The Unacknowledged Factor in Most Growing Churches

 In my ministry as a pastor, I had the privilege of being a part of a growing congregation on two different occasions. Two out of the eight congregations I served, spanning fifty years, could be described as growing. By the word “growing,” I mean consistent numerical increase in worship and participation. A growing church is a rarity in today’s culture. Most churches are plateaued or declining.

Based on my experience, I identify the unacknowledged factor in most growing churches is location, specifically, a location in an area experiencing rapid population growth. A constant influx of new people in a church’s geographical area generally provides a steady stream of new people seeking a place to worship.

A growing population is not an automatic guarantee of growth. The steady stream of new people seeking a place to worship must find what it is looking for. If the new people coming do not find what they are looking for, they will keep looking elsewhere.

While a growing population in a church’s geographical area is the unrecognized factor in most growing churches, it is not the only factor needed for growth. Other factors are essential. A vibrant, authentic spirituality that permeates everything is foundational. Such spirituality is expressed in joy, openness, hope, and forgiveness.  It is inviting and welcoming, offering all who come an authentic warm welcome. Genuine acceptance (which is different from the welcome) provides each person a place to connect and belong (often through the creation of new groups). Vibrant spirituality is expressed in uplifting, God-focused worship that point people to the grace of God and connects people with God (as opposed to formal, repetitive, performance-oriented worship practices). Preaching that is biblically based, full of grace, free from judgment and condemnation, relevant to people’s daily lives while nurturing their spiritual journeys is the fuel that keeps the congregation’s spirituality vibrant and authentic. A spiritually vibrant congregation offers each person a way to use their unique gifts to contribute and serve. It follows the teachings of Jesus in dealing with conflict, pursuing reconciliation that maintains unity while avoiding division.

Having described vibrant, authentic spirituality as foundational to growing churches, I have to acknowledge many churches in areas of rapid population growth are able to grow without much spirituality. In place of authentic spirituality, they substitute programs that appeal to people’s interests — worship that is based on musical performance, music programs designed to support performance-oriented worship, programs for children and youth, preaching that reflects culture rather than the kingdom, etc. Such churches attract consumers who have little understanding of or interest in discipleship or authentic spirituality.

Many established churches do not benefit from the population growth happening around them. (Three of the eight congregations I served failed to grow although the population around them was growing.) Their failure to grow in the midst of a burgeoning population points to unrecognized barriers within their life. Most of those barriers are relational — people who don’t know how to genuinely welcome others, particularly those who are different, established groups that don’t know how to incorporate new people, power-blocs and power brokers controlling how things are done, rigidity regarding style of worship and beliefs and “the way we do things here,” conflict spawned by the rigidity and the control of power brokers, an unwillingness to change. (Growth cannot happen without change. Growth produces change.) An almost universal characteristic of churches that fail to grow is a lack of vibrant spirituality.

Population growth is not the only factor in growing churches. Growth in a static, declining, or transitional community is possible, but it is much more challenging. It requires much more intentionality and effort. Yet, when the factors related to authentic, vibrant spirituality exist, growth is possible. People will go where they experience the love of God and where that love is made real in their lives.