How do churches grow?

In the first Learning Community, we looked at some of the ways that churches can grow and how we can choose to expand or replicate. We noted that the number of relationships a person can have is limited and that in a larger group, the number of relationships tends to reach a limit of about 150 (Dunbar’s number). Here’s a recap of what we looked at.

When we talk about church growth, we don’t just mean numbers, but also depth and impact. Growth itself is not the end, but it shows that things are healthy.

If you think of a plant, when it is given the right environment and resources, it will grow and be healthy. If it is deprived of water or light, it will deteriorate and start to die. Charles Handy and Malcolm Gladwell are two people who have studied and described how different organisations grow.

Essentially, a new organisation is started, it grows and left unchecked, it will die. The first period, the growth period, is an exciting time. It is often fuelled by enthusiasm and people will get behind a cause or a set of values that define the goal.

The second period (point A) shows a time of stability or a plateau. During this time, people reminisce about the good old days and think that by continuing with the same activities, only trying harder, things will improve. Sadly, we know from the studies that this is very rarely the case and that if left unchecked, the organisation will decline and eventually die (point B). During this period, people are often busy rushing around putting extra effort in but with fewer rewards.

There is good news though. Charles Handy noted that in order to continue growing, it is possible to start a new growth curve and avoid decline. The best time to do this is when you notice that things are starting to plateau. Quite often the people who start the new curve will be different from the people who helped the organisation to grow in the first instance.

In the New Testament, we can see three examples of how the Church grew.

1 Direct intervention by God
In the book of Acts we see how a massive outpouring of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost led to thousands of new people joining the Church.

2 External circumstances
After Pentecost, there was much persecution which forced these new believers to move and go to new places where they continued to share the good news. We see other examples of this today where the persecuted church is often stronger and grows because of external circumstances.

3 Planning
The apostle Paul planned his mission journeys and chose the cities he would visit. It was through planned strategy and the Holy Spirit that these churches were planted and grew.

When does the decline happen?

British anthropologist Robin Dunbar was studying indigenous nomadic people groups when he noticed there were some patterns around the size of groups. He noticed that most small groups of people were between 12 and 15 people. The reason for this is because our brains are wired to hold relationships with others. When we are with one other person, there are two connections. When we are with three people, there are six connections and when there are 15 people, that’s 96 relationships. Think about how many people you connect with. Does this ring true for you?

Robin Dunbar also noticed that in the nomadic groups he was observing, a community tended to reach a limit at about 150. That’s approximately 12 groups of 12 people. In your church, can you identify groups of 12 and groups of 150? This explains why so many churches struggle to grow to more than 150 people. There are some choices to make as we approach this number.

Choice one – Expand
One option is to put in systems and resources that will help us grow beyond 150 people. This could mean new staff, IT systems, processes for welcoming newcomers etc. This can be costly and difficult to plan in advance.

Choice two – Replicate
By choosing to replicate what we do and multiply our groups and congregations, we can increase in size with minimal changes to who we are and what we do. This will mean identifying and investing in new leaders, whilst helping everyone to grow deeper through discipleship, so we can be equipped to share our faith with others. The Grow Course will help you to identify the actions you can take to grow in this way.

Transitional church
A church that has started a new thing is what we call a transitional church. It can feel a little chaotic as new systems kick in and people find their feet. It helps to have a clear vision of your preferred future and values or golden rules by which to operate by. More about this in our first module, Vocation.