All churches want to reach more people, but why do some end
up staying small?
While social media, and even traditional media, are still
preoccupied with megachurches and multisite churches, the reality is that most
churches in North America are quite small.
The Barna group pegs the average Protestant church size in
America at 89 adults. Sixty percent of protestant churches have less
than 100 adults in attendance. Only 2 percent have over 1,000 adults
attending.
Please understand, there’s nothing wrong with being
a small church. I just know that almost every small church leader I
speak to wants his or her church to grow.
I get that. That’s the mission of the
church. Every single day, I want our church to become more effective in
reaching one more person with the hope that’s in Christ.
So, why is it that most churches never break the 200
attendance mark?
It’s not:
Desire. Most leaders I know
want their church to reach more people.
A lack of prayer. Many
small church leaders are incredibly faithful in prayer.
Love. Some of the people
in smaller churches love people as authentically as anyone I know.
Facility. Growth
can start in the most unlikely places.
Let’s just assume you have a solid mission, theology and
heart to reach people. You know why most churches still don’t push past the 200
mark in attendance? You ready?
They organize, behave, lead and manage like a small organization.
Think about it.
There’s a world of difference between how you organize a
corner store and how you organize a larger supermarket.
In a corner store, Mom and Pop run everything. Want
to talk to the CEO? She’s stocking shelves. Want to see the director of
marketing? He’s at the cash register.
Mom and Pop do everything, and they organize their business
to stay small. Which is fine if you’re Mom and Pop and don’t want to grow.
But you can’t run a supermarket that way. You organize
differently. You govern differently. There’s a produce manager and people who
only stock shelves. There’s a floor manager, shift manager, general manager and
so much more.
So what’s the translation to church world?
Here are eight reasons churches who want
to grow end up staying small:
1. The pastor is the primary caregiver.
Honestly, if you just push past this one issue, you will
have made a ton of progress. When the pastor has to visit
every sick person, do every wedding and funeral, and make regular house calls,
he or she becomes incapable of doing other things. That model just doesn’t
scale.
If you’re good at it, you’ll grow the church to 200 people
and then disappoint people when you can’t get to every event any more. Or
you’ll just burn out. It creates false expectations and so many people get hurt
in the process.
Although it’s 20 years old, this is still the best book I know on the subject. The answer, by the
way, is to teach people to care for each other in groups.
2. The leaders lack a strategy.
Many churches today are clear on mission and vision. What
most lack is a widely shared and agreed upon strategy.
Your vision and mission answers the why and what of your
organization. Your strategy answers how. And how is critical.
Spend time working through your strategy. Be clear on how you
will accomplish your mission and don’t rest until the mission, vision and
strategy reside in every single volunteer and leader.
3. True leaders aren’t leading.
In every church, there are people who hold the position of
leadership and then there are people who are truly leaders (who may not hold
any position in your church).
Release people who hold titles but aren’t advancing the
mission, and hand the job over to real leaders. Look for people who have a track
record of handling responsibility in other areas of life and give them the job
of leading the church into the future with you.
If you actually have leaders leading, it will make a huge
difference.
4. Volunteers are unempowered.
Sure, small churches may not have the budget to hire other
staff, but you have people. Once you have identified true leaders, and once
you’re clear on your mission, vision and strategy, you need to release people
to accomplish them.
Try to do it all yourself and you will burn out, leave or
simply be ineffective.
Empower volunteers around an aligned strategy and you will
likely begin to see progress.
5. The governance team micromanages.
If you need permission every time you need to buy paper
towels or repaint an office, you have a governance issue.
Most boards who micromanage do so because that’s where most
people simply default. You need a board that guards the mission and vision
and empowers the team to accomplish it and then gets out of the way.
This post on governance from Jeff Brodie is gold.
6. Too many meetings.
I led a church with a grand total of 50 people in
attendance. We had 16 elders. Overall, the church was in evening
meetings two to three times a week.
Why on earth would a church that small need to meet that
often?
I eventually repurposed most of those meetings to become
meetings about vision and reorganization. We also cut the number of elders
down. Now, although we have a much bigger church, I’m only out one or two
nights a week (and then, mostly for small group).
If you’re going to meet, meet on purpose for the
future. Free up your time so you and your team can accomplish something
significant.
7. Too many events and programs that lead
nowhere.
Activity does not equal accomplishment. Just because you’re
busy doesn’t mean you’re being effective.
If you check into most small churches (remember, I was
there … I’m not judging, just being honest), there are a lot of programs that
accomplish little and lead nowhere. Stop them.
Yes, people will be mad. Even have the courage to cut some
good programs. Good is the enemy of great. Then go out and do a few great
things.
8. The pastor suffers from a desire to please
everybody.
Many pastors I know are people-pleasers by nature. Go see a
counselor. Get on your knees. Do whatever you need to do to get over the fear
of disappointing people.
Courageous leadership is like courageous parenting. Don’t
do what your kids want you to do; do what you believe is best for them in the
end. Eventually, many of them will thank you.
And the rest? Honestly, they’ll probably go to another
church that isn’t reaching many people either.
I realize the diagnosis can sound a little harsh, but we
have a pretty deep problem on our hands. And radical problems demand radical
solutions.
What have you seen that helps churches push
past attendance barriers?
Carey Nieuwhof is founding pastor of Connexus Church and is
author of several books, including his latest best-selling work, Lasting
Impact: 7 Powerful Conversations That Will Help Your Church Grow. Carey speaks
to church leaders around the world about leadership, change and personal
growth. He writes one of today’s most widely read church leadership blogs
atwww.CareyNieuwhof.com and hosts the top-rated Carey Nieuwhof Leadership
Podcast where he interviews some of today’s best leaders. Twitter & Facebook:
@cnieuwhof | Periscope & Instagram: careynieuwhof More from Carey Nieuwhof or visit
Carey at http://careynieuwhof.com
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