People Spots
Online
Produced by James W.
Moss, Sr., and Church Consultants
Provided as a service by New Life Ministries
The Three Legs of Growth
An old three-legged milking stool provides a clear way to remember the essential ingredients for growth.
by James W. Moss, Sr.
I am so old I remember the three-legged milk stool. In fact, I have even sat on one beside a cow. Never was very good at milking though. I cite this to indicate that there are three basic legs to growing the church. It is very difficult to sit on a three-legged stool if a leg is missing. The pastor of a local church must be cognizant of these avenues of expression.
Leg # 1: Understand Growth Principles
The pastor and people must understand basic growth principles and how they impact the life of your church. I have carefully outlined many of them in my book "People Spots." The following are four key ingredients and barriers to growth.
The first is the space available in the sanctuary. Worship attendance will not tend to rise above 80% of the comfortable seating capacity of the sanctuary. I measure seating based on 25 inches of pew space. The shape of the worship area will also impact perception. An area with a low ceiling will project that it is smaller than in reality.
The second is the small group base. Worship attendance will not tend to rise above 10 times the number of small groups. A small group is a regular or seasonal group that meets at least bi-weekly where people are known by name, feel needed and wanted, and are missed if they are absent. Small groups include Sunday school classes, care groups, support groups, task groups, and athletic teams. A healthy church has all five kinds of small groups.
The third is the number of people attending. It takes between 2.5 to 3 persons to average one per year. This is a rising number. It takes between 250 and 300 persons in attendance at least once over 12 months to average 100 for a year. Growing or new churches are at the high end of that spectrum. New people need to be added to grow the church.
The fourth is the number of parking spaces available. Average attendance will not tend to rise above 2.3 times the number of parking spaces available to the church.
There are other growth principles. This is just a small testing of the waters. I was so naïve when I began my journey to help churches grow. I was certain churches would want to grow. All I had to do was share with them how growth could occur. Then they would want to. I was devastated the first time the leadership of a church heard me describe what growth required and then said, "Jim, if that is what growth requires, we don’t want any part of it." Generally, the objections are a bit more subtle. Many will affirm the principles of growth but then express their objections by simple doing nothing about it. I try to push churches to answer the question, "Does your church want to grow?"
Leg # 2: Caring for the People
I know some pastors who understood growth principles perfectly but couldn’t grow the church they served because they don’t love the people. It constantly amazes me to sit in the presence of several pastors and then hear a couple of them make disparaging remarks about their people. Ministry is over in those instances though the pastors may remain in the pulpit.
The pastor must love the people and the people must love each other. Caring is love in action. The love must be expressed not only in word but also in the actions of the pastor and people. The actions must verify the words of love. A person tells their spouse, "I love you!" That is very nice. The words need to be spoken. But, those words need to be affirmed by actions of love. Actions that say, "I love you."
Marshall and Harriet are deeply in love. Marshall quit going to see Harriet. He didn’t visit, call, write or e-mail. Marshall wasn’t in prison or taken hostage. He simply stopped. Six months later, Marshall went to Harriet’s front door and knocked. She answered. Marshall said, "Oh Harriet, I really do love you!" Harriet responded, "I can tell," and slammed the door.
We profess our love for our people. But they will know whether that love is genuine or whether we are just playing a game. The people won’t be fooled for long. Most people won’t stay in a church where they perceive they are not loved.
Pastor Jason Mason served a small country church. He stopped to pick up Mitchell and Susie on his way. He had been doing that for six months. Mitchell came out to the car. "Pastor Mason," Mitchell said, "We won’t be going to church with you anymore. Those people up at the church don’t like us." Pastor Mason’s heart was broken., both for Mitchell and Susie and for the fact that Mitchell’s words were true.
Leg # 3: The Capacity to Be a Leader
You can know growth principles and love your people and have a limited impact on the church. The final leg of this stool is the capacity to be a leader. A leader is a person others will follow. One is not a leader if no one else follows. Some can pastor a church of 50. Others can pastor a church of 100. Required leadership skill increases for the church to approach 200. Significant leadership skills are required to take a church above 200. The higher the church goes, the more that is demanded of the leader. No organization can rise above the leader.
Leaders need the capacity to build shared values. They need the capacity to dream. Then they need the wisdom to know when and how much of the dream can be shared. They also need the capacity to communicate their dream in such a way that others will adopt the leader’s dream as their own. A number have to buy the dream as their own to make it a reality.
Reinforcement: The Spiritual Depth
A real sturdy milk stool had reinforcements at the base of the legs that went from one leg to another. The reinforcements for the stool of church growth are the spiritual depth of the pastor and people. A spiritual depth rooted in biblical Christianity will keep leaders and the church on a proper course and motivation pure. Spiritual depth is indeed the tie that binds.
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Read about Jim's seminars and books.
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June 14, 2000. Volume 3, Issue 8. People Spots Online is prepared by James W. Moss, Sr., and Church Consultants. It is provided as a service by New Life Ministries, www.NewLifeMinistries-NLM.org. Articles may be duplicated and reproduced in any way. A new article is produced about every two weeks. To be added to a list to receive these messages directly by e-mail, send a request to churchconsultants@yahoo.com.