Breaking the 65 Barrier in Church Ministry 1

I got a resource a while back from Nelson Searcy on Breaking the 65 Barrier.

Searcy is the Lead Pastor of The Journey in Manhattan. They’re having a significant impact in NYC but they are also helping to shape the church planting culture across the country.

It might also be helpful to note, in light of the topic in this resource, that Searcy has helped the Journey pass through the 65, 125, 250, 500, and 1,000 barriers. So he speaks as a practitioner who has had to address these issues practically, not merely theoretically.

So with that, here’s some notes and thoughts from the resource:

• More than half of the churches in America are under 100.
• This is a barrier for existing churches and new churches.

The Bad News

• Breaking these barriers requires you to make changes. If you do what you’ve always done you’ll get what you’ve always got.
• Confront the brutal facts without losing faith (from Collins, Good to Great).
• God what are you doing in this situation?
• The question to ask: What is keeping my church from growing?

The Ugly News

• You just may not be able to do it. The reality is some churches have systems that are designed to keep the church small.
• Like a thermostat in a room churches can have thermostats to keep a church small.

The Good News

• As you think about your church you probably already have over 65 people attending your church on a monthly basis.
• Don’t just live and die on weekly numbers. Look at the monthly numbers. On a monthly basis you probably already have 65 attending.Now you need to learn how to turn occasional attenders into committed attenders and develop more occasional attenders.
• You have to track numbers if you are going to have a true picture of where you’re at. For instance, you won’t be able to predict the natural attendance cycles in a given year for your church if you don’t.

3 Key Issues

1. Structure. How is your church structured? Rick Warren: You can structure for control or you can structure for growth (not both).
2. Fear. There can a timid attitude among pastoral leaders on this issue.
3. Pastoral Leadership. The pastor needs to grow and make changes because the pastor is the key at this barrier. (NB: I need to look at myself.)

2 determining decisions for breaking the 65 Barrier

1. Determine that it’s God’s will for you to grow.
2. Determine that you want your church to grow.

Next Time: 10 Ideas for breaking the 65 Barrier

Sursa, Breaking the 65 barrier in Church Ministry

~ de Cosmin Pascu pe martie 5, 2008.