One thing I have learned about pastors of growing churches is they are deeply passionate about the subject of church growth. These pastors know growth does not happen by accident. They work long hours, pray relentlessly, make hard decisions, take risks, go to countless conferences, read book after book, preach with everything they have got, and look under every rock for any new insight which may help their church grow.
If this describes you, I want to give some thoughts on church growth for you from a very unlikely source – McDonald’s restaurants. Recently, Candace Choi wrote an article for Inc. discussing that despite the chain’s negative publicity, McDonald’s is actually growing.
As I read the article, I gleaned 5 Things Pastors Can Learn About Church Growth From McDonald’s:
- Growing Churches Continually Celebrate – Church growth is often relative. Too often we compare ourselves to outliers like Andy Stanley and Perry Noble. This is not the norm. Let me explain. McDonald’s is getting a lot of bad press. Their stock is declining. Restaurants like Chipotle are seen as the wave of the future. But if you take a closer look, this is not the case. This coming year, McDonald’s is expected to add 600-700 new restaurants. Chipotle, for all its momentum and great press, is expected to add only 205 new locations. Make sure you recognize and celebrate the amazing things God is doing at your church.
- Growing Churches Get Their Message Out To The Community – Does your church budget community outreach? Each McDonald’s franchise is require spend 4% of its sales on national and regional advertising.
- Growing Churches Meet The Felt Needs Of Those In Their Community – Last year, the average McDonald’s brought in $2.5 million in sales. This greatly outdistanced Wendy’s (avg. $1.6 million) and Burger King (avg. $1.2 million). The difference in sales is McDonald’s reaches a significant portion of its market with breakfast sales.
- Growing Churches Are Willing To Change – After years of feedback from its customers, McDonald’s is now experimenting with an all-day breakfast menu in San Diego restaurants.
- Growing Churches Have Visionary Leadership – McDonald’s CEO Steve Easterbrook has a vision for making the restaurant a “modern, progressive burger company.”
Celebrate, Get The Message Out To Your Community, Meet Felt Needs, Be Willing To Change, and Have Visionary Leadership. If you do these 5 things, you too may lead a growing church.
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