Church Growth – 7 Key factors to facilitate growth

How to Grow Your Church

Church growth? God wants the church to grow- numerically (Acts 2:47) and spiritually. (Ephesians 4:16) He wants your church to grow. Why? Because growing the church is about reaching and discipling people and God is all about people. However, there are barriers to growing a church and there are critical ingredients needed to grow a church. If we can remove the barriers and diligently add the right ingredients- our churches will grow.

There’s not one extraordinary factor or some unique formula that promises church growth, but there are several characteristics that are common in and among churches that experience consistent growth. In fact I’ve identified 7 key ingredients that are critical to creating an environment that is conducive for dynamic growth.

Church Growth – 7 Key Factors

However, these 7 key factors for church growth will only be effective when the anointing and power of the Holy Spirit are present in our lives and ministries. We must never fall into the tramp of depending on our own ability or forget that people are the reason for the church. With those thoughts in mind here are the 7 key factors for church growth:

1. Great Leadership – Without a doubt the greatest key to church growth is leadership. Everything rises or falls on leadership. You can not overcome a lack of leadership. You can be strong in all the other areas that are critical for church growth and still not grow significantly if there is not the right leadership in place. You can be good at leading tens or hundreds, but not thousands. Leaders of hundreds will not grow a church of thousands. In fact if you put a leader of hundreds over a church of a 1000’s he/she will bring it down to a church of hundreds. The most critical factor for church growth is leadership! If you are leading a church the single most important thing you can do is become a better leader. To grow a church, leadership must grow first. (see my article on leadership for growth – click here)
2. Process for Equipping & Multiplying Leaders – Great leaders lead leaders. When I’m asked by pastors what they need to do to grow their church, one of the first questions I ask is how many leaders do you have? Whatever number they give me I will cut it in half and multiply it by ten. This will tell me the likely number of “active” people that are in the church. For example if they say they have about 30 leaders – divide that by 2, which equals 15; then take that times 10 which equals 150. More than likely this church will have 150 active adults. Active meaning someone who is attending at least twice a month and giving at least once a month. I will take that number by 75% and that will be what I expect their average adult attendance on Sunday to be. I can tell you most of the time I’m within 10% of what they are experiencing. If that pastor will double his leaders to 60 he will double his average attendance from 110 to 220. If you want a 1000 people attending church on Sunday you are going to need well over 200 leaders. Recruit leaders. Mobilize leaders. Motivate leaders. Train leaders. Aggressively multiplying leaders and equipping them is a major contributing factor for church growth.
3. Visitor Acquisition & Conversion System. The number of documented visitors has a direct correlation on the growth of a church. They are the life line to growth. So, getting more visitors to your church is critical. There are many different ways to attract visitors to your church and there are several false assumptions made about visitors. One of those assumptions is why visitors come to church. Don’t wrongly assume why people come to a church. Most visitors visit a church because they are looking for a “church” not an alternative to church. People have a spiritual need in their life that only Jesus can fill. Many times these visitors have already tried everything the world has to offer and other religions with out finding the answer. Another incorrect assumption is an over emphasis on the importance of following up with visitors. I’m not saying don’t follow up, it’s just not as important as most think it is. The visitor is impacted and influenced more by what he or she experiences in their church experience not on how or who followed up on their visit. If the visitor has a negative experience or doesn’t experience what he/she is looking for no matter how quickly or creative your follow up program is it probably can not overcome their in church experience. There are some caveats and differences to this depending on the size of church you currently are and the size of community your church is in. (see my article on visitors) The bottom line is, it is very important to get visitors to your church and for them to experience the presence of God in your services. Finding ways to attract more visitors to your church and converting them to regular attenders is a critical factor for growing your church.
4. Monitor, Measure, Evaluate, & Adjustment Processes.       I call this keeping score. If you don’t know the score you don’t know what play to call. You don’t know if your winning or losing. One thing all growing churches have in common is a systematic process of self-examination. They have specific measurable goals they are working towards and assess their successes and failures. They monitor and measure everything they do. Then after evaluating they make needed adjustments. If you are going to grow your church you have to know how your doing and constantly adjust.
5. Systematic Spiritual Growth . Numerical growth is going to be directly impacted by the spiritual growth of those in the church. The healthier a church is the more likely it is to grow numerical. The health of a church is directly impacted by the spiritual growth of the believers. There must be a systematic process of discipleship that takes new believers and helps them walk out their faith. Mature sheep beget sheep. Growing spiritually is the process of becoming who we are in Christ in our actions. Our assignment is to grow up the body by equipping them to do the work of the ministry. (Ephesians 4:11ff) Spiritual growth is critical for numerical growth.
6. Missions Focused. Growing churches maintain a strong outward focus without sacrificing a healthy environment for inward spiritual growth. When members of a church are engaged in serving and giving out of themselves it creates a culture that produces natural spiritual growth. Declining and stagnant churches without exception become inward focused. They no longer have the same passion for the lost or involvement in local outreaches. Leadership becomes more concerned about social issues, personal goals, preferences, and desires. Growing churches maintain a strong outward focus.
7. Flexible and Innovative. Churches that are able to adapt different strategies and initiatives in order to meet challenges and seize the opportunities in our ever changing world are going to be in position to grow while those who are rigid and inflexible will become stagnant. Growing churches not only need to be flexible, but they need to be innovative. Innovation is not just about change. One of the biggest mistakes churches make today is to make changes thinking change is going to produce growth. Change is always happening for better or worse. We need to understand the change that is happening in our world and where God has us assigned and then be catalysts for what comes next in our churches in response to the change that’s happening. What I see in many churches today is simply a reaction to what other churches are doing and then trying to copy that. As a result we have churches following fads and not understanding trends. Those who are innovative see the trends and incorporate the creative element in their church to develop original strategies to move their church forward.

These are the seven most critical keys I see to effectively growing today’s church. I know some are wondering what about; multiple campuses, small groups, worship style, service length, etc. These and many other factors could merit consideration, but most of them are strategies that should be developed as a function of these seven key factors. If you’re having success with what you’re doing great – keep it up. If you’re struggling pray about these seven key ingredients for church growth and evaluate whether or not you could improve in any of them.

Be encouraged! Keep at it! We need you to succeed!