Why many members find growth difficult.
Luke 15:25-32; Revelation 3:15-18
Most longtime members find it more comfortable to attend a church plateaued in size, or one experiencing gradual numerical decline, than to participate in a fast-growing congregation. Why?
1. Stability. The first, and for many the most powerful, reason for this attitude is that the worshiping community can be a comforting and affirming stability zone. For people who find that every other facet of their life is complicated by unwanted change, they want their congregation to be stable and predictable.
2. Continuity. In a church shrinking in size, there is much continuity in familiar faces, in traditions, customs, and events, in the denominational affiliation, in the music, in the organizational life, and in those trusted and long-tenured volunteer leaders and officers.
3. Giving cycles. For those responsible for paying the bills, a common pattern makes numerical decline more comfortable than growth. The typical pattern in rapidly growing congregations is a two-year lag between the membership or attendance curve and the income curve. In the numerically shrinking congregation, that lag disappears. Frequently the decline in dollar receipts lags about two years behind the decline in average worship attendance. Those longtime members may attend less frequently, but a combination of institutional loyalty, guilt, habit, and stewardship often means their financial contributions may increase rather than diminish.
4. Complexity. Growth almost invariably is accompanied by an increase in the level of complexity. The vast majority of people prefer simplicity. Life in the numerically shrinking parish usually is less complex than in the rapidly growing congregation.
5. Neglect. A substantial proportion of the pastor's time and energy must be allocated to potential future members. Since the increase in staff frequently lags behind the increase in membership, this often causes longtime members to believe they are being neglected. Gradual numerical decline is one way to offset this perception of neglect.
6. Commitment. Numerical growth tends to be more common in congregations moving toward the high-commitment end of a spectrum. Frequently, numerically shrinking congregations are drifting toward the low-commitment or low-expectation end of that spectrum. A decrease in the level of expectations for members can raise the comfort level.
from Building Church Leaders
Post a Comment