6 Conditions of a Growing Church
Our family attends a growing church. I see 6 things in the attitudes of church leadership that I'm convinced help it grow. Do these 6 ingredients show up in your church?
How to Give An Extra Large Welcome in an Extra Small Church
How can the extra-small church give a good welcome?
It can be done. We were welcomed into a small church of under 40 people and stayed in spite of their obvious shortcomings - why?
3 Keys to Make an Evangelistic Sunday School Culture
Sunday school has a long history of being an evangelistic tool of the church. I’ve visited growing churches that utilize their Sunday School to not only grow their members, but create a space where newcomers can connect and discover faith. Recently, a small church pastor asked me about how to make their Sunday School evangelistic. …
So You Are the New Pastor of a Small Church, Now What?
There is no single solution for the small church pastor. These are simply some evangelism and growth ideas that have been tried and found effective.
5 Ways to Grow Small Church Numbers
A regular question I get is "How do you grow a small church?" "How do I grow small church numbers?" We were a small church, made up primarily of immigrants from other countries. Here are 5 steps we are implementing to grow that total number to 70.
3 Focus Areas to Grow a Small Church
In a discussion group I am a part of, a small church pastor asked the group for advise on how to grow a small church. Well meaning Christians threw out all sorts of cliches that lack substance, even if they are true: Pray Follow God Get back to the Bible Don’t follow man’s ways Just …
Webinar Resources — Church Transformation with Ron Crandall
“How can skillful pastors who long for the resurrection power of God to be manifest in their churches learn to patiently guide a congregation through all the necessary stages of change involved in a turn around?” Ron Crandall – Turnaround Churches and Beyond
15 Strategies to Increase Number of First Time Visitors
In yesterday’s article 2 Attitudes for Small Church Transformation, Ron Crandall’s study pointed out how evangelistic growth in the small church is rooted in relationships and need strategies to increase the number of first time church visitors. Larger churches may have lots of programs to help attract them and integrate people quickly. Smaller churches may not …
Theories of Church Transformation
This week and next, you’ll be reading about small church transformation, particularly the role of evangelism, based on a study of small churches first done in 1995 and then updated in December of 2008. These first few posts setup some of the background and are meant to be in small blog-size portions for easy consumption. …
Small Church Transformation
The first edition of Turnaround and Beyond: A Hopeful Future for the Small Membership Church was released in 1995 and was re-released and updated in December 2008. In the study Ron sought to explore strategies that enabled struggling and often run down small churches to experience lasting turnaround. “Turnaround” has gone by various terms in …
The Church has left the Building
One of the blogs I read (Fierce Grace) decided to do something entirely different on a Sunday morning. Cancel the service. Serve the neighborhood. Read about it at The Church Has Left the Building.
How One Church Re-engaged the Neighborhood
A dying church made a decision that helped them re-engage the neighborhood. Out of that, they church was re-vitalized instead of closing their doors.
Community Exegesis: Where are you planted?
God has appointed us to live in certain places at certain times (Acts 17:26). It’s reasonable to extend this to the church that you are connected with being planted in the neighborhood. Here are a few study questions for your community exegesis: Who are the unchurched in your community that your church could easily reach? …
Guest Article: A Model for Renewing Small Congregations
Today’s article comes from my friend, Professor Ron Crandall, of Asbury Theological Seminary in Kentucky. I met Ron many years ago at an evangelism conference, and I’m thrilled that he’s submitted a guest article here about a congregational renewal program for smaller churches. Enjoy!
How to Grow a Small Church
Bill Easum writes a great article entitled How to Grow a Small Church. It’s geared towards pastors looking for the formula. It’s no formula, but their research shows “It’s a pastor who has one-on-one conversations withnon-Christians that leads to their conversion to Christ.” List for the small church pastor He also gives a good list …