How Church Growth Really Works
2024-03-08 Invite Champions Weekly
(And Why We Call Our Publishing Ministry Invite Resources)
Most churches are closed communities.
This doesn’t mean they’re bad or to be shamed. It’s just human nature. People develop friends, and like to gather with them. The downside to communities of friends is that the more defined they become, the more exclusive they can become.
To overcome this, churches must be intentional about looking outside their walls.
Many churches look to marketing principles and tactics to initiate growth. But it starts long before marketing enters the picture.
The Two Ways Church Communities Grow
When you boil it down, it’s pretty simple. There are only two ways church communities grow.
New people come “cold”, on their own, or
New people come on the arm of a trusted friend.
That’s it. There is no option 3.
I was once a young associate at a church where attendance more than tripled from 1000-3500 in two years. During that heyday, I heard a statistic through the large church consulting firm Leadership Network that 90% of church growth happens with option 2.
I don’t know what the source is for that statistic, but after almost 30 years of observing church life, I believe it.
Cold growth is overrated.
We spend way too much time and energy on cold engagement. Think of all the resources your church has spent on the premise that you can create high enough "brand" awareness to increase cold growth.
While this isn’t impossible, it’s very difficult to get return on this investment. And it has little to do with the quality of the marketing. The reason is that the bar for cold visits is simply too high.
The key is to shift from direct “cold” communication to equipping people to invite their friends. Keep reading here:
This is why we call our publishing ministry Invite Resources. The working of sharing--of vouching--is a lot easier with good quality resources. To learn more about Invite Resources and equip yourself and your church commuity with good tools, sign up here: