A Few Lessons Learned from a Growing Church Pastor Mike Nwankwo Lady Toni Nwankwo Rev. Carolyn Davis Acts 2.40-47

1. Pray without ceasing! Col 4.2; James 5.16-18; Luke 18.1-8; 1Thes 5.17 We knew that it would take tons of prayer to assess the real situation and determine God’s plan for this particular church. God had given us a vision. But we had to pray for God’s timing before casting the vision. We continue to pray for Calvary.

2. Re-establish the foundation! Matt 16.17-19; 1Cor 2.1-2; Luke 6.46-49; 1Cor 3.10-11 Only the Word of God was preached from the pulpit. It was exposition straight from the Bible. We had an attitude of “back to the basics” of foundational preaching, foundational Bible Study, and foundational Sunday School. Everything was centered on the Word of God. Casting a vision without the proper foundation would have fallen on deaf ears.

3. Do an assessment! Luke 14.25-33 Survey your congregation, your guests, and the community. We have our own opinions regarding what is and is not working in our churches. However, when you talk to the congregation and especially those who have stopped coming, you discover a few things that can be easily fixed. Others will take a lot more prayer. While we are assessing the church, the community, and the congregation, let us not forget to assess ourselves. God wants us continuously improving for His glory! If we want others to catch the vision let us make sure we (Pastors) are prepared to cast it.

4. Define your church’s purpose! Acts 26.19-23; Psa 145.4-6 Conflict arises at times when members have conflicting agendas because neither knows the church’s purpose or worse, the church has not defined her purpose. Our purpose statement is “Calvary exists to help persons encounter Jesus, enter into His family, experience spiritual growth, get equipped for ministry/service, evangelize the world, and for all to exalt the Triune God!” Our Discipleship classes are being rewritten to align with the purpose statement. Discipleship 101 = encounter Jesus and enter into His family. Discipleship 201 = experience spiritual growth and get equipped for ministry/service. Discipleship 301 = evangelize the world and exalt the Triune God. Keep the purpose, mission, and vision in the minds and hearts of the congregation.

5. Make Christian Discipleship a major focus! Matt 28.18-20; Eph 4.11-16 Each church may have a unique mission specific for them. However, we believe all churches share the same general mission… make disciples. We quickly went from one (general for the whole congregation) to four Sunday school classes (children, teens, adult male, and adult female). Over half of the members attend Sunday school on a regular basis now. We made Sunday school fun and a place where real study and real fellowship take place. Discipleship classes are held after service on 2nd, 3rd, and 4th Sundays.

6. Pray before selecting leaders and lead like Jesus! Luke 6.12-13; Mark 9.2-4; John 17.18-21 Once God leads you, select the leaders (see the Book of Discipline), pray for them, and equip them. Give the leaders clear responsibility and then hold them accountable. Don’t be afraid to sit down leaders who are not supporting the church’s purpose or are behaving like the world. An erring leader can lead others astray. Jesus prayed before developing His leadership team. We would be wise to do likewise. Your leaders are the team who will help the congregation execute the vision. Jesus had 3 and 12. Who are your John, James, and Peter?

7. Teach the congregation how to communicate and resolve conflict! Matt 18.15-18 Role model conflict resolution. Teach the congregation to attack the issue, not the person. Use Roberts Rules of Order in meetings. The chair has to effectively allow the real issues to surface, allow everyone to be heard, but manage the conflict in such a way that the conflict can eventually get resolved. It is very important not to avoid conflict. The key is to manage it effectively by teaching others how to attack the conflict without trying to destroy the other person. If done right this will foster an environment where people will become accustomed to dealing with real issues as they arise as opposed to never addressing anything but harboring animosity towards their neighbor.

8. Establish outreach ministries! Matt 10.11-15; Acts 13.2-3; Acts 9.36-42 Use Worship in the Park to cap off Vacation Bible School. All VBS participants, the community, and others were invited. Rather than preach a sermon we taught Sunday school for everyone. It was one big fellowship. VBS and worship in the park have consistently brought new members to Calvary. As a part of outreach we conduct many personal visits. It is important to get the congregation accustomed to leaving the comfortable confines of the church building if God’s vision for the church extends beyond the four walls. Use the technology to get your vision, mission, and purpose out to the community after the church has received it.

9. Make New Member Orientation a requirement! 1Cor 3.1-4 Jobs have requirements. Other faiths (e.g. Jewish, Muslim, etc.) have requirements. Even John and Charles Wesley had requirements. We have become so excited to have members in the church that we have let them off the hook from having to satisfy any requirements. Explain to new members and especially to new converts that they must complete new members’ orientation. This is for their benefit and they need to understand the decision they made. It is important to assign a seasoned Christian as a prayer partner and quasi-mentor for them.

10. Develop a young adult, youth, and children’s ministry! Matt 19.13-15; 1Tim 4.12-14 Consider fourth Sundays for Youth and Young Adult Sundays. Breakfast is served at Calvary and the youth usually invite their friends to participate. Many of them later become members. Direct the message towards them in particular and the rest of the congregation in general. We give them opportunities to be active and grow in God’s grace. Are the youth considered in the vision the Lord has given you for the church?

11. Design or at least explain your worship service and treat your visitors like guests! 1Cor 14.26-33 Assume your guests are not CME. Assume some are not Christians. Explain everything. Everything is place in the bulletin (Affirmation of Faith, Gloria Patri, etc.) We refer to it and ask all to follow along. Make sure your service does not appear to exclude non-members. Make it very inclusive. Call the visitors “guests”, make them feel at home, and always follow up with them. Establish a Greeters ministry to help all feel welcomed. Help prepare all to have a Jesus encounter, a Holy Ghost good time, and feel the love of God while at your church.

12. Trust God! Psa 37.3-5; Prov 3.5-6; Eph 3.20-21 Trust God and be bold enough to try different things to further God’s kingdom. We will fail sometimes. It’s is a part of growth. Failure will not lead us to fear. God did not give us the spirit of fear. “I am not afraid of an army of lions led by a sheep; I am afraid of an army of sheep led by a lion.” Jesus is the Lion of Judah. As such, He expects us to lead from a victorious position. Your faith and courage will become contagious. The church members will actually believe that they can grow. They will believe that they can do all things. They will learn to trust God because they see you trusting God. Everything we do takes a leap of faith. We believe that! God created the wave. We are just riding the wave of growth that God has created. Trust God to fulfill the purpose for your church when you fully follow Him!

Conclusion, Commitment, & Closing Prayer

Motto – REACH! TEACH! PREACH! Mission – Form Christian Disciples through systematic training and development of CME clergy and the laity. Motto – REACH! TEACH! PREACH! Purpose statement: Calvary exists to help persons encounter Jesus, enter into His family, experience spiritual growth, get equipped for ministry/service, evangelize the world, and for all to exalt the Triune God!

Vision for Calvary CME Church Calvary CME Church is a representation of heaven on earth where individuals embrace God’s love (sacrificial giving), encounter Jesus (salvific experience), and become equipped by the Holy Spirit (sanctified for service) to transform lives and our society (social concerns and action) by sharing and living the Gospel every day of our lives. We endeavor to love God completely, love ourselves correctly, and love others compassionately. Short version: Calvary is a representation of heaven on earth (love) to transform lives!

LIFE SAVING STATION (source unknown) My vision of what the church of Jesus Christ is called to be is summed up in a simple story about a crude little lifesaving station located on a dangerous seacoast where shipwrecks often occur. The lifesaving station was just a hut and there was only one lifeboat, but the few devoted members kept a constant watch over the sea. With no thought for themselves, they went out day and night tirelessly searching for the lost. Many lives were saved by this little station, so that it became famous. Some of those who were saved and various others in the surrounding area wanted to become associated with the station and give of themselves to the support of its work. New boats were bought and new crews trained, and the little lifesaving station grew. Some of the members were unhappy that the building was too crude and poorly equipped. A more comfortable place should be provided as the first refuge for those saved from the sea. So, they replaced the emergency cots with beds and put better furniture in the enlarged building. Now the lifesaving station became a popular gathering place for its members. They decorated it beautifully and furnished it exquisitely because they used it as sort of a Social Club. Fewer members were now interested in going to sea on lifesaving missions, so they hired lifeboat crews to do this work for them. The lifesaving motif still prevailed in the club’s decoration and there was even a ceremonial lifeboat in the room where the club initiations were held. It was about this time a large ship was wrecked of the coast and the hired crews brought in boat loads of cold, wet, half-drowned people. They were dirty and sick, and some were foreigners from other countries. The beautiful new club was in chaos. So, the property committee immediately had a shower house built outside where victims of the shipwreck could be cleaned up before coming inside. A special meeting of the membership was called and there was a split in the membership. Most members wanted to stop the club’s lifesaving activities because they were unpleasant and a hindrance to the normal social life of the club. Some members insisted upon lifesaving as their primary purpose and pointed out that they were still called a lifesaving station. But they were finally voted down and told that if they wanted to save the lives of all the various kinds of people who were shipwrecked in those waters, they could start their own lifesaving station down the coast. They did. As the years went by, the new station experienced the same changes that had occurred in the old. It evolved into a club and yet another lifesaving station was founded. History continued to repeat itself and if you visit that seacoast today, you will find a number of exclusive clubs along that shore. Shipwrecked are frequent in those waters, but most of the people drown. As a church, you and I are today called to go out into the shipwreck waters of life and save lives, remembering that Jesus said, “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the close of the age.” [Matthew 28.19-20]