ARTICLE Closing the Back Door How does your church rate on the vital ratios that church growth experts identify? Win and Charles Arn
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Ratios are crucial when it comes to creating community—staff cannot be stretched too thin, believers need meaningful relationships to be tied to the church, and small groups need to pursue a healthy balance in congregational life.
Church growth experts Win and Charles Arn determined the following seven ratios. Rate your church on them; after each description, place a check in the box that best ...
Less Teflon, More Velcro Best practices on how to make people stick to your church. Dave Wilkinson
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Church consultant Lyle Schaller estimates that in many medium- and large-sized congregations, a third of new and active church attenders drop out within two years of becoming involved. A third! These aren't people who move away; they just stop coming. Here are the successful methods some churches have used to retain their members.
Read each best practice. Then, in the space provided, rate how well ...
Connecting Your Congregation One pastor’s best practices for reaching and retaining newcomers. William Richard Ezell
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Incoming members are the heart and life of my congregation. If my church disregards the new residents of its community, it will dry up and die—this is especially true because, in my town, the average resident moves out after about three years. Here are the methods and standards I've found effective for retaining members.
In each category, rate how well your church carries out that type of ministry. ...
Here are six conditions that contribute to growth. These are the elements common to growing churches regardless of their specific programs. For each characteristic, if you believe it is present in your church, check "Agree." If you believe it isn't present, check "Disagree."
A critical factor in holding newcomers is atmosphere. Some churches exude an atmosphere that says, "Visitors are welcome here." It doesn't derive from handouts or slogans. It's not particularly what happens up front, though, that helps. It's an air that permeates the whole congregation, an intangible that says to first-timers, "We've been expecting you, and we're glad you've come."
A Warm Reception Does your church offer visitors a warm, genuine welcome? Gene Appel, James Appleby, Merle Mees, Wayne Ogimachi, and Jim Tomberlin
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Retention starts with the first visit. It takes only a few seconds, maybe minutes, for a guest to assess how welcoming your congregation is. Assess your church on the welcome you provide. Here are the methods of several pastors. Rate your church on them. Answer each question with "We do this well," "We do this adequately," or "We do not do this."
ARTICLE Worship That Draws People Does your church create services with structures and attitudes that keep people coming back? Don Cousins
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Here are the traits that one pastor sees as essential to creating a credible, accessible worship experience. For each characteristic, rate your church as "proficient," "mediocre," or "needs work." Then, in the space provided, identify a few examples of how that characteristic works (or could work) in your church.
The Sunday school class that my wife and I taught was slowly, almost imperceptibly, losing attendance. In a year's time our average attendance had dropped from 25 to 20. Our pastor diagnosed the problem: "Growth occurs on the edges, and you're not taking in new people." We began to revamp our class in order to keep people coming back. Here's what worked for us.
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