Church growth is one of the most important aspects of Christianity.
It is so important that so many books have been written and theories developed on this topic. Yet, many churches still have issues with church growth.
What is the difference between a blossoming church and a stagnant church in the same environment? It isn’t that God is more delighted in one than the other. Instead, it is a case of the blossoming church understanding and applying certain church growth principles. We will discuss 5 important church growth principles in this post to help you.
Important Church Growth Principles
One of the most common goals among churches is “church growth.” Every church wants to reach as many people as they can within their communities. To achieve this goal, we must have a vision, think through the process, and work with a defined strategy. Here are a few church growth principles to help you on your journey:
Have a predetermined destination
Every business owner has a predetermined destination for their business at the conception stage. As they move towards this goal, it becomes clearer and may likely expand. It should be the same for a church.
Even though many Christians don’t view it in this light, the church runs exactly like a business. What this means is that you must develop a clear vision and mission statement. You also need to draw out your values so that you can determine your direction as an organization. Doing this helps you to develop a strategic plan with goals on how to get to your destination.
One easy way to attract people to your church is to have a compelling vision and mission. It gets them excited because they can see that you want to make a difference. The advantage of having this in place is that soon, your members will attract other members because of their conviction.
Work on your ambiance
Church ambiance goes beyond the stage background, lighting, and décor. Your ambiance should begin from your church gate. It is quite unfortunate that people are more driven by aesthetically attractive environments these days. What this means is that when people come to your church, they expect your ambiance to be on point.
They want to be proud of the environment, take pictures and shoot videos, and share them on social media. Also, people want to be comfortable in your church environment before they can even consider becoming members.
Working on your ambiance is a very important congregation management strategy. It requires you to pay attention to detail regarding restrooms, glass surfaces, air conditioning, rugs, etc. If you can create an alluring ambiance, attracting people to your church and keeping them becomes easier.
Make first-timers feel welcome
How would you feel if you visited a church for the first time and you weren’t properly recognized or taken care of? You’ll most likely not visit that church again except you don’t have much of an option. This is exactly how church visitors feel when you give them poor reception.
The bar is so high these days that you cannot afford to not welcome your guests properly. It is not about telling your first-timers to rise during the service or singing them a special song. You must do a lot more these days. In fact, some people aren’t open to the idea of standing up as first-timers because they are wary of attention.
Making first-timers feel welcome begins from the moment they step through your gates. Have greeters on standby to give special welcome to strange faces at the gate. Ensure that your ushers treat them right and you have pointers to help them navigate your premises easily. Work on your welcome package so that it contains all the information about your church that a visitor needs. You have just one chance to make a first impression. If you can create a wholesome experience, your visitors will likely stay.
Invest in church welfare
Don’t just focus all your efforts on treating first-timers right. You must create a balance by treating congregants right as well. As we mentioned earlier, the church is similar to a business. What this means is that your congregants are your returning customers. These are the people that keep the church afloat and you must make them feel comfortable as much as possible.
One of the key aspects of congregation management is understanding the unique needs of each congregant. Don’t just understand their needs, do as much as you can to meet them. Part of your church vision must be to ensure that your members are nurtured in all aspects. This is a major key to church growth.
Church communication is another aspect of church welfare. How do you get to understand the needs of your congregants if you don’t communicate with them? Invest in different channels of communication to make it easy for you to reach out to members and vice versa. Build a strong support system within your church that allows you to support members and members support other members.
Invest in a church technology
Some years ago, a discussion about church growth wouldn’t involve a church app. Well, our world is constantly evolving and thanks to technology, we now have church management software. There is so much that you can accomplish with a ChMS like ChurchPad.
These apps ensure that you automate church workflow and improve your administrative processes. They also make it easier to reach out to members even when they aren’t in town. With church apps, you can facilitate digital donation, improve check-in, and track church finances.
Having a church app doesn’t cost a fortune. You can check out the packages under ChurchPad to see which one suits you best.
Conclusion
Focusing on church growth is an important assignment for pastors, church leaders, administrators, and church members. Working with strategies and principles makes this assignment a lot easier. We have outlined a few in this post including using a ChMS like ChurchPad.