Rich Kao

Posted at ChurchRelevance.com...a great thought on church growth.  For the record, I'm not an "anti-church growth" guy.  I've always preached God loves a big family.  What I like about this post is the accent on growth as a by-product, not as a goal in and of itself.   As Rick Warren says, don't try to create waves, find your wave and ride it.

Jack Trout on the Dangerous Pursuit of Growth

December 8, 2008 @ 11:43 am · Filed under Church, Leadership, Ministry

Three years ago, Jack Trout wrote an article for Forbes that discussed the danger of making growth your mission.

That desire for growth is at the heart of what can go wrong for many companies. Growth is the by-product of doing things right. But in itself, it is not a worthy goal. In fact, growth is the culprit behind impossible goals.

People do damaging things to force unnecessary growth.

This also applies to churches. Great attendance is the by-product of doing things right. Your goal is your God-given mission. When attendance becomes your goal, you risk doing damaging things for growth’s sake.

Remember, God cares about changed lives not accumulated lives. (Me:  great thought by poster Kent Schaffer). As long as you are focused on your mission and continually getting better at fulfilling it, you should be content with the by-product of doing things right.

And if your church has been thrust into the spotlight because of your attendance, methods, or pastor, be extra careful that you do not swap your God-given mission with the pursuit of growth. Jack Trout continues:

Did you ever wonder why very successful, privately held companies, such as Milliken or Gore-Tex, rarely show up in the press? It’s because no one is staring at their numbers quarter after quarter. All they have to worry about is their business. And if they are happy with it, that’s all that matters.

...something new is bubbling up in terms of how to do church buildings....sorry to be cryptic, but maybe we'll share it in the new year!

The best of 2008 according to Ministries Today.  Pictures and articles posted at Ken Schaffer's blog. http://churchrelevance.com/7-innovative-church-buildings-in-america/

Who wouldn't want to pastor in these churches?  Wow!  (But...see next post)

March 5, 2008 @ 6:50 pm · Filed under Church, Facilities, Ministry

Ministry Today has published a subjective list of the seven most innovative church buildings in America. The online article goes into detail about each church building but does not include any photos. So I scoured the Web for photos so you could have a glimpse at a few of these innovative church buildings.

#1 :: Northland A Church Distributed (Longwood, FL)
Photo Credits: Mark Beeson, G Jackson Lights, and the church website.

#2 :: Living Water Community Church (Bolingbrook, IL)
Photo Credit: Wildesign Group Architects via Flickr.
UDPATE: Original photos taken by Aspen Group.

#3 :: New Beginnings Christian Center (Portland, OR)
Photo Credit: Building God’s Way.

#4 :: Victory Christian Center (Tulsa, OK)
Photo Credits: Daniels and Daniels Construction and the church website.

#5 :: Parkway Christian Church (Surprise, AZ)
Photo Credit: CCBG Architects.

#6 :: The Vineyard Church (Urbana, IL)
Photo Credit: Aspen Group.

#7 :: Cornerstone Christian Fellowship (Chandler, AZ)
Photo Credit: Rowland Companies.

For explanations why Ministry Today calls these seven church buildings the “most innovative in America,” check out their online article. They certainly are some cutting-edge facilities, but I also know that there are quite a few other remarkably innovative church buildings around the world.

Having just been in a room last week with mega-church pastors from all over America, this article by Seth Godin (irrepressible beloved marketing guru) sure made me feel better!  (Actually, I'm super happy for my mega-church pastor brothers; after all; it's us small guys that make them feel mega!) Being pastor of a church of under 10,000 (code for 125!), Seth's "Small is the New Big" insights really tickled me - not because it justifies my size (big or small, God loves us all), but because there are some really neat nuggets in it.  My philosophy:  Big is great.  Small is great.   But, I love the Craig's List vs. eBay comparison.  If I can have the influence of ebay, but stay at the size of Craig's list, then I'm all over the Craig's List model.  Here's Seth's great article.

There's a two stage cycle to church growth - grow it and preserve it; grow it and preserve.  It's also call the salt and light stage (Mt 5:13-14).

1. Salt Phase

The goal of the salt stage is to preserve the growth that you've gained and to keep your saltiness (flavor).  Don't compromise your message, don't compromise your outreach, don't compromise your leadership development, don't compromise the presence of God.  Hold your ground.  You may not be going forward, but don't go backwards.  It's like a family that has stopped having kids.  They may have stopped growing numerically, but it doesn't mean the family starts stagnating.  On the contrary, they are still called to be vibrant, healthy, a witness and world changers. 

Church growth is a funny thing.  It's partly based in God's sovereignty (the seasons of God, what the spirit of God is doing in a city, country, culture), and it's partly based on our calling and talent.  But it's God who frames the picture.  We work inside of it.  God has his seasons of breaking out and his seasons of preserving.
 

2. Light Phase

This is the breakout, breakthrough phase.  It can be called revival, renewal, reformation.  It can occur  on a mini-scale (one church) or grand scale ( multiple churches, a city or a country).   This is where the church grows numerically, where salvations are registered in great or steady volume on a regular basis.  This is exciting stuff.  But there comes a time where the church either needs to take a pause or plateau for awhile to catch up to the growth.  It's like someone needing to come up for breath.    Theoretically you build infrastructure to stay ahead of your growth curve, but in practice this doesn't always happen.    The momentum and excitement generated in this phase is what all church planters live for.

Generally speaking, you can label the salt phase as the pastoring phase, and the light phase as the pioneering phase.  Jesus was both the Great Shepherd and Great Apostle.    Understanding the dual nature of church planting helps us manage our expectations, stay healthy and cooperate with each season.