A
s I write this I’m actually heading “across the pond” to London and Oxford with Dr. Bob Whitesel for a study tour following the “Footsteps of John Wesley” and his immense contributions to the church growth movement. Today’s guest blog reveals even more recent learnings from England about church growth. Dr. Lovett H. Weems, Jr. is the director of G. Douglass Lewis Center for Church Leadership at Wesley Theological Seminary in Washington, DC. Here he reveals several characteristics found in growing churches in England – much that can be applied to churches everywhere.
The Church of England set out to learn from the 18 percent of their churches that grew in the decade up to 2010. A study conducted between 2011 and 2013 sought to investigate the factors influencing church growth in the Church of England.
While there is “no single recipe” for growth, they concluded there are some ingredients closely associated with growing churches. In many ways, these factors mirror findings in the United States from the Faith Communities Today research and that of others.
Leadership
Those studying the Church of England found a strong correlation between growth and qualities of leaders when these qualities are combined with an intention to grow. Leadership qualities that stood out included the abilities to motivate, envision, and innovate. Such qualities, according to the study, lead to growth when found in a leader who makes a priority of numerical growth.
Mission and purpose
Churches with a clear mission and purpose were far more likely to grow. Two-thirds of such churches grew compared to one-quarter of churches without such clarity regarding purpose.
Willingness to reflect and adapt
Self-reflection was a prime characteristic of growing churches, whereas “doing things by default” was more common among declining churches. Worship is a good example. No particular style of worship led to growth, but how the worship style was chosen was critical. Growing churches openly considered their options so that worship became “chosen rather than inherited.” Growing churches were willing to experiment and fail until they found the right match between tradition and culture. “Vitality comes with reflection and choice” is how one person put it.
To read this guest post in its entirety, click here.
Your partner in ministry,
Nelson
P.S. It’s clear that leadership of the church plays a significant role in its growth. The best strategic leaders have a tool kit of proven leadership principles at their disposal. I’ve been a long-time student (Okay, you can call it an obsession) of these kinds of ideas and strategies – and have spent hundreds of hours pouring through books, case studies and most importantly – field testing with my own ministries – to boil it all down to the 10 strategic concepts that will best help YOU and YOUR CHURCH. These strategic – and Biblical – concepts will guide you from where you are to where God wants you to be. I promise you they will give you more time, energy and attention – with a whole lot less stress!
Today through Friday only you can save 89% on my brand new resource, 10 Advanced Strategic Concepts, where I explain them in great detail and how you apply each concept to your ministry.
Share This Post
© Nelson Searcy. All Rights Reserved.
About Nelson Searcy
