I Discovered The PERFECT Church Growth Plan
I am confident that I have discovered the PERFECT church growth plan! If you read the rest of this article, you will see that I "discovered" this perfect church growth plan in the pages of the Bible. This church growth plan is NOT original to me, but it's original to the Holy Spirit, hence it's perfection. If you want to see church attendance go up, I think you will enjoy the following article.
In the realm of Christendom, we have seen hundreds and possibly even thousands of methods for bringing people in to the Church. Some of the most common methods to bring people in the Church look something like this: make the youth minister come up with a super creative and active event which creates an attractive environment. Another method is to invest more time and money into graphics, advertising, and social media. Some congregations will try to hire the biggest name they can afford in order to bring more people through the doors. While none of these things are inherently wrong, they may not be the most effective. What if there was step by step method that God Himself gave which would solve the Church growth?
The truth is that God Himself has given a step by set method which will cause Church attendance to explode. This method is found in Acts 2; and it is to let God do the work! In verses 41-47 of this chapter, we see Luke explain exactly why the Church was growing. The key to this section is found in verse 47; Luke says that the Lord was adding to their number day by day. Imagine a church where there was a new person every single day of the week. Before Luke says that The Lord provided the growth, he gives actions that the Church must follow. The Lord adding to the number can take place when the Church follows the actions laid out here.
The actions of the Church were: devoting themselves to the Apostles teachings, to fellowship, to the breaking of bread, and to prayer. They were together and sold all they had to provide for one another, and anyone else in need. They were worshipping, eating meals in each others houses, praising God and having favor with everyone, daily. When these actions were followed, The Lord gave the growth.
I believe that these actions can be summed up into two main categories: being devoted to fellowship with God, and being devoted to fellowship with each other. If the Church wants attendance to increase, people who are devoted to fellowship with God and with other Christians must precede. An illustration, which is not original to me, is that a church growth project is like a tree. The creative activities, the graphic design and the big name preacher are the twigs of this tree.
When trying to grow a church, so many people go straight to creating these twigs. The truth is that the tree must have branches, a trunk, and roots. The branches, trunk, and roots are being devoted to fellowship with God and with other Christians. Twigs that have no foundation will never produce fruit. However, a tree which is firmly planted in fellowship, caring for one another, the teaching of the apostles, prayer, communion, and meal sharing, is alive. It is a tree that is being worked on by The Lord in ways that we do not comprehend.
Bringing all of this together, a church which is not devoted to the fellowship with God and its members can spend hundreds of dollars and hours planning activities and advertisements. The outcome may be a few people added to the Church. On the other hand, a church should utilizes its talents for devotion to fellowship with God and with other members of the congregation. When this happens, even though we may not understand it, The Almighty and Omniscient God will follow through with His promise like He always Has. He will bring people to the Church. We must control what we can control, and understand what we can understand. We must stop trying to plan for something that God has already promised.
- Nate Miller