Biblical Studies and Archaeology Community Group
The mission of this group is to provide a place to learn about ancient places and their history.Biblical studies may accompany archaeological discussions as they pertain to the Bible. Please refrain from any negativity as this should be place of positive reinforcement of our love for our Lord, Jesus Christ! May we all become God's ambassadors and embrace our...
I have been studying numerical growth and spiritual growth for school, and am very interested in everyone's insight and experience. What are the steps you would take to get others to come in the doors of your church? Vision is the first step in creating church growth, but what do you do next? What are the steps you would take to help members to grow spiritually? A memebership class is a start, but what is next? Thank you so much. Have a blessed week.
Getting people into the church is great, and if they receive Christ into their life, obviously that is the first step. But it shouldn't be the goal (as I believe your question indicates). The goal is not to create converts, but disciples. And the one thing that one MUST have (in addition to the truth of Christ) is fellowship. Discipleship is ABOUT relationship... it is about living out the Christian walk... not just carrying a bible and putting a fish magnet on your car. Its about reaching out to the aching world (both inside and outside of the church) and being active participants in one anothers lives. Its sad how many Christians are truly lonely and isolated because they put on their Christian faces for church and don't let others really know that they are still struggling and walking out this journey of faith. We need to be sensitive to the things that go unsaid, and on the other side, we need to be courageous enough to reach out and admit when we are struggling (not murmuring to everyone who will listen, but actually reaching out to those who are qualified and capable to support and encourage us).
I don't know what you mean by numerical growth exactly.
I have to say that when it comes to starting a church, vision is not the first thing... calling is. Not everyone who has an idea is called of God to act on it. When the vision of a church comes from God, so too will the manner of its manifestation... and while its growth will take much work and focus in the natural, ultimately, it will grow roots by the power of the Lord, not by the ideas of men. God supplies the ideas, and all the leadership has to do is to remember that, first and foremost, is to be obedient to the calling of God, and to have a discerning spirit.
While putting people in the pews is important for the survival of any church, the only way to sustain that growth and to keep them coming back is to feed and nurture their spiritual health. This is a struggle for any church. There is the church governing body (the church counsel, the session committee, the vestry, whatever the "business" committee of the church is called) who comes up with the church budget based upon what they think the membership will contribute through tithes and offerings and also approves and suggests programs. This "business" wing of the church can lose sight of the real mission of the church, which is to raise up disciples, so there needs to be a counter-balance. If not, you end up with a mega-church that can go bust at a moment's notice when people stop giving because of a glitch in the economy (I've seen it happen).
As a means to counter balance the church becoming another "business," one church I was part of came up with a mission statement, and then every decision, whether large or small, had to justify their request and the ultimate decision had to be weighed against how it addressed the mission of the church either directly or indirectly. This one directive by a church counsel was the most effective way I have seen to balance the "numbers" vs. the "spiritual" growth of the membership.
There are significant shifts in the church's ability to reach members and adjustments to programs are necessary when churches cross the 50, 300 and 3,000 membership levels. One church I attended decided to spawn a new church and try to "cap" their membership at 3,000 because of these shifts. Everything from the way that a church pastor interacts with the parishioners to the programs that can be offerred changes when these membership levels are crossed.
If I misunderstood your post, my apologies. If you need some good resource material on this, I will try to dig up the books I read on congregational leadership in seminary.