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INTRODUCTION
Acts 9:31 - Internal and external growth
1. Crossing the 200 barrier by Tim Keller
- By Tim Keller
- Back early in my ministry, I heard about the seminars entitled “Crossing the 200 Barrier.” While pastoring small churches trying to cross the 50 people barrier, I didn’t attend those seminars as they were irrelevant. Now, I wish I had attended them. So this past month I went on line to look for these resources. I found an excellent resource that I am presenting to you tonight.
- Yet, I believe that probably everything I know about ministry is somewhere in my office. To my surprise, I recalled that this information looked familiar. I quickly found that I had the extended version of this report already in my office that I received about a year ago from Pastor Dan Schoepf.
- Here are the 6 points of how to cross the 200 Barrier:
- Multiple options – More than one S.S., prayer gathering, even worship service. Puts more emphasis on small groups people to make connections
- Additional Primary Ministry Staff – One person can’t personally shepherd more than 150-200 people. That span can be stretched through an additional part-time or full-time staff. Many variations to the job description. Adding a part time secretary helps. Compliment the first staff pastor by filling in the gaps with a second. It is important that this second by be added to assist the church for growth so that he “pays for himself.” “The tension that often occurs in a church this size that the church is big enough so the pastor begins to feel burned out, but it is not big enough to financially support a second minister.”
- Willingness to let power shift from the laity and even lay leaders to the staff. Leadership is streamlined for faster and more knowledgeable decision making.
- Become more formal and deliberate in assimilation and communication. More redundant and intentional. Like having sponsors or to connect and guide new comers. We need to close the back door of the church, sometimes I think the back door is more open than the front door.
- Pastor to do shepherding a bit less and leading a bit more. Does more leading through vision casting and strategizing. Will thus not be able to personally know and care for every person’s concerns, that can be made up for in additional staff people and the small groups.
- Will moving to a new space and facilities be crucial to breaking this growth barrier? Sometimes, but not usually. Just better use of space, multiple options, attitudinal changes. For us, we don’t need to change locations, we need to just use our space more effectively.
“You can grow beyond 200 without ALL the five above changes. But to break 400 you must firmly break the old habits in all five areas.”
“The key to medium size growth is improving the quality of the ministries and their effectiveness to meet real needs. The small church “gets away” with amateurish quality because the key driving force is its intimacy, family-like warmth, and relationships. But the medium size church’s ministry must be different. Classes must really be great learning experiences. Music must meet aesthetic needs. Preaching must really inform and inspire.”
2. Obstacles for the Medium Size Church
- From Gary McIntosh, The McIntosh Church Growth Network
- Medium size churches must break through these 5 growth obstacles if they are to continue growing into a larger church.
- Inadequate Facilities
- Difficult to do with strain on finances. We are fine for now.
- Inadequate Staff
- Today’s congregations expect a higher quality and more diverse ministry. A broader range of options.
- We need a second staff pastor – even if part time.
- Inadequate Finances
- We need managed stewardship, fund raising, and professional handling of finances (someone who knows what they are doing)
- We have quality finance people, the church has a history of giving to need generously. Economy is a challenge, but God is still God.
- Poor administration
- Confusing means and ends – end what doesn’t work, fix broken
- Lack of planning and coordination
- Ineffective time management
- Poor use of volunteers
- Poor budget control
- I believe we have good management in place, people have stepped up to work with youth very well. We can find people for positions. Ordinary Men has potential. We have musical talent.
- Increasing complexity
- Not as simple as before, coordinate church calendar, appointment to see the pastor, careful budgeting, long range planning to manage up coming expansion and financial obligations. Multi-layered programming.
- I see this, but again I believe we manage this OK. I do believe the staff needs the freedom to make decisions – purchases, program schedules.
- We have become less micromanaged by the congregation and more team leadership lead.
- The larger the church the more narrow the decision makers become. The people closest to the situation need to make the decisions, people make decisions in their areas of leadership.
A growing church can easily plateau if these obstacles can’t be overcome. I believe we have the capacity to be a larger regional church, but do we have the passion? We are our own worst enemy. Our levels of commitment determine direction, depth, expansion and excellence.
3. Pivotal Issues
- Adapted from Article by Tom Cheyney
- Pastor Tenure – probably has to be a Dr.
- Church Administration
- Additional Staffing
- (Quality) Characteristics of Worship
Setting, content, Spirit
Contemporary rhythmical music
Excitement is in the air, people eager to worship/fellowship
WE NEED TO IMPROVE OUR MUSIC CONSISTANCY
- Presence of groups of people: Single adults and teens, Blended families, Single-parent families
- Attitudes of people to want growth, atmosphere of opportunity
4. Perceptions of church shoppers TEXT
- Worship and music
- Friendliness or lack there of
- Child care
- Bible study (something for them, small group)
- Sermon format and content
- Parking
- First words spoken to them
- Laity follow-up
5. One Size Doesn’t Fit All
- By Gary McIntosh
- Chart of different size churches. We are a mixture.
What is our vision for the future?
Part of my vision for the church 5 years from now: Have a staff of Senior Pastor, Youth Pastor, and Evangelism/Senior Citizen Pastor who is a retired pastor (part time), and a church secretary (part time).
What is your vision for First Baptist Church of Colfax?
- What do you believe God wants to do in our church here in Colfax?
- What do you believe God wants you to do to help build Christ’s church?
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