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Church Growth

Toward a view of acceptable church growth.

Posted Monday, July 11, 2005 by Sam Yeiter

Brian and i recently had a discussion about church growth...so i thought i'd put up some of my thoughts about it...although i highly recommend that you read Brian's as well...he has some neat thoughts there.

Church growth is what we are all about.

The great commission says that we are to be making disciples.  The problem is that we often make club-members rather than disciples (myself included).  It is my goal to only grow the church via new Christians, believers moving into the area, backsliders coming back into the church, and by bringing in believers from heterodoxical churches in the area.  I don't consider unbelievers coming to the church as growing it...though I am not opposed to them coming and learning.

I'm not very comfortable with people coming to the church because we have good programs, or good preaching (and believe me, we have the best), or they don't like the new emphasis their pastor has going, or the new carpet isn't the right color, or we sing hymns and they sing choruses...

I'm tired of people not submitting to their pastors, (both Hebrews 13:17 and 1 Peter 5:5 demand this) and church hopping sounds like we may have an unwillingness to place ourselves in submission.

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