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Of course you do. We all do. I pastor at one of the larger congregations by COG standards. No, we are not a megachurch , but we are large enough that we don't attend church growth conferences anymore. Let me preface my remarks by saying from the outset that I have pastored several churches

Very good and thoughtful post. I am sure not everything works for everyone. I will say you are absolutely right about #11...

Thanks guys! I thought I would add a few more. Again, this is not an exhaustive list and there may be things that just wouldn't work for everyone. I'm just sharing what works and has worked for us. So here goes:I encourage churches to print a bulletin. Now I know that scares a lot of us Pentecostals because we don't want to come across as if we are putting God on a timetable (as if that were possible). You don't have to be narrow in your bulletin. Just a simple order of service stating the

OH MY GOSH YOU HIT A GRANDSLAM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!Far too many times, I see pastors looking past the ones in the pews while they are hoping to get new one's to come! BLOOM WHERE YOU ARE PLANTED! I am not a pastor, or even a preacher, but I do know a thing or two about business. I hate to relate Church growth to business, but for lack of a better term, similarities exist. You must SERVE your current clientel (parishoners) before you ever think of serving future prospects. Although I'm not a pastor, I am the son of a pastor that started 11 Churches in a 20 year ministry before he passed away. You hit the nail on the head. Too many times, people want a quick solution without putting in the time to serve the ones sitting on the pew that pays the current bills. You mentioned adopting change slowly. I will approach that issue in regards to moving to Contemporary P & W from older songs. Far too often, the latest fad is shoved down the throat of those in attendance because the pastor saw at the latest conference what SOMEBODY else did to achieve success. In no way, do I mean we should not change, but change should be instituted slowly to gain the trust of the existing people and to let them feel some sense of ownership in the process. You showed tremendous wisdom in that statement. Frankly, I am NOT a fan of mega churches. It is too much of an entertainment based event with VERY little knowledge of the person sitting next to you. People can easily leave and the congregation will never know the difference. I think eventually this FAD of megachurches will cease and people will want to return the real relationships that smaller churches can offer. You are showing wisdom in letting your members know each person is responsible for providing ministry. I can see tremendous wisdom in your post and I hope Pastors will be wise to heed your wisdom. You've been there done that, and wise people will heed what you have said.

I meant to add. My wife and I served as care group leaders several years ago. My pastor said we were the best care group leaders he had ever seen.We started our group with 4 people and within a year, it had grown to over 30 and we had to split it. We did it using many of the concepts you mentioned. But, it boils down to CARING FOR PEOPLE period. End of Sentence. Not growth for the sake of growth, but CARING. We were able to get a man who refused to darken the Church doors for over 30 years to come to Christ. He saw we were real people. Eventually, he let his wife have the service in his home. From that, he started going to the monthly meetings and eventually went to church, where he was saved. That is the ultimate goal and we did it without being preachy. We had a short devotional, but we concentrated on fellowship. We REALLY knew the people in the group. They weren't just names and a superficial, how are you doing. It was by RELATIONSHIPS that we were able to grow.Those relationships do not happen with the superficial handshake during intermission. People need to know you are there for them and care for them.

It is called organization. I don't know about the COG, but the COGOP always printed a program with time tables for the General Assembly. I don't see a difference.We had a wonderful State Overseer in Wyoming (Paul Thompson) that was fond of saying Start on Time, Stop on Time, Stay in the Will of the Lord I loved it.God is a God of order and not disorganization. It doesn't mean one has to quench the spirit, it may mean making a sermon shorter or whatever, if indeed the spirit takes over. But, I see nothing wrong with having organization. The Bible says to study to show thyself approved, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed (If I quoted correctly). The point being, I don't think God is honored by lack of planning and preparation.

I'm wondering if this is a cultural thing?We give visitors a welcome pack containing, among other things, a free book and a Prayer Request Card. We ask them to fill out the Prayer Request Card and put it in the offering basket. Over 90% of them do so and include their contact information. Of those who fill out the cards, over 75% are not regular attenders at any other church.However, in our culture an Attendance Sheet would be considered an outrage in any church. This is because our nation has a history of no separation between Church and State, and in previous generations church attendance was recorded and used as the basis for fining non-attenders or by shaming them by reading their names aloud from the pulpit Senior Pastor, Solid Rock Church, DroghedaNational Overseer, Church of God, IrelandExecutive Director, Evangelical Alliance Irelandhttp://eaiseanchai.wordpress.com/

I'm wondering if this is a cultural thing?We give visitors a welcome pack containing, among other things, a free book and a Prayer Request Card. We ask them to fill out the Prayer Request Card and put it in the offering basket. Over 90% of them do so and include their contact information. Of those who fill out the cards, over 75% are not regular attenders at any other church . . .

As an ordained bishop with the Church of God and a career appointed missionary I am disappointed and concerned to see no mention of Missionary Support or Foreign Mission emphasis on this list of how to have a growing church. I once heard Randy Hurst, with the AOG, speaking at our General Assembly say that a 'church's vision or burden to reach the local community will be directly related to its vision or burden to reach out or do Foreign Missions. Churches often remain small because of their failure to evangelize and disciple new believers. IMHO they also remain small because they fail to enlarge their vision and mission to include Foreign Missions. I read in these responses much effort and emphasis on inward ministry. The bulletin, the greeting, community service, respect for the pastor, and an attendance sheet... I would be interested to know how many of our growing churches have a missions program that focuses on supporting missionaries, sending out missionaries, and supporting special projects outside the local community? How many of those churches would relate their growth to the missions emphasis and mission services? (ie Cooper City Floriday). How many of the smaller churches have no mission emphasis?? I would estimate a great percentage of the larger growing churches are involved in and doing foreign missions.... While, not to offend in any way, but I would also estimate that a larger percentage of the smaller churches have no foreign missions involvement outside the 'dues' they send to International Offices Dennis TannerAdministrative Bishop Scotland

I believe the thought is you must get the folks in church before you can introduce them to missions, I was raised by a pastor that always supported missions, and many times it was by EXAMPLE that he lead folks to mission giving. His churches always grew! BUT yes, I believe missions support should always be considered. Some facts but mostly just my [email protected]://shipslog-jack.blogspot.com/