I spent the weekend writing about some of the sociological factors of church growth. There's a reason why many congregations double in size when they move into a new facility.... why Elevation Church used pipe-and-drape to make their services feel full... and why Jesus chose a packed, multicultural festival in Jerusalem to manifest the spirit of God. Church growth isn't all theological. There are sociological factors that God uses to propel his Gospel. This is a controversial subject, I know. I'm thinking of putting padded corners on the edges of this book for when people throw it across the room.
Who I AM
- I help people launch great things. I'm the founder of STORY and Dream Year. My wife Ainsley and I live in Virginia Beach and have 3 cowboys, Wyatt, Dylan & Cody.
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You've got me interested.
Posted by: Chris Chowdhury | November 11, 2008 at 07:49 AM
Sounds intriguing! I'm excited to read it.
Posted by: Brian Ayers | November 11, 2008 at 09:40 AM
I am super interested to hear more. We've been having discussions about this a lot in our office.
Posted by: Emily Monts De Oca | November 11, 2008 at 10:35 AM
I agree, Ben. I think the biggest problem is when we say it's all one or the other, and not try to hold the two in tension. What good is perfect theology if no one's listening? What's the good of having a large audience if you're not giving them anything life-changing to hear?
We must realize that for all the railing against the division between sacred and secular that we do in our preaching that our ideas of "church" or "kingdom" growth must also eliminate the same division and hold all factors as relevant.
Looking forward to the book.
Posted by: Clayton Bell | November 11, 2008 at 10:45 AM
thanks for the feedback. i'm actually disappointed there are no angry comments here. =)
Posted by: Ben Arment | November 11, 2008 at 11:02 AM
heretic! :)
Posted by: mike foster | November 11, 2008 at 11:33 AM
thank you Mike. =)
Posted by: Ben Arment | November 11, 2008 at 11:44 AM
The Apostle Paul used his chains to keep the Praetorian guard audience captive -- spreading the gospel within Caesar's household...
Biblical justification for "lock-ins" perhaps... :-)
Seriously, it shouldn't surprise us that the gospel is not simply about knowledge transfer -- rather, it involves creatively engaging people as the complex, psycho-somatic, relational beings that God created them to be...
Blasphemer ;-)
Posted by: Steve Bradley | November 11, 2008 at 04:22 PM
love it.
Posted by: Ben Arment | November 12, 2008 at 08:59 AM