Courageous Church Growth

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Courageous Church Growth

• Source Kennon Callahan
• Twelve Keys to An Effective Church, Abingdon
• Chandler_at_vbmb.org

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What makes a church courageous?

• Church growth?
• more attending
• Church health?
• Those who attend are growing and healthy
• Or church dispersion?!
• The church disperses out beyond itself to change
  the face of its community

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Community/Cultural Transformation

• Were not done till the community of which were
  a part is touched and changed by Christ through
  us!
• No matter how fast we grow or how deep we think
  we are

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You serve more people than you think!

• T.P.S. total people served
• 1. Formal members.
• 2. Persons served in the course of the mission of
  the church.
• (ie. Visited in hospital, funeral)
• 3. Constituents who participate in some aspect of
  church life.
• 4. Friends of the church who havent joined or
  wont join.
• 5. People who are now elsewhere but consider this
  home.
• 6. Community folk who think well of this
  congregation.

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Church Rallying Cries

• 1. We play to win.
• 2. We play not to lose.
• 3. We play to lose.
• 4. We are not certain we plan to leave the locker
  room.

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Be ye transformed by

• Not more committees, control, structure, nor by
  simply trying harder
• But by the renewing of your mind
• p -gt b -gt d
• perception yields behavior
• behavior yields destiny

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Courageous Barrier Breaking means we renew our
minds

• Inside of our own spirit
• change my heart, o God
• Within our church
• between church and community
• Whats our brand in the neighborhood?

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How to break barriers

• Understand how you are perceived in the
  community.
• Be willing to make inside-the-church changes so
  as to connect with the community.

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Three Things that 21c People Look for in
Congregations

• 1. Help.
• 2. Hope.
• 3. Home.
• If your church does not have lots of programs,
  that is Gods way of blessing you!
• People are looking not for more activity, but for
  H/H/H

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Another way of saying H/H/H

• People are looking for
• Giving,
• Sharing,
• Receiving.

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What people join ( dont join)

• A congregation
• not a denomination
• A family
• not an organization
• A community
• not a committee
• A movement
• not an institution

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Where people go

• People go to the church nearest their heart, not
  their house
• Think average trip time and traffic direction
  pattern

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Four Futures for Congregations

• 1. Small.
• 2. Middle, awkward.
• 3. Large, regional.
• 4. Mega.
• No merit in any given size
• All 4 sizes could be strong, weak, or dying
• 1, 3 are easiest
• 2 is the hardest

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Average Worship Attendance

• Very Small
• 20-34 (27 stop beneath this barrier)
• Small
• 35-74 (57)
• Middle/awkward
• 75-149 (69)
• Large/regional
• 150-350 (85)
• Very large/mega
• 400 (96)

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Small can be Strong

• Not everything large is strong
• cancer
• Not dysfunctional small
• small for a (bad) reason
• Old-timers vs. Newcomers
• But people join small/strong to regain sense of
  what they lost when they moved into large in
  the rest of their lives

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Most small congregations have more strengths than
they think they do.

• Most pastors and key leaders are doing better
  than they think they are
• What interferes with them knowing that
• Cultural drive for excessive achievement
• Occupational hazard of perfectionism

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Whats important, no matter size

• Add a strength
• By adding strengths, any size church can
  courageously touch and transform its community

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The 12 Keys (Listed in order of importance)

• Mission
• Outreach
• Worship
• Groupings
• Leadership
• Decisions

• 7. Program
• 8. Access
• 9. Visibility
• 10. Parking
• 11. Facilities
• 12. Giving

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The order matters!

• Better to have good parking than good facilities
• Better to have access than visibility
• Better outreach than worship

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(Dis)satisfaction

• The first 6 characteristics are sources of
  congregational satisfaction
• Were building something worthwhile in Gods
  Kingdom!
• The second 6 are sources of dissatisfaction
• I cant find a seat/space!

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The Goal for Courageous Churches

• Develop five out of the first six keys,
• Four out of the second half, and
• Nine of twelve overall.

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The Plan

• 1. Claim your existing strengths
• from the 12 keys
• 2. Expand one or two strengths.
• Pick the 2 that will give you 80 of your results
• 3. Do this annually for three years.
• Eventually, a strong congregation will deliver on
  9 of the 12 strengths

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How to add a New Strength

• Create
• A single, one-time objective
• Father-daughter event
• A seasonal objective
• Teacher work days program
• A short term (3-5 sessions)
• Limited small group
• A long term (6-10 sessions)
• Ongoing group

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A metaphor

• Find sprinters to help with immediate,
  short-term objectives
• Find marathoners to work on routine, regular,
  year-round objectives

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Dying vs. Vibrant Churches

• Dying congregations major in long-term and
  weekly/monthly marathon type events
• Vibrant congregations major in one time,
  seasonal, and short-term events

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Weak, Declining Pattern
One time events
Annual
Seasonal
Short term
Long term
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Strong, Healthy Pattern
One time events
Annual
Seasonal
Short term
Long term
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Examples Children

• One-time one day Bible School during a
  teachers work day
• Seasonal doing that for the six work days
  during a school year
• Short term 5 week parenting class
• Long term ongoing class for parents, pre-school
• Annual VBS

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Are we willing to change our churches in order to
touch the world?

• Remember were not done till our community is
  changed by Christ through us!
• Do we love our neighbors enough to relinquish our
  church preferences?
• Courageous Churches unlock internal barriers so
  that their communities can be set free by the
  Gospel!

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Courageous Church Growth

• Dr. John P. Chandler
• Courageous Churches, Virginia Baptist Mission
  Board
• Chandler_at_vbmb.org
• Copy Right John P. Chandler, 2003