Occasionally I’m asked how I became such a fan of small, but healthy churches. There are multiple reasons, but here’s one situation that has a lot to do with it.
A couple decades ago our congregation faced a huge church-growth gap. We had a choice. Expend obscene amounts of resources (time, talent, and money) to jump over the gap, or figure out a better way forward by not jumping over the gap.
We decided not to take the leap. Here’s why.
One Small Church’s Story
I live in Orange County, California. It’s an interesting place to study church growth, filled with huge dichotomies.
On the one hand, it’s home to some of the world’s best-known megachurches (Crystal Cathedral, Anaheim Vineyard, Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa, Saddleback, Mariners and many more).
Orange County is a great place to grow a megachurch.
On the other hand, it’s a very expensive place to live. Our church sits on less than an acre of land. The homes around us cost about $1.2 million each. We’d have to buy eight to ten of them to double our footprint — costing our small congregation over $10 million. And that’s before demolition and new construction.
So, we’re landlocked. Our next step, facility-wise, would be such an enormous leap, and would drain so many resources, that we decided it would not be the best way to invest our time, energy, and money.
We had to look at church growth through new eyes.
Church Growth Through New Eyes
Our previous facilities upgrades had been slow and incremental. We had spruced up the neglected building, bought new tech, and so on. But our next step would be a leap of near-miraculous proportions.
Can God do that? Of course.
Have other churches overcome similar, even bigger gaps? Yes.
But what God can do and has done is not always what he wants to do in every situation.
We determined that God wanted us to do something special on this side of the number gap. So we had to rethink what church growth and effectiveness looks like on the small side of the so-called 200 barrier.
If your church is facing a similar growth gap, I have good news for you. Churches don’t have to become bigger to do what God is calling us to do.
When You’re On the Small Side of a Church Growth Gap
1. Acknowledge reality
It’s not lack of faith to say “this is who we are and where we are.” Faith doesn’t deny reality, faith sees the deeper reality.
2. Don’t make excuses
Saying “we can’t grow because of (fill in the blank)” can become a self-fulfilling prophecy. No church can do everything, of course. But when we cross some options off the list, we must look for new growth options.
3. Check your ego, push past your fear
Sometimes we take the leap we shouldn’t take because of ego. Other times, we don’t take the leap we should take because of fear. Faithful, biblical leadership avoids the traps on each side.
4. Redefine success and growth
Your church won’t look like your mentor’s or your hero’s megachurch. You’re not them. Your church isn’t their church. Your community isn’t their community. Your calling isn’t their calling.
Churches aren’t called to look like other churches any more than Christians are called to look like other Christians. We’re called to be like Jesus. His image always looks a little different in every person, every pastor, and every church.
5. Invest in mission, not facilities
Our expenditure of $10+ million would have diverted so much time, attention, and resources into a facility that it would have meant not investing as much in discipleship, outreach, and ministry.
We chose to sacrifice the facility for the mission instead of sacrificing the mission for the facility.
6. Get creative
Let’s face it, getting bigger is such a standard response to growth that it isn’t especially innovative. But deciding not to get bigger? Well, that requires some seriously creative solutions for a forward-thinking, mission-minded church.
7. Do ministry from the church, not just in the church
This was the biggest ingredient in thinking innovatively. Using our facility as a base for ministry, rather than the destination has caused an exponential growth in effectiveness.
Getting outside the walls of the church removes all growth limitations. We can become as big, or bigger, than the need around us.
8. Never give up
As long as there is one person in the community who needs Jesus, the church isn’t done growing.
The size of your church doesn’t limit God’s power. Neither does that pesky growth gap. The Great Commandment and the Great Commission won’t be limited to the walls of any church, no matter what size it is.
Be faithful. Stay joyful. Think innovatively.
And never, never, NEVER settle for less.
(Photo by Bex Walton | Flickr)
