The Top Five Church Growth Principles

The study of "church growth" has been part of the American scene since the early 1970s when researchers realized that the principles Donald McGavran was teaching to overseas missionaries had direct relevance to churches here in North America. Over the past 30 years hundreds of church growth principles have been identified and described.


Researchers state that there are five foundational church growth insights that we can take to the bank. Whether you are in a small church, such as the one I pastor or in a Mega Church, these principles will help us be the church God intended for us to bring glory to Him in all we do and say.

Principle 1: Disciple-making is THE priority

The longer a congregation exists, the more concerned it tends to become with self-preservation and the less concerned with its original purpose. Time, money, staff, and even the prayers become increasingly inward-focused.  I have seen this firsthand in churches of which I have been the pastor and where I have been a member.  The church begins to have all its arrows pointing inward instead of outward.  The result is that the church stops growing.  Researchers state that churches less than five years old do a better job of reaching out than more established churches.  For this reason many denominations place a premium on new church starts.  The reason, the more new churches started then more people will be drawn to Christ.

This first principle says that leaders must keep, or turn, the focus of their church away from themselves, and back to their primary goal, which is to make disciples.  A church must seriously analyze everything it does to determine where the church’s ministries and money is focused.  A church can do many good things.  A church should do a few important things.  But there is only one essential thing a church must do: make disciples.

Principle 2: Social networks are the vehicle

This principle states that people come to Christ and the church primarily through relationships with Christians. It may seem simple but it is amazing the number of churches and Christians who believe something other than friends reaching friends will somehow create growth.  Consider the attached graph and notice the number one reason that people attend a church.

Friends and relatives inviting people to church is by far the number one reason that people attend a church. One researcher suggested the following ideas to apply this principle.  First, encourage each person in your church to list their unchurched friends and relatives in the community.  This idea can be expressed with the phrase FRANgelism (Friends, Relatives, Associates, Neighbors).  The average Christian can list at least four or five.  Next, encourage members to pray specifically for these people.  Third, encourage members to invite one of these people to an appropriate church-related event in the next six months.  Remind members that they may be God's only connection to these unreached people.

What do you think about these two principles?  In my next post I will talk about the other three principles, but I would be interested to hear your comments.  Perhaps you have an idea that would be beneficial as well.  I look forward to hearing from you.