“The systems you have now are perfectly designed to produce the results you’re getting.” – Andy Stanley
For those of you new to this site, in an effort to resource Christian leaders, each Wednesday I often promote an incredible ministry, conference, or webinar. This Tuesday July 23rd at 1:00 PM EST, The Rocket Company is providing arguably the most important webinar you can be on this year absolutely FREE. Click here or on the Systems Bundle image for more details and to get signed up.
This one hour could change your church because they will discuss the REAL reason your church isn’t growing. Let me explain.
A lot of churches rely on short-term tactics to grow and bust through issues. Here’s what I mean.
- Giving is a little behind, so the preacher talks about money.
- You need some more volunteers in the children’s ministry. Time to pull out the Acts 6 sermon or the VBS video.
- Attendance is flat. So it is time to come up with a gimmick or worse something with guilt attached to it.
Any of those sound familiar? We spend a lot of our time pulling the trigger on tactics, but what we really need to create is a strategy. We spend a lot of time doing stuff, but what we really need to create is a system.
Marketing will help you attract a big crowd on Easter Sunday. But good systems will help you connect some of them into the life of the church.
Hype will get you some publicity but systems will help you build an enduring organization that truly makes a difference in your community.
Short spikes in giving and attendance don’t do much for organizational growth. The here today/gone tomorrow kind of ministry doesn’t bring about lasting change. Those moments are addicting, but they are not sustainable.
What you need is sustainable church growth – the kind that comes from having guests stick on a weekly basis. I’m talking about the healthy kind of growth that comes with good systems in your church, not manufactured activity that comes from hype.
The subject of this email mentioned the real reason your church isn’t growing. Here’s what I think.
- It’s probably not because of people. It’s easy to look around and say, “If I could just hire some administrative help,” or “if we just had someone who focused on the community all the time” or “If all Jimmy ever did was work with teenagers,” then we would break this barrier. But more people thrown at your problems will not solve the issue.
- it’s probably not because of space. I’ve seen many church leaders become infatuated with building a new building, limiting their vision to bricks and mortar. It’s easy to think more space wills solve your issue, but for many churches, it’s a trap.
There’s a good chance you aren’t experiencing sustainable growth due to the lack of systems. I bet that’s what I would find if I looked under the hood.
I also mentioned one thing you could do to fix this right away. So here’s a simple action step.
Sign up for this free webinar.
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