Why can’t God do big?

Five Reasons why churches grow.

The simple answer to the question above is that GOD DOES DO BIG. But the question I am constantly asked by small church leaders is; why do I have to be big? Why can’t I have a small successful church? On the face of it these are two very valid questions. But the questions are in my opinion a deflection of what is going on under the surface. There is often on the part of these church leaders an inability to grow anything. They don’t know how to, that is why you get silly statements like “We have quality in our church not quantity” my question then is why can’t you have both?

If your church is 50 strong in a community of 250000 and you have been in the area for 25 years, then put simply, you are not doing your job. Or you are not cut out for the job. (This is a real example)

In the past decade I have had the opportunity to observe five large and highly successful churches in New Zealand and Australia and have had the opportunity to talk to their leaders. Here are five reasons why I believe they have succeeded where others have not. Before we look at these five things let me say that none of these leaders believed that God does small. They believe in a big God who is capable of doing big things. From the start they believed that God could and would do great things. Now I know all over the Internet there are lists of why people think churches grow and no doubt they will be more comprehensive than mine, but these are often written by the senior leaders themselves and have their own bias and slant on things. My list is made purely as an observer.

Vision:

The first and foremost thing that all these churches had in common was a vision. Without it they would have had no purpose or direction. Each leader had a clear understanding of what they believed was God’s vision for them, their leaders and church, their community and city and in some cases their nation and beyond.

Vision is broken down into two areas, the ‘here and now’ and ‘the far off’, in all cases there was always a clear defined way of outworking and accomplishing the vision in the short term and in the long term. The vision for the present reality was detailed but the future reality was less detailed.

For example the church I go to has the vision statement; “To rise up the next Generation.” the leadership also has a clearly defined set of values that lays down the culture of the church and a mission statement that clearly sets out how they will raise up the next generation. From new converts, to discipleship programmes to getting the new generation involved in Kingdom building, this is the detail. But the leadership also see the influence of the church growing and expanding and so the outworking of the vision has a ‘far off’ content. This is reflected in multiple campuses in nearby towns and programmes that will impact these communities for Christ.

The bible says that without a vision a nation will perish. Even small churches have vision statements like the one of the church that I attend. The difference is that many of those churches have no clear understanding of or the will to establish the vision. Many of them tell me God will do it. Well God left the establishment of the church worldwide to 12 disciples. They did it, what are you doing to instill, generate and outwork the vision that God has given you for your church. Remember, the smaller your vision the smaller the result.

Leadership:

The Bible says that “all we like sheep have gone astray each one to his own way.” Now I know I have taken the scripture out of its context but the point I want to make here is that all the Senior Leaders of these churches ensured that all their leaders were on the same page.

For the church to succeed, church leaders cannot work independently of the vision laid down by the senior leader. To do so would result in chaos. Each department of the church has a clear understanding of what the vision is and what their part is in outworking that vision. Their roles are clearly defined and their objectives are all in line with the vision and goals of the church. In this way individual kingdoms are discouraged and a single unified church is built.

 

If a leader does not agree with the direction the vision is taking the church and does not want to change, or they don’t feel that they can change. Then the senior leader has the right to ask them to step down or go somewhere they will feel more comfortable.

Time:

On the numerous occasions that I visited these five churches only once did one of the churches go over time. All worked to a schedule, all had a run sheet; everyone knew what their role for that morning was. If they advertised a one and a half hour service it ran to that, not 5 or 10 minutes over time it was exactly on time. What has this to do with whether a church is successful or not?

Every one of the senior church leaders of the five churches, all recognised that time was very important to people and how little time people seemed to have in the modern age. They ensured the following;

1)      They preached for exactly 25-30 minutes.

2)      They started on time.

3)      They recognised the value of the time given to the church by the volunteers.

When I first arrived in the United Kingdom I visited a number of churches and was horrified when the preacher’s all preached for well over an hour. The attitude was that the congregation have come to listen to me. The attention span of people is rarely more than 20 minutes, especially young people. The senior leaders of the large successful churches all recognised that ‘less is more’. Their preaching was clear and concise and had great content.

Starting on time is a must. It shows those who attend the church that you are professional and know what you are about. Too many churches are haphazard in their starting times. If your Sunday morning service is the shop window to who you are, then showing visitors that you are good time keepers will speak volumes to them, they will feel that their own time has not been wasted.

Many volunteers give more than just a few hours on a Sunday to a church. The senior leaders of the five churches I studied recognised the value of the time given by the numerous volunteers.

Volunteers:

All five churches had a large committed group of volunteers who gave up to three days or nights a week to the church. They were well trained and did everything with a spirit of excellence; they were like a well oiled machine. This attitude had been ingrained in the churches from the very beginning. Did these churches and their cohort of volunteers make mistakes? Yes they did but they learned by them and ensured that they were better and more prepared the next time. The attitude of these volunteers was one of commitment and they did everything with a willing heart and joyful spirit, often for no reward or recognition. But if their service could help win one person for Christ then this was reward enough.

On the part of the senior leadership the commitment of the volunteers was always recognised in various ways. Two churches would have a person of the week as part of their announcements on a Sunday morning, that person was called for- even if they were on duty or serving that morning, they would be brought to the front of the auditorium and publicly thanked for their service. One church even gave the ‘person of the week’ a bar of chocolate. The leadership would then come forward and lay hands on and pray for that volunteer. From my observations this had a twofold effect, one it made the volunteer feel that they were appreciated and two it showed visitors that the church looked after and honoured those who served.

All the churches had an end of year dinner- paid for by the church, for all the volunteers. At this event people were recognised for their contribution by the various team leaders. Without these committed volunteers all the church leaders I spoke to said that they would not have been able to accomplish what they had without them.

Outreach:

You cannot have a church and accomplish what Jesus asked us to accomplish if we are not reaching out to the lost for Christ.  Yet many small churches of 50 or so congregation size have little or no outreach programmes. When speaking to the senior leaders of the churches being studied all said that from the very beginning they had outreach programmes to reach the lost. The bigger they have grown the more prominent these programmes have become. From small evangelistic outreaches to Alpha courses, from food banks to night shelters for the homeless, pre schools and moms and tots days, holiday kids programmes and much, much more.

Like a businessperson who starts a business and tries various things until they find the one thing that works, so to in the churches not all the programmes and courses introduced worked, so were canned for another better program. The focus was always we have a calling and a vocation to reach out to a lost and broken world with the message of the cross and an answer to their problems, Jesus.