SO YOU WANT TO GROW!

Step 1

Well, if we are all honest, growth is a worthy goal for any congregation.  We all desire to be a part of the Lord's Great Commission to go, make disciples, baptize and teach.  So, why aren't we growing.  I believe there are several reasons, but first let's consider the "WHY" behind this desire to grow.

Many have expressed this desire but haven't made any efforts to move in that direction.  Bobby Knight, basketball coach once said, "everyone has the will to win, but few have the will to prepare".  Reading a summary of Roger Staubach's success not as an athlete but as a very successful businessman he said, "I learned from Coach Tom Landry that winning begins with preparation".

So it is in moving the congregation forward in growth.  It takes a great deal of preparation.  You must be willing to do your homework.  What do I mean by homework?  Well, here are a few questions to ask the leadership and the congregation.

1)  What do we do best?  In other words, what can we say will touch the lives of those who visit and attend.

2)  What are our obstacles?  Someone once said, "your atmosphere (people and facilities) will be your most prized billboard".  When people visit what do they notice that might turn them off and formulate the decision not to return.  Reading a church growth book not to long ago they wrote, "people make up their minds in a couple minutes of entering your parking lot whether or not they will return". 

3) Here's some questions to consider:  are our bathrooms clean?  Has the trash been emptied?  Are we truly friendly to guests or just to ourselves?  Are we positive and upbeat?  Is the nursery clean and the toys sanitized?  How about our signage?  Do guest know where the bathrooms are located and how to get to class?  the auditorium? 

4)  Think about your worship.  Remember you only have about an hour on Sunday morning to touch their lives.   Someone once said, "what's our business and how's business".

So there you have it.  Are we really serious about growing the Lord's body?  If we are then step 1 is to honestly and realistically evaluate our present circumstances, activities and facilities.  Why is that important?  There are souls that are dependent upon our response.  DO WE REALLY WANT TO GROW?  THAT QUESTION HAS TO BE ASKED FIRST!

May the Lord richly bless your efforts to reach others for Him!

Next stop:  Facilities

SO YOU WANT TO GROW?

Step 2

Hurdling the first question, "do we really want to grow as a congregation?", brings us to step number 2.  What do we do after we have made the major commitment to grow?   No, it's not advertising...YET!  Nor location...YET! 

There are several avenues you must travel before you consider advertising, location and web sites.  These avenues are paralleled with "hard-nosed" and tough self evaluation questions.  In other words, it doesn't pay to advertise if we have nothing to promote or if we are lazy in our portrayal of our ministries or have facilities that say "Don't come back".

First question to ask is; "what are our strengths"?  In other words, what are we doing well.  Concerning the facilities let me put it this way.  If you are going to have guests over for an evening meal and/or fellowship, you will spend a great deal of time "prepping" the house, carrying out the trash, perfuming up the place and putting everything in its place.

The same thing should be true as you ask yourself, "how's the place look?"  Don't forget you only have 1 opportunity to make a first impression.  So, get a few members (male AND female) to put on their "first timer" eye glasses and give the place a once over.  Then ask several hard hitting questions.  If this were my first visit what would I notice first?  Is there anything that turns me off?  Any signage?  Where do I go first?  Are the bathrooms clearly marked?  And do they smell clean and are clean?  Which direction to the nursery and children's area?  Do we have host or hostesses positioned to welcome the guests?  Do the host and hostess know the location of the bathrooms, nursery, classes, etc?

There are many other questions to ask, but you get the idea.  Company's coming and we must be ready.  So many times we spend hour after hour reading church growth books, manuals, plus attending lectures, listening to CD's when just a simple walk around would do wonders for the place.  Of course, you must be willing to make the necessary changes.  Here's an example:

One congregation I visited asked one of the ladies what was needed in the Ladies Restroom to make it more attractive.  She responded, "a shelf where I can place my purse and Bible".  That was more than 1 year ago.  Still  no shelf. 

Here, when we spot a need...GIVE IT ATTENTION!  We might not be able to do everything this minute but we need to hop to the problem areas we can improve.

May God richly bless you as you honestly and realistically evaluate THE FACILITIES.

Next stop:  Ministries

SO YOU WANT TO GROW?

STEP 3

In our first article we talk about "desire".  Does the congregation "really want" to grow?  In the second article we briefly talked about facilities.  There is much more to consider when discussing "facilities and grounds" but you get the picture.  When we occupy a house, the day in day out stuff we tolerate until someone says, "company's coming".  Then we REALLY get serious about how the house looks.

Now, we want to make sure that our ministry areas are in place, functioning and doing their best to touch people's lives.  According to Church Central and the "Church Health Survey" their are six areas that we have to investigate.  We will discuss all six in detail but here they are:  prayer, worship, evangelism, ministry,  fellowship and discipleship.

In this article we will discuss "PRAYER".

Prayer is the key to church outreach and growth.  As building a house you don't start with the roof but with the foundation.  Prayer is the foundation to growing a healthy congregation.  How's the corporate prayer time at your congregation?

After deciding to grow and checking out  the appearance of the building it is time to call upon God to direct your outreach and ministry.  There are several ways to do so.

1)  Prayer meeting.  It seems that the old fashion prayer meeting time has given way to seminars,  revival meetings, breakfasts, fellowship dinners, Bible studies, etc.  Don't get me wrong.  I'm not saying any of those things are wrong in and of themselves.  However, when seeking God's will and God's direction an old fashion prayer meeting on a regular basis is the beginning point.  Now, I'm not talking about asking for "prayer requests" even though at other times that is o.k.  Now, I am talking about praying to seek God's direction to reaching out to the community in which He has placed your congregation.  Praying for direction.  Seeking His will for our congregation.  Where does He want us to go and what does He want us to do.  In James 1 the writer says, "if any of you lack wisdom, let Him ask of God who giveth to everyone liberally..."  Now's the time to seek His face in our to seek His will.

SO YOU WANT TO GROW?

Worship