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Discover and Capitalize on the Growth Cycle

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Did you know that your church has its own unique growth cycle? And while you wouldn’t get this from reading all the church growth books, believe it or not, most of the “growth charts” don’t look like this.

I know, I know. There are some magical success stories of certain pastors who have always seen their church grow. They’ve never had a down Sunday and every week is bigger than the week before.  How do they do it? (Please note the sarcasm.)

You need to remember, pastoring a church is not just about preaching, it’s also about planning.  As a pastor/shepherd I believe I’m not just called to feed the sheep, I’m also called to lead the sheep.

So, if every church has a unique growth cycle, it’s the job of the pastor to find out what it is and capitalize on it. Here are a few simple ways to do that:

1. Measure as much as you can. You’ve heard the old saying, “We count people because people count.” I know it may sound trite but I think it may be true. Now, some pastors use this saying to justify being overly obsessed with numbers and statistics. Don’t be that guy! For me, I look at the numbers because they provide a benchmark – something to measure against from year to year. This leads me to my second point…

2. Compare year to year, not week to week. If you have ever ridden the church attendance roller coaster you know it’s a ride that can make you sick. If you obsess over numbers and overanalyze them every week you will drive yourself crazy. Two Sundays ago was Easter. The week before that was Spring Break. The week after was our “Sunday-after-Easter slump.” Compare weeks this year that correspond to weeks last year. Develop a spreadsheet that serves as a dashboard and provides a snapshot of where you are this year versus last year- in terms of offerings, attendance, decisions, etc. Believe me, this will help keep you sane.

3. Know your culture and community. Every city is different. Every school system is different. Every church is different.  For instance, I pastored a church one time that was a fairly young congregation.  While in most established churches, Mothers Day is the second largest attendance of the year, this wasn’t the case at this church. Why? Because most of these young families would travel to see their mom on that day.  It’s okay, you just have to know it. Know your community and culture around you. Are you in a college town? Are you in a tourist town? Are you in a military town? Pay attention to your community. It affects your congregation.

4. Plan accordingly. This is really simple.  Just use common sense. Let me explain – don’t plan a big event during spring break when you know half of your church will be traveling. Capitalize on a community event that brings thousands of people to a specific place. Pay attention to your natural growth cycle that coincides with your community and school calendar. Look at the graphs and learn your most significant times of growth throughout the year and seek to maximize those times.

Please understand, in no way am I discounting the power and work of the Holy Spirit. But I also firmly believe that God desires you to use the brain He’s placed in your head.  Listen to the Spirit – yes! But lead with intelligence as well.

How about you? What have you found that has helped you discover and capitalize on your church’s growth cycle?

Easter is Over…Now What?

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I don’t mean to imply that Easter is over in a theological sense.  Followers of Christ celebrate Easter every day! Christ has risen and lives forevermore and we can share in His life eternally. But what I do mean to imply is that the special Sunday on your church’s calendar where lots of guests show up has passed. So what are you going to do about it? I hope have a follow up process in place.  Here are four simple tips:

1. Make it fast.  Experts (whoever “they” are) will tell you that the first 48-72 hours after someone visits your church is a critical time.  Plan something for today or tomorrow to follow up with guests and occasional attendees from Easter Sunday. Don’t just sit there…do something!

2. Make it right. If you are going to follow up quickly, please make it a pleasurable experience.  For instance, don’t assign someone with no phone manners the task of making phone calls.  Plan this process and then work your plan.  Recruit the right people and put them in the right places.  The quality of your follow up will give them an impression of the quality of your church.

3. Make it incredible.  I am a big believer in the principles of the book, Raving Fans. Some computer companies have satisfied customers, Apple has raving fans.  Some fast-food restaurants have satisfied customers, Chick-Fil-A has raving fans.  Go the second mile – do something to “wow” them. A handwritten note, a personal phone call, a gift-card in the mail, a door hanger with information and an invitation to return. Make it incredible and memorable.

4. Make it consistent.  I just read this on Eric Geiger’s twitter feed: “Church leaders, pursue guests & new believers with the same intensity you displayed in your preparation for Easter weekend.” Some churches go over the top on Easter but hardly do anything the rest of the year. Don’t just follow up on Easter, follow up every Sunday!

Establish a simple but effective follow up strategy to reach out to the new people God sends your way.

 

How to Teach Your Kids About Easter

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There is no greater responsibility given to a husband and father than to lead my family.This is a calling that I take very seriously.

That’s why we have decided to be intentional about leading our family in the ways of Christ (for biblical background see Deuteronomy 6). One of the best and most significant ways we do this is by having regular Family Worship. For our family, this means that every night except Sunday and Wednesday we meet together before bedtime, sing songs, read the Bible, memorize Scripture and pray together.

This week, we’ve been using The Resurrection Eggs. This is a fun and simple way to teach your children about the Triumphal Entry, Garden of Gethsemane, Betrayal, Crucifixion, Burial and Resurrection of Christ.  We hide the eggs around the house and then with great joy the children run around and find them. Then, we sit down and go through the story of the gospel.

I pray that a love for God and His gospel will take root deeply in the hearts of my children at an early age. Can I guarantee that will happen? I don’t know.  But I do know this: if you won’t lead your family, someone else will!

Easter is Coming

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I know that I’m stating the obvious here, but you know that Easter is coming right? Of course you know that. Everyone does. But I have to ask this question because many pastors and churches act like they don’t know Easter is coming. It’s one thing to know it – another thing to do something about it.

It is a huge mistake to know that Easter is coming and do nothing about it. I’m shocked to watch some pastors who expect Easter to “take care of itself.” I want to challenge you to be intentional about maximizing this natural bump in your worship attendance. Here are five practical ways to prepare for Easter…

1. Pray about it. There quite likely will be more lost people at your church on Easter Sunday than any other time. What are you going to do about that? Pray that God will bring people who need to hear the gospel and that many trust Christ for salvation. I love the old quote attributed to Saint Augustine, “Pray as though everything depended on God. Work as though everything depended on you.”

2. Plan for it. Easter comes every year with surprising regularity.  Take some time and plan for it.  It may be too late this year, but start planning now for next year.  Build it into your calendar, staff discussions and creative conversations.  If you fail to plan, you plan to fail.

3. Prepare for it. Don’t just plan, prepare. Planning is dreaming, preparing is doing. Encourage your people to invite others. Get creative, be enthusiastic, cast vision and challenge your people. 

4. Invest in it. Easter is possibly the biggest day on your church’s calendar. If Easter is important, put your money where your mouth is and invest in it. Plan on having 5,000 invite cards designed and printed and have your people give them out (check out clubflyers.com). You don’t have to do this, but do something.

5. Follow up on it. God sends people to us on Easter Sunday. It is an eternally significant mistake when we don’t follow up with guests and occasional attendees. Put a process of follow up in place and do your best to maximize return guests.

Easter Sunday is a gift. We are God’s stewards. Failing to pray, plan, prepare, invest and follow up is not just poor judgment – it’s failing to do the best with what God has given us.

How Do You Prepare a Sermon?

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I’ve been preaching since I was 17 years old.  It dawned on me the other day – that’s half my life!  Hopefully I’ve grown and improved as a preacher since I started 17 years ago.  I know one thing for sure, my studying habits have definitely changed.  When I started as a senior in high school, I would write out everything on a small 5×8 notepad.  Then to study, I would write it over and over…and over…and over again.  After I had written the sermon about 5 times, I had it in my head and in my heart.  These days, my final product is printed off my MacBook Air.  Before printing it looks a bit like this…

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I probably spend 6-8 hours on a sermon – that’s start to finish.  Then, on Saturday night and Sunday morning I probably spend another 2 hours of study. Going over my sermon, small last-minute changes, internalizing the message.  Most of my preacher friends can relate to this picture below. (Although many of you are so much more advanced than me…you’ve moved on to digital commentaries, etc. I’m an “old soul” I guess. I love to have a book in my hand!)Image

But no matter how technologically advanced I get – using Logos Bible Software, Evernote, Microsoft Word and my MacBook Air, my sermon always starts like it has always started.  Very simple, very old-school, very plain and very…Mayberry. 

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Say what you want about me.  I’m stuck in the past, I’m missing out on the digital revolution, I’m killing trees. But this is pretty much how almost every sermon of mine begins – an open Bible, a blue pen and a yellow legal pad.  Am I the only one?