How to Grow a Church

Sometimes we feel overwhelmed by the competition…we just cannot compete with the youth program down the street or the church that has all the young families in town.

The real truth is that our competition is not the church down the road.

Most youth do not attend a church because the church has a Family Life Center, most people do not attend a church because it is large and no church has all the young families in town.

In our community, every church in town could double in size and there would still be plenty of people who were not attending church.

Churches are not competing against other churches for new people.  Instead, they are competing against all of the other things a person could do and all the other things a person values. People have many options on Sunday morning –sleep in late, read the paper, play online games, participate in sports, have friends over for lunch, take a day trip, work, study for school, spend time with family, etc.

If we want to see our church grow we need to do something that will lead people to make the decision that going to church is one of their top priorities for a Sunday morning. 

What is there about our church that would lead someone to make such a decision?

Most churches say they want to grow but very few are growing.  We almost always underestimate the amount of change that will be required to get the results we want.  If we really want to reach new people with the life-changing message of Jesus we are going to have to change more than we think.
Lasting change comes as the result of a sustained effort focused upon a few key things.  Churches do not change because people read a book, attend a single workshop, have a Bible study or wish things were different.  Instead, things change because the laity provides good leadership embracing a good decision-making process and maintaining focused goals over a period of time.