When saying you want to grow isn’t enough

In 10 years of working with congregations, I’ve never met a church that didn’t want to grow. These were all sincere wishes, I’m sure. But sometimes just saying you want to grow isn’t enough. It takes a few other things..

One of those things is motivation. Growth usually doesn’t happen unless we make some effort. Another is a willingness to change. Everyone knows that growth brings change and the quickest way to squelch growth is to resist change. It also helps to have insight – some knowledge of the local congregation, the wider culture and what we’re learning about what helps churches to grow.

The good news is that lots of people in religious leadership have studied what makes church growth happen and they’re willing to share that knowledge with us. One of those folks is Kirk Hadaway, who works for the Episcopal Church. He is the author of a recent paper, “FACTs on Growth,” based on research done in 2005 with churches, temples, synagogues and mosques in the United States. The study was published by Faith Communities Today and Hartford Seminary.

Here is a sampling of their findings: One is that, in some cases, location matters. The congregations most likely to grow were in new suburbs, a piece of information that might inform our planning for new congregations. The second best area for church growth, they found, was in the downtown area of cities.

Congregations that have younger members as well as older members grow more easily than those with a high percentage of older members. The congregations with younger adults seem to attract other young adults and tend to be more exciting, innovative and more involved in recruitment, the researchers found.

It is no surprise that churches with a clear sense of mission and purpose are those that thrive. Growing congregations, they said, are the ones that seem to be “spiritually vital and alive.”

Worship is an area of congregational life that researchers found was tied to growth. They discovered that the more worship services a church has, the more likely it is to have grown. Some of that may be because a larger church simply needs more services. But another reason is that some churches have added services that speak to the needs of particular groups. (In our diocese, for instance, St. John’s Cathedral now has a service on Sunday evenings keyed to the interests of young adults. Some of our churches offer worship for specific cultural or ethnic groups.)

They also found that the descriptions of worship most associated with growth were “joyful,” “exciting,” “inspirational,” and “thought-provoking.”

Another interesting growth factor was the participation of children in worship through speaking, reading and performing. Researchers found that congregations where children participated in this way were more likely to experience growth and those who did not were much more likely to experience decline.

The researchers also found that change is necessary for a congregation to adapt to a changing environment. Making changes in the worship services was a part of that.

Some of the growth related activities centered on inviting, welcoming and communicating with potential new members. For instance, churches that added a website or maintained one were most likely to grow. The same was true of those who sponsored a program or event such as a concert or lecture to attract non-members. Hosting support groups for members and non-members also promoted growth.

There was a clear relationship between growth and programs that offer follow-up with visitors. Churches that followed up on visitors with mail, phone calls, e-mails or personal visits were the most likely to grow.

All of these observations can be helpful as we strive to be more vital and energetic congregations. Growth isn’t just about numbers. It is about becoming strong congregations with a clear sense of mission and purpose – congregations that work together to further the reign of God.

If you’d like to read the whole report on growing congregations, it is available as a free download at http://fact.hartsem.edu/products/index.html .