Why Churches Don't Grow

Church growth and the Church Growth Movement are two different things. The former is simply what it Church Growth Movement and the matter of increased attendance (growth) are not wholly separate, it is not my intention to examine the Movement per se. Ed Stetzer, in his blog The Exchange, has explained the Movement quite well here and here. My intention is to look, symptomatically, at reasons why local churches do not grow. Certain key, and basically universal, reasons listed here should not be divorced from the larger discussion of church health. What are presented here are symptoms, not root causes. They are symptoms which, quite often, betray deeper issues of church health that must be rooted out and addressed if the symptoms are to be negated. In short, if a local church is to grow, it must first get healthy – or healthier, depending on the particular church. An analysis of the symptoms, which did not originate with me, can help church leaders and laymen alike to identify, address, and rectify barriers to both growth and health in church ministry.

takes for a church to increase its attendance numbers, i.e. to grow. The latter is that discipline which examines the “nature, function, and health of Christian churches, as they relate to the effective implementation of the Lord's Great Commission to make disciples of all peoples (Mt. 28:19-20). It is a spiritual conviction, yet it is practical, combining the eternal principles of God's Word with the practical insights of social and behavioral sciences” (as defined by the Great Commission Research Network, formerly the American Society of Church Growth). While the

Unclear Mission

The mission of the Church is the big, overarching, theologically driven purpose, given by God in Scripture, and applicable for all churches everywhere. Jesus, based on his own authority, empowered and commanded his disciples to make disciples who make disciples (Matt. 28:18-20). Jesus also commanded his followers to love God with every ounce of our being and to love others like we love ourselves (Mark 12:30-31). Acts 2:42-47 reminds the Church of our obligation to one another; to fellowship in unity. Ephesians 4:11-12 clearly instructs the Church that her leaders’ primary responsibility is the equipping and training for ministry. Weaved through all of this is the Church’s responsibility never to grow cold in our love and zeal for the Lord and the accomplishment of our mission (Rev. 3:15-16).

When a local church gets distracted from her mission, she won’t grow. When it becomes an inbred commune secluded from the world around her, a community center intent on rectifying the world’s ills, or a sanctified social club rather than the church of Jesus Christ on mission to glorify God by evangelizing and making disciples growth is impossible. Furthermore, such distraction from our mission betrays a theological sickness that, of not confronted and changed, will become pandemic.

Comfort & the Problem of Outsiders

People, by our very nature, are adverse to change; we all like a comfortable status quo. However, when a church longs to maintain that status quo rather than itch to reach people with the gospel and make disciples she will not grow. The symptom of comfortableness comes from stagnant thinking. It’s too much work to change and grow and new people don’t think like we do, and that only brings problems; it’s easier to stay like we are.

Outsiders, new people, only bring change. They bring so many new things into a church that the church must, of necessity, change the status quo to accommodate and assimilate them. This is a very healthy thing for a church. The problem arises when the church is too comfortable with her status quo to welcome new people.

It’s good for churches to be challenged and moved outside of their comfort zones and welcome new members. The symptom of comfort and fear of new members can demonstrate several deeper issues that need to be ferreted out and addressed. Once an affinity for the status quo sets in, it is difficult to remove. Often times the pastor may see that his people are growing too comfortable and may seek to lead them out of it, but when comfort becomes systemic it takes a radical, God-ordained shake up to wake them out of it…if at all.

Participatory Democracy & Power Groups

I was raised in a congregational form of church polity and believe it can work. However, when most decisions are made by the congregation as a whole, she can get stuck in the monotony of process. Decisions move from committee to committee and eventually to the congregation before a real decision can be made and action taken. The congregation of the local church needs to know that decisions are being made and large decisions probably should be made by the congregation, but too many churches have decision-making processes that only lead to discouragement. Pastors are not empowered to lead and make decisions and leadership teams are not truly representative of the congregation. Pastors, visionaries, get bogged down in the process, nothing gets done, the church gets off mission, and pastors take the position that trying to lead the church to grow isn’t worth it anymore. Decision-making processes need to be examined, defined, and refined throughout a church’s life-cycle if she’s going to continue to grow and stay on mission. Pastors and leaders need to be empowered and released to cast vision, make day-to-day operational decisions, and lead the body in the accomplishment of her mission without fear of being quagmired by a participatory democracy.

The fear of power groups, influential people who control the majority of the decision-making in the church, is a very real barrier to growth. Most often a participatory democracy gone awry is driven by a few influential people with an unhealthy agenda. If these kinds of power groups are on mission they can be very helpful in motivating people toward change and growth. However, if not won to the church’s mission, these power groups only undermine the leadership and unity of the church and distract her from her mission.

Ministry Misplacement & Pastoral Care

There is an old adage in churches that says that 10% of the people do 90% of the work. It’s an unhealthy thing for a church to suffer from this malady. It can, and often does, happen in a church when members are not serving according to their Divine design – that combination of Holy Spirit giftedness, upbringing, natural talent, and learned skills – but are assuming roles they were not designed to fill. Failure to disciple people to discover their divine design and enlist/engage them in ministry accordingly only leads to ineffectiveness and hinders the health and growth of the church.

Side by side with ministry misplacement is the problem of pastoral care. Many times, particularly in smaller churches, the pastor shoulders the pastoral care of the entire congregation. As churches grow, pastors sometimes train deacons, elders, or others to help him shoulder this burden. The problem arises when the attitude of the congregation, regardless of church size, becomes, “I haven’t been cared for/visited/attended to properly until the pastor shows up.” When this mentality infects a church it only hinders the pastor’s ability to lead and strips the body of its ability to minister to itself. This will, in time, bring the church to an unhealthy place, wear the pastor out, and hinder real growth.

Theological Drift

If a church’s theology is unbiblical their growth cannot and will not be blessed. Churches that abandon, either in practice or officially, theological issues related to the lostness of mankind, the reality of hell, the authority of Scripture, the exclusiveness of the gospel, the substitutionary atonement, and the necessity of repentance and faith, to name a few, will not have Divinely blessed growth. Churches that drift away from the clear doctrines of the Bible in an effort to become more culturally palatable may see an increase in numbers in the seats, but they aren’t truly growing. There is a statement that should guide us here, “What you win them with is what you win them to.” If a church abandons “the faith that was once for all entrusted to God's holy people,” (Jude 3), then it’s not winning people to the truth. I ask, what, then, is it winning people to? It’s growth is not proper growth for a church. This is a very real problem. No matter how quickly or slowly a church grows, it cannot let theological drift entrench itself in her ranks.

Small Church Mentality

Small churches often have one, two, three, or (God forbid!) more people who like it and want it to remain small. Growth is feared for a variety of reasons. They see themselves as small in the past, present, and future. Consequently, they assume everyone must know everyone else, that they must be cared for by the pastor/senior pastor, and fail to pray, plan, and prepare for growth. But this symptom is not unique to small churches. Medium and large churches can suffer from the malady of the small church mentality too. Oh, they may not have elderly Aunt Bessie who voices how much she likes the church small and wants it to stay that way, but the small church mentality prevails nonetheless. It becomes evident in how they do church and ministry, their governmental and decision-making structures, their staffing, their finances, their programs, and even how their front office personnel conduct themselves. The small church mentality can pervade any church, regardless of actual size. It goes without saying, but I will, the church with a small church mentality won’t grow as it ought.

Staffing Issues

There are two prevalent problems surrounding a church staff that hinder or thwart real, sustained growth. The first is stepping-stone pastors. This can be, and most often is, the senior pastor. The average senior pastor’s tenure today is somewhere around the 5 year mark. When you consider that the honey-moon period typically vanishes for most pastors around year 3, then they really only engage in ministry to a church for 2 years before they move on and have their resumes out for at least a year before they leave. They never invest in people emotionally or spiritually, but have the “I’m just passing through” mentality. This is never healthy for a church and will lead to stilted growth, and even decline, as the trend continues from pastor to pastor. Now, let me say, I am not opposed to a pastor moving on after a short tenure. Sometimes pastors overstay when they should move on. There may be real reasons why God would keep a pastor at a church for a shorter tenure and that short period may be very healthy for the church in the broader scope of God’s grand design. The problem I am describing here is the pastor who comes to a church with the underlying intention of not staying more than a handful of years, but moving on to the greener grass of the next church. This philosophy is unhealthy for both pastor and church.

The second staffing issue in most churches is profound and harmful. Most churches are understaffed with either professional or trained lay staff. There simply aren’t enough trained leaders and too many people are trying to fill leadership roles they aren’t designed to fill. The problem becomes either a lack of staff or the wrong staff. Both problems hinder real church growth.

Neighborhood

This barrier to church growth is simple, obvious, but too often ignored by churches. Simply put, the culture inside the church no longer reflects the culture surrounding the church. For example, a predominantly white, middle-income congregation wakes up one day to find itself in a neighborhood which has become predominantly a lower-income, ethnically Hispanic community. It can work in reverse, a predominantly upper-income African-American church finds itself in a predominantly middle-income, ethnically white community. The examples are endless, but the truth is the same. When a church’s congregation no longer reflects the community which physically resides around it, something becomes crystal clear; that church is not reaching and assimilating its community. There may be very real reasons why this happens. Regardless of the reasons, the church is faced with a strategic decision: make significant changes to reach and assimilate its surrounding community, or relocate. Failing to do either will kill the church in the long run.

Finite Facilities

Limited space is a very real problem for every local church. There is a rule in church growth: 70% full is too full. When a church fills its main meeting space to 70% capacity, it’s done growing and will shrink if it’s not addressed. In addition, are classroom space, fellowship space, foyer, parking, etc., ad infinitum facility considerations facing every local church. These issues are only compounded when you consider the increasingly stringent local, city, state, and county infrastructures which, in many areas of the United States, make it financially and physically prohibitive for churches to expand their facilities. Churches are faced with the need to re-evaluate and think outside the box when it comes to their facilities if they are going to grow.

Money

For many churches, the issue of money is simple; they don’t have much. For them, it’s a matter of learning to use the money God has given them in the most strategic way possible to effect growth. For some churches, the issue of money is much more complex. Their funding is fine, but they just aren’t using their resources intentionally and strategically to facilitate growth. For a minority of churches, they have such a surplus of money they don’t know what to do with it (I’m dreaming, I know). In these instances, power plays, poor decision-making, and a lack of strategic/mission-driven planning thwart real growth and the best use of finances. Unfortunately, problems surrounding money seem to compound in churches when they have enough or more than enough money. In every case, money can hinder growth.

Conclusion:

The Church Jesus established was intended and designed to grow. When a church is growing, it is increasing its ability to fulfill its mission of glorifying God through evangelism and discipleship. When it’s not growing, the church isn’t fulfilling her mission as she ought. Each of these barriers to church growth can be symptomatic of deeper issues that must be addressed theologically and biblically if the church is truly going to witness lasting health and growth. Knowing these barriers, and others brought to light in recent years, should help churches to intentionally evaluate themselves and take strategic steps to rectify the problems.