Post on 20-Jan-2016
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The Small Church
“What Can We Do?”
By David McKnight
1) Unwilling to give up the “family feel”
2) Not enough staff.
3) Lack of physical facilities to start new
ministries.
Common small church growth obstacles . . .
Common small church growth obstacles . . .
1) Closed paradigms about how the church
“should be”.
2) Feel they have to please everyone
because they want no one to leave the
church.
3) Feel trapped and helpless to improve the
situation.
Common small church growth obstacles . . .
Being a small church with a vision to grow can
be frustrating. There are a lot of ideas but
no easy answers. So how can you achieve
your vision for your church?
Begin With the End in Mind
1) Start with a Vision for your ministry. You
must be able to clearly communicate your
vision to people within thirty seconds.
Why?
a) Put your vision into words.
i. Focus on your vision.
ii. Communicate your vision to your church and others.
Begin With the End in Mind
“It’s too late to prepare when opportunity
comes” John Wooden
2) Show people the need for change.
Begin With the End in Mind
3) How do you get people to move?
“Creative Tension occurs when a compelling
vision of the future and a clear picture of
current reality is held in continuous
juxtaposition.” Jim Herrington
Begin With the End in Mind
4) Show them the gap between vision and
reality.
5) Have you shown your people the steps it
will take to achieve the vision?
6) Is your vision large enough?
Review Your Current Situation
1) Are there things in your church that have
kept your church artificially small?
a) Government
b) Time - can you have more / better classes
on a different day or time ?
Review Your Current Situation
c) Seats – Are your people worried about the
type of seat they sit in or do they have
“their” seat?
d) Parts of the building
e) Programs
Review Your Current Situation
f) People
“Every growing church will always face the
need for more leadership.” Ken Hemphill
g) Finances – Are you strapped with debt or
strapped with no debt?
Review Your Current Situation
h) Leadership – Do you need more or
different leaders?
Review Your Current Situation
2) Maybe it is time for leadership to make
people uncomfortable. How are the people
in your church willing to inconvenience
themselves to reach people for Christ?
Where Do I Start?
1) Start with yourself. The average church in
America is 80 – 120 people. A lot of this is
because 80 - 120 people is al one person
can manage.
Where Do I Start?
“Long term transformation cannot be
accomplished unless the tension is
sustained. If the tension is too little, there is
no motivation to change.” Jim Herrington
Where Do I Start?
2) Start by meeting needs.
The best way for a small church to grow is
through relationships. How do you grow
relationships?
Find Out . . .
1) What is the population of your community?
2) What are the age breakdowns within that
population?
Find Out . . .
3) How many students attend the local
elementary and high schools?
4) Where is the need in your community?
When Do I Start?
1) Things you need to begin…
a) Vision - Clear vision of the ministry you
want to perform.
b) Unity - Key leaders that believe in the
vision.
When Do I Start?
c) Money - There will be an initial investment
to get professional help.
d) Time - Prepare to make adjustments as
facts are discovered.
e) Time - Give opportunity to consider options.
When Do I Start?
2) When is the right time to begin?
a) Find a balance between passion and
planning.
b) People with passion - go, go, go, and need
it now.
i. Limits options because you need it quickly.
ii. You miss things because you are going to quickly.
When Do I Start?
c) People with planning - never make a move
because things are not at all in place.
i. You never do anything because you are always
waiting for the “perfect time.”
ii. You attract people with vision but lose them because
of lack of progress.
When Do I Start?
“It’s the job that never started that takes
longest to finish.” Anonymous
“Daydreaming about something in order to do it
properly is right, but daydreaming about it
when we should be doing it is wrong.”
Oswald Chambers
Ready To Move On
1) When you think you are ready to build
a) Land size – Rule of thumb is one acre per
one hundred people. Five acres is
minimum, ten acres is preferable.
b) Want a sports facility? A Jr. High size
basketball court will seat 450 people.
Ready To Move On
c) What about the cost? A five hundred seat
multi-ministry building with narthex,
platform, and restrooms is roughly ten
thousand square feet. If you include site
costs, equipment costs and fees, your cost
per square foot is approximately $125. to
$150.
d) Is your next step too big?
Start With Small Wins
“You have to create a climate that suggests
success is imminent.” Charlene Mae Knight
1) Small wins build confidence and deters
opposition.
Start With Small Wins
2) Small wins produce visible signs that
create momentum.
3) Look for small wins you can achieve in your
situation.
a) Fix deteriorating building issues.
Start With Small Wins
b. Paint and landscaping have minimal cost
but big impacts.
c. Varied services before building a new
sanctuary.
d. Use the worship area for other ministry
functions.
Start With Small Wins
e. Take out pew and put in chairs. People take
up more room on a pew. If you have chairs
every seat is defined and people will sit
next to each other.
Start With Small Wins
f. Remodel / enlarge the platform.
g. Maybe it would be best to sell your existing
building and rent or buy another facility that
is more flexible.
Further Reading
1) James Kouzes / Barry Posner, “The
Leadership Challenge,” Chapter 10,
“Achieve Small Wins.”
2) Ken Hemphill, “The Bonsai Theory of
Church Growth.”
Further Reading
3) Jim Herrington, Mike Bonem, James H.
Furr, “Leading Congregational Change.”
4) Gary McIntosh, “One Size Doesn’t Fit All.”