Profiles of Successful, Growing Congregations: What Do They Look Like? Why Are They Growing? Elizabeth Ackerman Joyce Battey Carol Boronkas Clint Hilson Jennifer Hudson Rick Johnson Jackie Parrish Bill Traynham May 13, 2006 Leadership UMC Class of Sponsored by the Board of Laity of the North Georgia Conference of the United Methodist Church

Who the authors are...  Represent various churches throughout North Georgia Conference of UMC  Varied occupations and experiences  Called in different ways for different service  Guided by Scripture  Committed to impact the UMC laity and clergy

What do “successful” and “growing” mean?  Size?  Membership  Worship Attendance  Programming?  Programs  Education  Ministries  Resources?  Facilities  Finances  Staff?  # of Clergy  Size of staff

What do “successful” and “growing” mean? suc·cess·ful - adjective 1 : resulting or terminating in a favorable or desired outcome grow - verb 1 a : to spring up and develop to maturity From Miriam-Webster’s On-line Dictionary (

What does a successful church look like to Jesus?  The Bible  Guides individual members of the body of Christ and the Church as a whole  New Testament -- guidance for the Church today, and instructions for specific churches during New Testament times  The Book of Discipline  Correlates directly to scripture in many ways  Does not conflict with the Bible The Book of Discipline of The United Methodist Church — Copyright © 2004 by The United Methodist Publishing House.

Biblical Direction for the Church  The Church is the light of the world (Matt 5:13-16)  Come together (Matt 18:19-20), love one another (Matt 22:36-40), and spread the Good News  Teach, preach, heal, and love (Matt 9:35)  Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only (Matthew 4:10, Luke 4:8)  Worship in spirit and in truth (John 4:23) New International Version

Jesus’ Expectations of the Church 1)Love one another 2)Make Disciples of Christ throughout the world 3)Equipped and instructed us 4)Promised he will add to our numbers if we remain in Him

Book of Discipline – UMC Purpose  Mission: “to make disciples of Jesus Christ by proclaiming the good news of God’s grace and by exemplifying Jesus’ command to love God and neighbor, thus seeking the fulfillment of God’s reign and realm in the world.”  Action: “make disciples as we proclaim the gospel, lead persons to God, and send persons in the world to love, heal, and baptize.” The Book of Discipline of The United Methodist Church — Copyright © 2004 by The United Methodist Publishing House

Research and Survey Development Process  Survey group’s churches – all are “growing” in some way  Developed survey  Reviewed literature  Two key texts:  Natural Church Development by Christian A. Schwarz  The Purpose-Driven Church: Growth Without Compromising Your Message & Mission by Rick A. Warren

Natural Church Development Eight “quality characteristics” that lead to quantitative church growth: 1. Empowering Leadership 2. Gift-Oriented Ministry 3. Passionate S pirituality 4. Functional Structures 5. Inspiring Worship Service 6. Holistic Small Groups 7. Need-Oriented Evangelism 8. Loving R elationships Schwarz, Christian A. Natural Church Development, ChurchSmart Resources, Saint Charles, IL, 6th ed., 2003.

The Purpose-Driven Church: Growth Without Compromising Your Message & Mission Warren’s five purposes of the church Purpose #1:Love the Lord with all your heart Purpose #2:Love your neighbor as yourself Purpose #3:Go and make disciples Purpose #4:Baptizing them Purpose #5:Teaching them to obey Warren, Rick. The Purpose Driven Church: Growth Without Compromising Your Message & Mission, Zondervan, Grand Rapids, MI, 1995.

Survey Process  Organized around quality characteristics  Surveyed small ( 500) churches  Spoke with clergy and/or laity  Compared results to NCD key findings for each quality characteristic

For Example Characteristic #2: Gift-Oriented Ministry NCD Findings/Facts: Use of gifts greatest influence on contentedness of Christians in service; pastors help Christians identify their gifts, then match those gifts to the Christian’s personal ministry 1)How do you help Christians identify the gifts they may use in service to the church? 2)How do you help them develop their gifts? 3)How do you encourage them to use their gifts? 4)How do you make them aware of development opportunities? 5)How do you connect members with similar gifts?

Survey Results Characteristic #1: Empowering Leadership NCD Findings: Leaders empower other Christians for ministry; pastors invest time in discipleship and delegation  Leaders identified through relationships  A few leaders do the bulk of the work  Small churches assign; large match  Guided by prayer and Holy Spirit  No training programs; rely on UMC training  Show appreciation

Survey Results Characteristic #2: Gift-Oriented Ministry NCD Findings: No factor influences the contentedness of Christians in service more than whether or not they are using their gifts.  Some clergy inform people of their gifts  Growing understanding of aligning spiritual gifts with ministry  Some offer study groups/classes on spiritual gifts  One using assessment tool  Pastors teach spiritual gifts through sermons

 Provide personal support/encouragement  Large churches  have more ways to keep “fire” going  replicate “connectedness” of small churches through small groups  Sharing among believers supported  Growing enthusiasm inside the church  Recognize need to spread outside to community Survey Results Characteristic #3: Passionate Spirituality NCD Findings: Are “on fire”; live committed lives; and practice their faith with joy and enthusiasm

 Structure based on The Book of Discipline  Organized into ministry teams: Worship, Nurture, Outreach, and Witness  Written job descriptions for laity & staff  Ministries/programs initiated, continued, or ended on trial-and-error basis  Effectiveness measures not in place Survey Results Characteristic #4: Functional Structures NCD Findings: Structures promote increased ministry; produce leaders also develop other leaders

 Worship means to glorify, praise, and adore our Heavenly Father  Worship styles vary  More excited about worship than other characteristics  Larger churches use technology; smaller interested in expanding but limited funding Survey Results Characteristic #5: Inspiring Worship NCD Findings: Participants in growing churches view worship services as a joyous and inspiring experience.

 Bible study main small group  Small group connection intentional at one church  No formal small group multiplication models  No small group leader training programs Survey Results Characteristic #6: Holistic Small Groups NCD Findings: Continuous multiplication of small groups is a universal church growth principle. Groups go beyond discussion of Bible passages to focus on applying scripture to everyday life. Members bring up, discuss, and resolve issues of immediate, personal concern. Planned multiplication of small groups requires continual development of leaders.

 Outreach based on relationships  Desire to grow in knowledge and understanding of evangelism  Curious about steps to take—how?  Focused evangelism effort at one church (prison ministry) Survey Results Characteristic #7: Need-Oriented Evangelism NCD Findings: Focus evangelism on the questions and needs of non- Christians; God gifts true “evangelists”; pastors of growing congregations know those who have gift and direct into corresponding ministry; others focus efforts on their friends and family

 Love all who walk through their doors  Want to know how to bring more people to church  Care for needs of church and broader community  Respond to community crisis  “High” level of happiness and laughter Survey Results Characteristic #8: Loving Relationships NCD Findings: Manifest a measurably higher “love quotient”; people want to experience Christian love not just hear about it; spend time with one another outside of official events; pastors aware of laity personal problems

Growing Successful Congregations Moving from Traditional to Mission-Driven Traditional  Parochial  Program-driven  Highly structured  Wait for new members Mission-driven  Reach out to community  Nurture the churched and unchurched  Create Christian community  Guided by God’s Word  Respect church traditions

Growing Successful Congregations Mission-Driven 1.Clergy and laity are partners in ministry and roles clearly defined 2.All believers called and committed to building God’s kingdom 3.Teaching and decision making based on the Bible 4.Church ministries continually evaluated for effectiveness

Growing Successful Congregations Mission-Driven 5.Strong sense of community among believers, hold each other accountable 6.Passionate, intentional evangelism involving Inreach to grow believers to discipleship Outreach to drawing others to Christ 7.Members empowered to use their spiritual gifts in ministry 8.Willingness to explore new ways to worship