2. Become a Sending Church
You can only be a hands-on pastor with a limited number of people. But that doesn’t have to inhibit church growth.
When we equip people to become disciple-makers themselves, part of that process is letting them go to plant or serve in other churches when the time comes.
There are so many small/mid-size churches that have a huge kingdom impact because they’re training and sending people into ministry outside their own walls. They may not be well-known because their congregation remains small. But their size doesn’t limit their impact or effectiveness.
RELATED: Why Churches Just Keep Getting Bigger
3. Do Ministry From The Church Building, Not Just In It
Now more than ever, we have an opportunity to reach people who will never enter our church building. Through online opportunities like live-streaming, blogging, podcasting and more, any church can reach an untold number of people in life-changing ways.
We must get past the idea that the only effective ministry is the kind that fills up our buildings. That’s far too limiting.
Even as you pastor those who come into your building on Sundays, you can minister to so many others through an online presence that directs them to another local church where they can be pastored by someone else.
That is church growth.
Church Growth Barrier – Other Options
Those are three options that our church has done and continues to do with great joy and effectiveness.
To be sure, they all required growth and learning on our part. But they didn’t necessitate a shift to a leadership style that falls outside our gifting and calling.
Do you know of other churches that have stayed small, and pastors that have stayed hands-on while making significant contributions to the growth of the church? Let me know in the comments. I’d love to hear all about it.
This article about hitting a church growth barrier originally appeared here, and is used by permission.
