Six More Reasons We Aren't Growing (2009)

[This is a blog I initially wrote in 2009. Since then I've grown a great amount and discovered many flaws in my theories.  Tomorrow I will post a new perspective on these ideas.]

7) You Can’t Spot Talent

Growing ministries require strong, innovative leaders. If you can’t spot leaders, you won’t know who to pursue and develop.

8) You’re Addicted to Really Bad Ideas

Some ideas have always sucked.

Some ideas become outdated and therefore start to suck.

Some ideas are so over-done that they start to suck.

So many churches are addicted to doing what they’ve always done. It doesn’t matter if it isn’t getting the desired results. It doesn’t matter if it’s lost its’ purpose entirely.

I don’t care how successful it was in the past or who do it elsewhere or how excited some people get about it…a bad idea is a bad idea.

9) You Aren’t Doing Anything to Reach Anyone Outside of the Building

Growth requires new people. If you aren’t doing anything to build bridges to new people, you’re not going to grow. If you’re lucky and someone does stumble through the door, you’re only adding someone who would have ended up at the church down the street.

10) No One Can Find You in the Real or Cyber World

Obviously if no one can figure out where you meet, they’re never going to show up at your meeting space.

If you don’t have a website, then you’re stuck in 20th century. People use the internet to find a new church. With so many resources out there, there’s simply no excuse for not putting up a website.

In less than an hour you can plaster your name all over the internet. There are literally dozens of websites where you can list your church or student ministry. Likewise, there are hundreds of articles and blog entries on how to increase your results on search engines.

11) You have more cheese than Limburger and more corn than Nebraska - Suggest by Cody Pope

Cheesy and corny ideas only appeal to people with cheesy and corny ideas. Everyone else is mortified by it.

Looking at your skits, videos, jokes, interpretive dance, and salsa arrangement of “Awesome God” and ask yourself, “Is this cheesy?” Then rid yourself of the cheese.

12) Your Church Obviously Doesn’t Care About Your Ministry

Your ministry won’t grow if your church refuses to support it.

I’ve been involved in a church where they literally paid the guy who mowed the lawn more than they paid the student pastor. What does that say about their priorities and concern for the student ministry? Was it any surprise that the student ministry was unusually small compared to the rest of the church?

Do you have adequate funds, communication, and staff to succeed in ministry?