If you want your church to grow, there's no substitute for leaning on the Holy Spirit. But there are also practical lessons to be learned. The Barna Group has released 10 lessons for church expansion that have come from detailed research.
First, it says church expansion takes many forms – with congregations of many shapes, sizes and styles. Secondly, the biggest reason churches expand into new sites is to reach a particular geographical area.
The third lesson is that church expansion is tough. A third of leaders surveyed said that their expansion was harder than they anticipated. This ties in with the fourth lesson – sometimes churches close or sever their ties with other ministries.
Branding matters – that's the fifth lesson. Apparently half of pastors think having a recognisable brand attracts new visitors to church. A similar number of leaders affirmed the sixth lesson, which is that a new church plant benefits the local community as well as offering chances to develop the existing church members.
Another lesson was the way in which expansion exposes the skills gap in a congregation – almost a quarter said they'd experienced that. The eigth lesson is about logistics – some leaders said they'd been unprepared for the details of securing buildings for an expanded church as well as the costs associated with it.
The penultimate finding is that church plants mostly fund themselves. Congregational giving increases as the church grows, allowing them to do more. That's linked to the final point – a new church plant helps to accelerate growth. "Many [pastors] believe a church that is new and local is far more likely to attract new unchurched visitors than one that has been around for years," says the report.
The report contains many valuable lessons for churches looking to expand with a positive outlook, alongside the reality of more testing lessons. You can read more here.
