For years it’s been assumed that if your church is hitting a growth barrier there’s only one thing to do – learn how to readjust your leadership style so the congregation can keep growing numerically. As it turns out, it’s not that simple. When your church is pushing up against a numerical growth barrier you have a decision to make. Most of the time, the decision is made subconsciously – and therefore poorly. In this article I want to take that decision from the subconscious to the conscious level to help give us a chance to make the decision more wisely.
Here’s the decision: Should you, as a pastor adjust your leadership style to accommodate a larger congregation? Or is there a way to allow for and encourage growth that won’t require such a radical shift?
Church Growth Barrier – Awareness
I’m not talking about stopping or limiting church growth. Never.
And I’m not saying we shouldn’t adapt, grow and expand our leadership skill set. We should always be doing that.
What I am suggesting is that it isn’t always necessary to make a radical shift in your leadership style in order to accommodate for numerical growth.
There are options that will allow and adapt for church growth without making the abrupt and not-always-helpful change from hands-on pastor/shepherd to CEO-style manager.
Unfortunately, most of us aren’t aware of any other options. I know I wasn’t.
Stay Inside Your Gifting and Calling
Years ago, when our church experienced a season of sudden numerical increase, I made the transition from shepherding to managing quite willingly and enthusiastically. But very soon I found that this shift had placed me outside my calling and gifting – the end result being a very dark season for me and the church.
In my conversations with hundreds of fellow small-church pastors, I’ve come to believe that my situation is not unique – in fact, it’s normative.
Not only is the move from shepherd to manager not an automatic decision, in many (maybe most) cases it’s the wrong decision.
Most pastors are not called to pivot from being a hands-on pastor to a managerial whiz. Some are, and I’m grateful for what God does in churches when that happens. But it’s not as necessary as we may have been told.
Thankfully, there are other options.
So what can a hands-on shepherding pastor do to stay in pastoral mode without stifling their church’s potential for numerical growth? Here are a few options to consider:
Church Growth Barrier: Your Options
1. Become A Discipling Pastor
In this recent article, I described what I call the Pastoral Prime Mandate from Ephesians 4:11-12. Pastors are not called to do all the ministry for the people in the church. We, along with the other fourfold leadership gifts, are called to equip God’s people for the work of ministry – to make disciples who become disciple-makers.
The good news is, you don’t have to stop being hands-on for that to happen. Instead, you get to extend your pastoral gift by seeing others step into their gifting. The pastoral gift doesn’t have to stop with you. It can be handed off to a new generation.
