Understanding Church Growth… The Message Behind the Numbers

Understanding church growth is considered as one of the most controversial topics in Christian circles and congregations. There had been several questions raised as to what are the effective ways to increase the number of members in a church, and not just regular attendees. How should churches participate in creating full evangelical missions? And what actually defines a real church growth? Is it just the numbers alone?

Before someone can give answers to these, it is important to take note first of what truly defines the growth of a church. A myth that perhaps had been circulating for the past years is that the number of members in a church is not that necessary, which is otherwise. Yes, you might have heard of small congregations fading into oblivion simply because of lack of people. But what is a church? It is composed of PEOPLE! These people are the ones making the church work and perform its functions. If you don't have them, there is no church. Furthermore, God cares about numbers. Thus, Bible-believing churches should also care about this. If an ecclesiastical organization refuses to do so, it is not geared up towards to its true and tangible commitment, which is to spread the Word of God.

It should also be noted that growth is a "relative" term. A church can be alive and growing, regardless if the attendance are increasing or decreasing. If those people are submitting and offering themselves to His will, it could signify growth. On the other hand, a church can be huge in numbers but the followers are spiritually stagnant. Which do you think is the better case?

Growth of any kind always follows a cycle. Those who plant the seeds are the evangelists; those who water the seed are the pastors; and the rest of the others who use their God-given gifts to reach out and spread the preachings of the Bible. Those who will plant and continue to take care will receive their corresponding reward based on their efforts. In doing all these, there should always be a balance in between. A healthy church is composed of people who know how to function well within in the body of Christ. If one gets out of balance, the church may not fulfill its ultimate purpose.

Though a decline in number is something that cannot be avoided, it would be helpful to bear in mind that there could be a couple of reasons to that. Lack of leadership or a pattern to follow might be one. Miscommunication or failure to nurture "baby" Christians is also a factor. And lastly, a not so deficient structure could well be reason enough for a person to leave a congregation. Establishing a concrete method and addressing the above issues would be a good start. At the same time, a strong relationship built within the members and the pastors as well might give someone double thoughts as to leaving.

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