I love
hearing stories of hope.
Instead of waiting for the stories to come to me, I
recently interviewed 19 pastors whose churches had moved from struggling to
breakout. All of the pastors had been in the church at least four years, and
all of them had reached points of frustration.
Then their churches began to reverse their decline and
stagnation.
None of the pastors I interviewed were new at their
churches. None of the churches had relocated in recent years. And none of the
communities in which the churches were located had grown dramatically.
So what happened at these churches?
All of the pastors were careful to give glory to God. Most
of them articulated that their stories were not ones of mere methodological
devices.
But they did have six common themes worth
noting.
1. They led the church to become highly
intentional about starting new groups.
The fewest groups started by any one of the churches were
four in a one-year period.
These churches were serious about new groups,
and most of them saw that, at least from a human perspective, as the primary
source of turnaround growth.
2. They led the church to a culture of inviting
people.
These pastors expressed amazement at how many people
started coming to their churches simply because they were invited.
To be clear, this type of invitation was personal, from a
member to someone else. It was not some type of major commercial marketing
initiative.
Some of the churches had a big event, “invite-a-friend
day,” to kick off this new culture of inviting.
3. They began new member classes.
These classes set the tone for new members. They
established the expectations for new members.
After a few months of these classes, many of the pastors
began to notice an attitudinal change toward the positive among the members.
4. They began a major community ministry.
Some of the churches “adopted” local schools. Some of the
leaders made appointments with key civic leaders to find out how their churches
could best help the community.
In all cases, church members got out of the comfort of the
church buildings and went into the community to serve others.
5. They began to pray for the lost and unchurched
by name.
For many of the churches, this type of praying was a first.
Most of them attested that it seemed awkward at first, but
it later became a part of their Great Commission culture.
6. The leaders began to focus less on negative
people and circumstances and more on God’s possibilities.
The leaders became, in God’s power, people of faith instead
of people of fear. This spirit of faith became pervasive in the churches.
Many of the churches saw a negative and unbelieving church
culture become a positive and faith-believing culture.
Nine out of 10 churches in America are either
declining or growing more slowly than the communities in which they are
located. In other words, most churches are losing ground in their communities.
But, in the midst of all the bad news about churches, we do
see more and more beacons of light. I was delighted and encouraged to hear
these stories of turnaround churches and what they are doing. I plan to report
on other churches in the future.
So what do you think of these turnaround
factors?
Have you seen them at work in other churches?
Do you have any similar stories from your
church? What is God using most effectively in your church to reach people with
the love and the power of the gospel?
Source: Originally Posted HERE
Thom S. Rainer is the
president and CEO of LifeWay Christian Resources (LifeWay.com). Among his
greatest joys are his family: his wife Nellie Jo; three sons, Sam, Art, and
Jess; and six grandchildren. He was founding dean of the Billy Graham School of
Missions, Evangelism, and Church Growth at The Southern Baptist Theological
Seminary. His many books include Surprising Insights from the Unchurched, The
Unexpected Journey, and Breakout Churches.
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