Monday 14 August 2017

Breaking Church-Growth Barriers: Build A Bigger Leadership Table

making disciples and exerting cultural influence

This article originally appeared in Outreach Magazine.

How many of us would admit that we have experienced more failures than we’d have liked in leading our churches? It’s never easy to reflect honestly on our leadership mistakes; however, measurable outcomes and practical goalposts are critical if our churches are to thrive as we grow. Ultimately, in order to break barriers, our measurements and goals must change.

From a Shepherd to a Rancher

This includes simple things like how we measure the community we’re planning on having together. One of the major shifts when a church grows from 125 to 200 attendees and beyond, for example, is that there is a loss of intimacy with the pastors and key leaders. This happens primarily because we must move from a shepherding role to a rancher situation. The congregation must understand that access to the pastor will change due to the growth in attendance and the inability of one person to be available to such numbers. But this change also gives others the opportunity to be used by God to meet congregational needs.

We must always remember that there’s a reason for the change. We want our churches to make known the goodness of the gospel to an increasingly greater number of people and for those people to be integrated into the household of God, to be discipled and to grow spiritually.

Let me be as clear as I can: Our measurements and goals must reflect a community of making disciples and exerting cultural influence. We have to be engaging culture. This is more than simply saying we will be influential in our community. It means we are influential for Christ in our community.

The Systems Connection

The typical church in the United States has fewer than 100 people in weekly ...

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