church growth, then you're entitled to your opinion. So have it. Revel in it. I've gotta move on.