Episcopal Diocese of Albany

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Five Areas to Reflect on in Positioning the Church for Growth

by Canon Neal Michell

I was once talking with a preist who said, "I know all the church growth tricks, and they don‘t work here." As I cringed inwardly, outwardly I graciously asked him what church growth things he had tried.

One hears an awful lot about how bad church growth is.

We often stagger between two extremes. We try nothing because we have an aversion to all that church growth stuff that is just crass commercialism with a thin veil of Christianity. Or, we look for the latest program and, when it doesn‘t work, complain that "we tried that church growth stuff, and it doesn‘t work."

I must admit that I have a bias for growth. I believe that the expectation from the New Testament for the church is that it will grow. While I admit that not all growth is good growth, the consistent decline in the Episcopal Church is nothing to brag about, either. Healthy things grow. Sometimes growth does not occur because there are certain unseen ceilings that inhibit the growth which should otherwise be natural to the church.

When it comes to leading a church, there are no easy answers. But, there are some basic things that, if put in place, will position a church for growth. Rather than recommend another program or a book to read or conference to attend, this newsletter describes five areas for church leaders to reflect on how to position your church for healthy growth.

1. Infrastructure. Infrastructure is the underlying structure or features for the effective functioning of a system or organization. For a city, it‘s things like roads and sewer systems. For a church it‘s:

Buildings and Grounds – Have you toured your facilities lately? Do they match the quality of the homes of your target population? Do the buildings look tired or fresh? Is there clutter that most people don‘t notice—except for the newcomers? Have you checked the condition of your carpet? Tile? Paint?
Vestry – Is the vestry united in their leadership, or are they at cross-purposes with each other? How‘s their spiritual life? How mature are they as Christians? How are their relationships with one another? With other parishioners? What is their commitment level? Are they among your most committed parishioners? Do they attend major parish events so that people can interact with them? Do they understand their role relative to the size of the congregation? (The larger the church, the lower their profile.)
Staff – If you were filling that staff position today, would you hire the person currently in that position? How well does the staff work together? How is communication among staff? When was the last time they were rewarded for a job well done? Is your staff member a manager of his or her ministry or a developer of it?
Leadership – Look at every leader in your church, whether vestry, staff, or volunteer. Is this person a good team member, a leader, or a leader of leaders? Are they in "over their head?" Or, are they underchallenged? Do they feel underappreciated? When did the church last work on developing leadership skill?

2. Intangibles. Intangibles are those things that you can‘t see on the surface. Intangibles give meaning to both volunteer and paid workers. Awareness of intangibles will foster or deter growth. It marks the difference between "doing things right" and "doing the right things."

Attitude – Do people in the congregation feel positive about their church? Family and friends are the best source of newcomers. If parishioners aren‘t inviting their family and friends to church, most of the newcomers who visit will not stay (unless they ultimately make friends at church).
Trust – Does the congregation trust the leaders? The vicar or rector? In effecting change in a congregation, trust is "the coin of the realm." If the leaders don‘t have the trust of those who follow, they‘ve got nothing.
Vision consonant with Genesis Story – It is my conviction that the vision of the congregation is written on the corporate soul of the congregation. You‘ll find the vision imbedded in the Genesis story of the congregation. Woe be to the priest that brings his or her vision to a congregation. As pastoral leaders we discern the congregation‘s vision; it does not change from priest to priest. Thus, stories form the congregation‘s family history are important to assure us that what we are doing today is consonant with what God has done among us in the past.

3. Basic Goods and Services. Peter Drucker asks, "Who are your stakeholders, and what do they consider of value?" Before you can branch out to "non-generic ministries" your church needs to be providing basic ministry to the congregation. Here are five key systems to work on.

Pastoral Care - Congregations don‘t call administrators to be their rector or vicar; they call pastors. The priest that tries to motivate the congregation to do evangelism with pastoral care issues unsettled will be very frustrated indeed.
Music – Tough area, here, but a congregation must find its "worship voice." Clergy that try to introduce "contemporary music" into a congregation that is uncomfortable with that style of music is setting the congregation up for frustration. If your greatest source of newcomers is from family members and friends of church members, chances are that they will like the same kind of music. Music that is not life-giving to its current members will not be life-giving to their friends, either.
Publications – What is the quality of your publications? Have you looked at your worship bulletin lately? What year do your publications say that it is?
Christian Formation – Does the congregation feel good about your educational offerings? Is this a place where people can grow as Christians? Ask different folk in the church how they have grown in the past five years. Has the church been a part of that spiritual growth?
Incorporation – How does one move from talking about the church as "them" to speaking of the church as "us." From "their church" to "our church?" Whatever you call this position, each church needs a person who guides the intentional incorporation of newcomers. If newcomers are not incorporated well, the Exit door will be just as busy as the Entrance door.

4. Non-generic Ministries. Once the church is satisfied with the competency of its core ministries, it can then branch out to non-generic ministries, where greater growth occurs. Transitional-sized churches and larger must increasingly bring in new constituencies of people based on a variety of felt and real needs.

Don‘t try to do too much too soon – It is important for the growing church to build success into its new programs. What is the next step after this program? How does this new program fit into the ongoing ministries of the church. For example, many churches run successful Alpha courses only to encounter frustrated people who want to know, "What‘s next after Alpha." (The same is true for such programs as EFM (Education for Ministry), DoCC (Disciples of Christ in Christian Community), and so on. What is the next basis for community, study, and action for these folks who have had a wonderful and intense experience in intentional community?

5. Transitional Issues. It is much easier to grow within a church size than it is to grow to the next level. Thus, growth occurs when we attend to the changes that occur in transition from one size to another. The practices that led to growth at one size may, in fact, deter growth at a larger size. Staff members who were effective when the church was smaller may be ineffective at a larger size, unless they themselves grow with the added complexity of their ministry and staff relationships.

Staff/Vestry Relationship – As the church grows, the prominence of the vestry diminishes proportionately to the prominence of the staff. The vestry shifts from functioning as the unpaid staff of the rector or vicar to a vision-bearing, policy-casting role. Re-education of the role of the vestry must occur as the vestry shifts from managing (and micromanaging) to a more global leadership role.
Shift in pastoral leadership/management style – As the church grows, it grows in complexity. The rector or vicar must learn new skills to deal well with the increased complexity.
Genesis Story – Are the changes that occur consistent with the Genesis story of the congregation? Does the congregation feel a connection with its past? If it feels disjointed from its past, the growth that occurs will not last. The congregation will eventually move back to its previous comfort level.

Blessings,
Neal+

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