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11 Common Factors in Church Growth

What follows are some notes I took from a conference I attended hosted by an Anglican organisation last September. I was hoping for some fresh, challenging, paradigm-shifting realities to be offered up. What I got were some (arguably good/okay/dead) suggestions for how to grow my church (which I don't have by the way) growing right out of the modernist framework for life and faith. It felt a little like being back at Willow Creek again - no offense to my WCCC friends (which was somewhat pleasant). The speaker was an Englishman who was serving at a church in Geneva. 11 Common Factors in Church Growth - Ian Coffey; Saturday, Sept. 16th '06 Is there such a thing as a theological profile for a growing church? Leadership - Strong, high quality - Personal living faith & strong spirituality - all w/ different gifts / abilities - energy (passion) - men of integrity - people around them who share their faith & vision Mission - a clear missiological shape to their work - mission / vision needs to permeate through to every(one) level of the organization - a high level of involvement from skilled 'lay' workers (gift discovery, development, deployment Community - existence of effective community links - search out needs in community and seek to meet those needs Evangelism - centred on people and their needs - through friendship & hospitality Change - willingness to embrace change and manage it skillfully (at the right speed) Services - well-planned, attractive, accessible services Small Groups - good deployment of small groups throughout church - providing relational interaction, spiritual development, encouragement & challenge Youthwork - excellent standard of children & youthwork - most of the churches invested in this work almost disproportionately to current situ - NOT a babysitting service, but an intentional investment Attitude - a lack of complacency amoung the majority of members - 2 highest responses to survey is the desire to reach out more effectively Enjoyment - members enjoy coming together (for church) - "there's nothing like a satisfied customer" (& the opposite is just as true!) God's Work - a conviction that God is responsible for the growth - a real sense of humility What can we learn? Remember, every situation is unique. Listening to God's voice is key. Faith is spelled R-I-S-K (Wimber). What does our church look like? Where are we weak? - (ask, seek, knock) Where are we strong? - (thank God) Okay, so tell me your first impressions.

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