This sixth and final article in a series on missional growth focuses on building an ongoing outreach strategy.
By Ed Stetzer
Summit Church in Durham, North Carolina, formerly named Homestead Heights Baptist Church, was an older church in Durham that fit the description of many Baptist churches in the area--big, traditional and happy with the status quo. It had always been a large church, but as the Durham community changed around it, coupled with some internal issues, the church rapidly declined in attendance (averaging in the 600s throughout the 1990s). Under Pastor J.D. Greear the church has seen some major revitalization. J.D. began as the youth pastor at the church, but a few years ago they called him to lead in a new direction as pastor.
Changing the church's name to Summit, they did much more than change their marqueé. They started becoming intentionally missional in how they operated. In fact, the church recently sold its large, historic building to start meeting in a high school.
This approach may seem backward to many traditional churches, but Summit Church considers it a great opportunity to be mobile while looking for a location that will better suit their mission. Their once-dwindling attendance is now more than 1,600 and growing. It's a great story of turnaround--but such stories are, unfortunately, rare and remarkable.
It's a natural thing--over time, churches become inwardly-focused on maintenance rather than outwardly-focused on evangelism. Some churches worry more about having a well-equipped kitchen than a well-used baptistry. Churches need a plan to help them stay focused on outreach.
That's how we started this series about 18 months ago. Have the waters been stirred in your life and the life of your church? I hope so. If stirring the waters is going to be a lasting experience, then weÕll need an ongoing strategy to make it happen.
What will it take to build an ongoing strategy to keep the waters stirred? How can you and your church stay on the missional edge of church life and be relevant in reaching out to the people in the communities where you live? Let me share a few thoughts with you on some vital things to keep in mind as you plan for the future.
1 Grab for what lies ahead
Keep thinking and reaching forward (Philippians 3:14). Don't get stuck in the past whether that means traditions or accomplishments. Too many churches choose their past over their future, their heritage over their growth and their traditions over their children.
Simply put, churches need a fresh new vision because some ways of doing evangelism just don't work the same as they once did, and wise churches realize that. That may bother you, but it shouldn't. You probably already know it to be true. That's why, if you're like most churches, you ended the morning radio show in the '40s, quit doing Sunday school enrollment campaigns in the '50s and stopped the bus ministry in the '80s. God uses different approaches at different times. Our task is to find new ways to reach people with the unchanging message. Ultimately, it is just the gospel--and the gospel transforms, but God has led us to use different strategies over the years to help us share the gospel broadly and widely. Our churches need to press ahead toward God's plan to reach their communities today, not the plan that was used in 1954.
Here are some suggestions:
2 Gauge your progress
Don't be afraid to evaluate. Winston Churchill once said, "However beautiful the strategy, you should occasionally look at the results." It's important to set some specific growth goals and then determine whether or not you're reaching those goals. Don't "sugar coat" your situation. Ask the tough questions like:
Ron Shrum at Bayless Baptist Church in St. Louis, Missouri, has had experience in leading several churches through revitalization. He believes that getting people to see a bigger vision is key. They have to see what lies ahead. Ron explains, "You have to convey a vision of possibility. You have to let the people see that it (growth and health) can be achieved. You must set goals. You must have great celebrations over small victories so people are encouraged, excited and energized about the growth God has in store." Bayless Church started realizing its potential for growth when small goals were set and met. They've been in a healthy growth pattern for three years and are averaging over 300 in attendance (up from 150 in 2001 after four years of steady decline).
3 Give ministry away
Are you trying to do it all yourself or are you seeking to involve others as much as possible? Are you stirring up the gifts and talents of the people God has placed around you?
In the near future, NAMB's Center for Missional Research will be releasing a book called Comeback Churches. For this book we studied more than 300 churches from 10 denominations to discover what factors led them out of plateau and decline into a period of church growth. One of the factors that led many of those churches to renewal and revitalization was mobilizing the laity.
For example, Tim Payne, Minister of Music and Youth at Hebron Baptist Church in Bush, Louisiana, said their church's deacons stepped up. "Visitation has been extremely deacon- and lay-driven, especially in the absence of a full time pastor. Initially 40 people came each week to visit the unchurched. This at a time when the morning worship attendance was around 100. Also, we're in a building program, and much of the work is being done by lay people." Now, their attendance is approaching 150--a steady increase of over 50 percent from 2002.
4 Grow as a leader
If you're not growing and developing as an on mission leader, how can you be an influencer in stirring the waters? Pastor Moss, who's led Oak Ridge Baptist Church in Salisbury, Maryland, through five years of healthy growth and reached more than 450 in attendance (after stagnancy around 50 for almost all of the 1990s), says this about leadership, "If you don't have a strong leader with strong leadership skills, you'll go nowhere." When asked how he sees himself as a leader, he says, "It's terrifying to see a church grow under your leadership and then go home and realize your own shortcomings."
My friend Bill Easum has written a new book called Put on Your Own Oxygen Mask First. It's a great metaphor. If you've ever flown a commercial flight you've heard the flight attendant remind you that when the oxygen masks fall from the ceiling, you should not rush to put on your child's mask--but put your own on and then help your child. Why? Because if you don't, you may be unconscious and unable to help.
The same is true in church life. If a leader is so busy dealing with the "mundaneness of maintenance" and hasn't sharpened his leadership potential, he won't be able to lead a church through change. The most important gift a pastor can give his church is not his presence at everything, but his leadership in the important things.
Too many pastors have too many excuses why the church has declined--sometimes it's us. Our first priority should be to grow close to the Lord and grow as a godly leader. Then, we can help others put on their masks as well.
5 Change your focus
If pastors are going to lead their churches through church revitalization, a change of focus will be required. Far too many churches are focused on maintenance and not vision. That means a change in calendar, strategy and plans is needed.
A change in calendar. Too many pastors and on mission leaders have filled their calendars with "deciding" rather than "doing." I'm amazed at how many churches will put their best leaders on boards to decide things that one person should be empowered to do. Pastors and their best leaders need to focus their time on two groups: leaders and the lost.
A change in thinking. Too many churches are focused on maintenance and not strategic growth. Now, focusing on growth without a biblical foundation is problematic and destructive. But, biblically faithful churches need to think differently about their mission and decisions. This table might help:
We need churches to take biblically informed risks to reach people for the kingdom. Unfortunately, there's often a long line of experts to tell you what you're doing wrong--but our focus needs to be on pleasing the Lord and reaching those in whom He is already at work. What a privilege!
A change in plans. I'm not here to tell you what you're doing is right or wrong. But if you're a pastor or leader from nine out of 10 of our churches, your church is not experiencing healthy evangelistic growth, according to a Leavell Center study. The best predictor of your future behavior is your past--we need churches and on mission leaders who are willing to do whatever it takes to make a dramatic and God-honoring comeback.
Why is it so hard? . . . Because change is hard. According to a fascinating article in Fast Company magazine, 90 percent of heart patients who are told to change their lifestyle habits or die, choose death. We easliy can develop similar thinking. We have to work hard to create a climate of change.
Here are some tips that might help in creating a climate of change:
Develop a trust with the people you serve.
Make personal changes before asking others to change (i.e. "model change").
Understand the history of the church; good leaders don't take the fence down until they know the reason it was put up.
Place influencers in leadership positions.
Check the "change in your pocket," the amount of trust people put in your leadership. You can increase your change through compassion, competence and consistency.
Stirring long-stilled waters is hard work--but it's God's work. God wants His churches filled with life again. That often involves a future that looks different from the past, but it can happen. So, come on, jump in! Stir the waters of growth--grab for what lies ahead, gauge your progress, give ministry away, grow as a leader and change your focus.
Don't settle for stagnant waters--there are few things as exciting as the waters being stirred by new believers publicly identifying with Christ through baptism.
For more information visit www.comebackchurches.com.
Dr. Ed Stetzer is NAMB's missiologist and director of Research. He is the author of Planting Missional Churches and co-author of Breaking the Missional Code (Broadman & Holman, 2006).