1. Get your act together on visitor follow up. A plan for welcoming, name tags, and follow up after each of the first four visits. This can double your rate of people retention. In some cases, this alone can tip you into net gains.2. Help your people, especially new people, get off the sidelines and into ministry as fast as possible. Today’s worshippers are often looking for community engagement and for a way to be a blessing in the world. Help them get there! Lots of coffee chats outside of group gatherings.
3. Get out of the church house. Fresh Expressions type ministry initiatives will greatly expand the bandwidth of your church’s reach. There is a Church is Changing podcast episode soon (released in early February) on how to start such groups.
4. Get out of the church house. Part 2: develop partnerships with non-religious groups whose concerns and passions overlap with yours. Love some vulnerable community people, TOGETHER! Every church needs at least three good community partners.
5. Stand for something. The churches who stand up to the rising fascism in America will do better than the ones who do not. This is not primarily a pastor-led thing. Empower laity!! Help them organize. Just watch how this plays out by end of decade! Don’t get on the wrong side of God’s grace/justice or of history!! On the same token, your best witness may simply be organizing to support and ally with your neighbors. You don’t have to lead a social justice parade to earn moral credibility in your community. Live the gospel. Publicly.
My congregation, The United Methodist Church of Palm Springs, California had 107 worshipers in the church house three years ago last Sunday. Then, 138 same Sunday in 2024. Then 168, same Sunday 2025. And then 220 last Sunday. Each week, as we study the same Sunday over the previous three years, it’s the same. The church doubled in three years in a community where 95 percent of our population is essentially unchurched. The sermons and music did not change. I am not the pastor. I simply work ten hours a week focused on developing ministries and ministry systems.
When I ask why we are growing, the above five reasons came up. In the weeks ahead, I will be exploring each of them in the podcast and in various posts. When Epicenter Group works with congregations, we always ask, “What needs to happen here to get this church growing?” If you would like to explore that question for your church, we would love to be in the conversation with you. Please reach out to us at epicentergroup.dc@gmail.com or 703 403 2873.
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