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Congregational Morale & Church Growth

A New Life Ministries Report
by Steve Clapp and Kristen Leverton Helbert

Are People Excited about Your Church’s Future?

When members are excited about the future of your church and overall morale in the congregation is high, it becomes much easier to achieve significant church growth. When people are unenthused about what is happening in your church, they are far less likely to invite their friends or to have the energy to engage in outreach efforts.

In congregational studies, New Life Ministries and Christian Community have asked over 250,000 active members of churches in North America about their view of church morale and about their own enthusiasm for the church’s future. There are significant differences in response when one looks at churches with declining memberships and churches with growing memberships in comparison to the North American averages, as this chart shows:

In churches which are growing, over 90% of the active members agree that they are excited about their church’s future, that the morale of the congregation as a whole is high, and that they feel more excited about the church than they did a year ago. Of course it’s easier to maintain high morale in a church which is growing than in one which is declining.

Congregational Self-Esteem

It’s easy for any of us to become focused on the negative rather than the positive. When that happens for most of the congregation, then low morale and energy are often the result. Congregations, like individuals, develop images which can be very powerful. People who are involved in congregations with high self-esteem tend to be more enthusiastic in reaching out to friends and to have more energy for the work of the church. People in congregations with low self-esteem have lower energy and do not always feel comfortable inviting people to share in church events. It’s likely that low congregational self-esteem is one of the barriers to church growth or vitality if several of the following are true:

	Key leaders complain that the majority of members are apathetic and do not care about the church.
	A large number of members are quick to respond to most suggestions for innovation or improvement by saying things like: "That won’t work here" or "People won’t support that."
	People continue to talk positively about a pastor of fifteen or more years ago as though that individual were the standard for measuring everything today.
	Most of the effort and money of the church goes to institutional maintenance rather than to outreach or mission.
	There is a reasonably deep conviction among leadership that getting the right pastor will turn the church around, and the initial enthusiasm over a new pastor quickly disappears when it becomes clear that person will not be performing any miracles.
	Problems with finances are a frequent topic of discussion, and the solution to most financial problems is to cut back on spending rather than to find a way to generate more income.
	One or two very dominating leaders are permitted to exercise an excessive amount of control over decisions which are made.
	When people are heard talking about their church to those outside the congregation, the comments are likely to be of a negative, disappointed, or powerless nature.
	Relatively little is done to celebrate the positive things that happen in the life of the church.
	The church’s physical facilities have been permitted to deteriorate and have an overall feel of neglect.
	Many members feel there are cliques or exclusive groups which make one feel excluded.

SO, what can be done to raise congregational self-esteem?

Raising Congregational Self-Esteem

1. The pastor and other key leaders must become aware that the congregation is suffering from low self-esteem. Without an awareness that low congregational self-esteem is presenting a barrier to church growth, it’s easy for leaders to attempt the implementation of strategies which will actually further decrease the church’s self-esteem. Too much emphasis on the problems of the church will further depress people and make them even less enthusiastic than previously to reach out to others.

2. The pastor, key lay leadership, and (sometimes) a consultant from outside the congregation need to help in the process of a realistic assessment of the church—with an emphasis on strengths. The problems in the church certainly need to be identified—but the same process which identifies the weaknesses also needs to identify the strengths of the congregation. An outside consultant is not always necessary for that task, but such a person can often speed up the process, and the enthusiasm of that individual may help the church’s enthusiasm. The consultant could be a person who specializes in such work for his or her living, a caring member of denominational staff, or a neighboring pastor.

3. Though the pastor can’t be expected to turn the church around alone, a proactive stance and a positive style by the pastor can have significant impact. The pastor can exercise a positive ministry of encouragement and also can help the congregation have realistic expectations. There is a general tendency in churches to overestimate the amount of change which can be accomplished in a single year and to underestimate the amount of change which can take place in five years. The pastor can help people learn to emphasize the strengths of the congregation rather than its weaknesses.

4. The initiation of a spiritual gifts program can bring improved self-esteem and enthusiasm to individuals and to the church as a whole. A good spiritual gifts program helps people more clearly identify the gifts they have been given and the ways that those may be used in the life of the church. This can be a very energizing process for a congregation. There are many excellent spiritual gifts assessment tools including one in the New Life Ministries publication Preaching, Planning, and Plumbing.

5. The church needs to set specific, attainable, measurable goals and work for their completion. Success nurtures more success. Rather than taking on all the weaknesses identified for a congregation, identify specific, positive changes which can be made—either correcting weaknesses or building on strengths.

6. Improve the quality of care and nurture for existing members both by the pastors and by others. High quality care helps people feel good about the church and also helps them feel good about themselves. In most congregations, this means that both employed staff and volunteers need to be involved in outreach to persons in hospitals and nursing homes, as well as to those who are confined in their own homes or who are dealing with other problems.

Fear Affects Morale and Openness to Others

"If it bleeds, it leads" is an old journalist guideline; but it has tremendous impact on radio, television, and Internet reporting as well as on newspapers and magazines. While the violent crime rate in North America has decreased in recent years, reporting of crime continues to increase. According to one study by the Center for Media and Public Affairs, the television coverage of murder increased by 336% between 1995 and 2000. Following the tragedy at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado, juvenile crime has come under very close scrutiny by the news media. Actions, which would have received almost no publicity twenty years ago, now become the subjects of headlines. News media reporting on both natural and human tragedy keeps some of us in perpetual fear of flying, driving, or sharing in social gatherings—including school. Many people play on our fears, including politicians and charitable fund-raisers.

Television dramas and motion pictures also feed our fears. We may find a certain measure of enjoyment in the charge of adrenaline that comes from fear during a show, but the memory of the fear often stays with us and affects our view of the world—even though we are not likely to face the evils that Mel Gibson, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Denzel Washington, and Sigourney Weaver do on the screen.

The church can offer a "safe harbor" for those living in a sometimes frightening world, but fear of the stranger may cause us to do too little outreach in the name of Christ and to be too slow to welcome the strangers who come seeking the safe harbor that the church at its best offers. It’s difficult to develop healthy congregational morale among a fearful people.

In our time, the practice of biblical hospitality is one of the most valuable ways to improve morale in the congregation, to pull new people into the community of the church and to reach out in Christ’s name to a world in need. These issues are analyzed in practical ways in Steve Clapp and Fred Bernhard’s new book Hospitality: Life without Fear.

Resources

Overcoming Barriers to Church Growth by Steve Clapp gives detailed strategies for dealing with low congregational self-esteem, negative attitudes, assimilation problems, and other barriers to church growth.

Hospitality: Life without Fear by Steve Clapp and Fred Bernhard examines the spiritual dimensions of hospitality and relates them to congregational life.

The First Thirty Seconds by S. Joan Hershey applies hospitality to the work of greeters and ushers.

Preaching, Planning, and Plumbing by Steve Clapp, Ron Finney, and Angela Zimmerman offers a spiritual gifts program and a fresh look at the meaning of ministry.

The theme of hospitality is covered with considerable care in the module Welcoming New People available from New Life Ministries.

To purchase any of these produces, go to our online order form or call us toll-free at 1-800-774-3360. See other online resources on hospitality and on church growth and vitality.

To order one of these resources, go to the online order form or contact New Life Ministries.

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This report is published by New Life Ministries, a nonprofit corporation, and is mailed without charge to clients and friends Our partner organization, Christian Community, provides much of the content for this publication. Persons receiving this publication may reproduce the contents in local church and regional judicatory bulletins and newsletters. Please request permission for other reproduction from:

New Life Ministries, 6404 S Calhoun St, Fort Wayne, IN 46807
Phone: 1-800-774-3360 • E-mail: NLMServiceCenter@aol.com
Internet: www.NewLifeMinistries-NLM.org