Transforming Church

Bigger is not necessarily better.
But I have come to see that congregational renewal that tries to pursue endless growth is unlikely, unrealistic, and perhaps not as desirable as the alternative – congregations that multiply through planting new congregations. As I have come to explore this issue, I now believe that the Evangelical Lutheran Church and other denominations like it may be poised to begin to grow in dramatic ways and sooner than we think. We simply need to learn (again) that healthy congregations are not an end in themselves, but rather a means through which church planting is done in order to multiply the church.

Research shows that it is easier to have congregations with less than 150 people attending each week that have healthier ministry and higher engagement levels than congregations with over 1000 attending each week. This is not to say that most of today’s small congregations are missional – the evidence would show that they are not. This also is not to say that there are not healthy and missional larger congregations – of course there are. Nor is it to say that we should not rejoice and pursue larger congregations when the situation points in that direction – of course we should.

It is, however, to say that in engaging disciples and reaching out to non-Christians to make new disciples, the evidence shows that small family sized and medium pastoral sized congregations that will multiply are, overall, the most effective and efficient method to grow the church.

How can we most effectively reach new people for Christ?
Natural Church Development research shows that both the growth rate and health of smaller congregations are generally higher than that of their larger counterparts. In fact, global data shows that over a 5 year period the growth rate of smaller congregations results in 8-10 times larger per capita growth. Ten congregations of 100 people will generally outperform one congregation of 1000 people. This means that if we are planting congregations, it is strategically better to try to plant ten congregations that will average 100 people attending each week, than to plant one congregation that will average 1000.

Common sense tells us this is so. Consider two scenarios. We can give one developer a million dollars and charge him or her with starting a congregation that will average 1000 attendees each week. Or we can give ten developers $100,000 each and charge them with starting congregations that will average 100 attendees each. Both strategies theoretically will result in 1000 attendees. Which has the highest probability of success, especially within the culture of the ELCA? Of course, the ten groups of 100 attendees will be likely to reach 1000 people first almost every time. In fact, a high percentage of ELCA mission congregations reach 100 attending each week prior to erecting a building. Only a very small percentage of ELCA mission congregations reach 1000 attending each week at any time in their life cycle. A strategy based on planting a few mega-churches is destined to produce fewer results than a strategy that plants dozens of smaller congregations. Good use of resources points to more new starts on a smaller scale rather than fewer new starts on a grand scale.

Multiplication-Churches planting Churches.
A logical question is, "If smaller congregations are the best way to grow the church, and if smaller congregations are the ELCA's bread and butter, why then is the ELCA not growing?" The answer is, "Multiplication has been lost from our denomination's DNA." The key to growing the church again is to have healthy, missional congregations that are willing to multiply and plant new congregations early and often in their lifecycles. We have the base from which to do the work – we have simply not done the work!

Prior to World War II other congregations planted the majority of Lutheran congregations in the United States. A congregation would notice that a new group of people had moved into an area with no Lutheran congregation and they would help start one. Generally these congregations collected Lutherans – evangelism was not at their core. But the sense that it was the responsibility of congregations to assist in starting other congregations was a natural part of the church's life.

After World War II, things changed rapidly and dramatically. The rise of denominations became a new focus and increasingly formed a primary framework for the work of the church. As a result, many things done closer to home in an earlier era now became networked and overseen at an increasingly national level. This meant that rather than starting new congregations, local people sent resources to the denomination to support denominational efforts. It was not that congregations did not support this work, but they had no direct involvement in most of these efforts. Denominational support and missional mindsets became more and more equated as being one and the same.

Another change that followed World War II was the rapid growth and shift in population. The baby boom meant that there was a need for a huge number of new starts in a relatively short period of time. Because most of this growth was weighted much more heavily in the southern and western parts of the country (where Lutherans were more sparsely located) there were few congregations close to where we needed to start new ministries. To rely on congregations in Minnesota and Pennsylvania to start congregations in Florida and Arizona was unrealistic. The denomination had to act quickly or miss the mission moment.

Planting as a local initiative.
These developments meant that most congregations after World War II were started with heavy involvement from the national church but little direct involvement from local congregations. The critical practice of churches multiplying to plant other churches was lost. We continued to develop ministries that were pastoral in size, but when they got that large they stopped growing. With no multiplying behaviors to start more ministries, our capacity to reach out to people was then capped and the church stagnated.

In spite of denominational efforts within the ELCA to plant new congregations, we actually have several hundred less congregations than the ELCA had when it formed in 1987! The natural life cycle of congregations means than many close each year. This is not a catastrophe (none of the congregations that the Apostle Paul planted are still open!). It is part of the way life is.

Multiplication-a key to reversing decline.
It is not the size of our congregations that is the primary reason the ELCA has stopped growing. It is the loss of multiplication to provide systems where people can be reached for Jesus Christ. Sending people out to start a new congregation leaves a hole in the parent congregation and provides space for new people to once again enter an old system that has again become dynamic due to church planting. Planting a new congregation also provides a new group of people gathered around the gospel and a second entry point into the life of the church through the new congregation.

The fastest way to grow the church will not be to convince small and middle-sized congregations that they should want to be large congregations. The fastest way for the ELCA to grow again will be to help existing congregations capture a vision for church planting that allows us to multiply the churches that we do the best – generally smaller family and medium pastoral sized congregations. Every healthy congregation in the ELCA needs to be challenged and equipped to plant a new ministry to reach new people!

Examples of Churches Planting Churches.
Two brief examples will show us that this can be done – in fact it is being done! One group, World Impact in Los Angeles, helps start new ministries in marginalized communities in urban settings to reach people not being reached by existing congregations. Teams of people (clergy and laity) offer their time and enter a community in order to seek out unchurched people with leadership potential. The church planting team then disciples and mentors these people to form a core team and help them start small groups to reach out into the community. These small groups are then taught to multiply and the participants of the groups are gathered to form a worshipping community. Eventually, an indigenous leader is identified from within the new ministry. This leader is trained, mentored and coached until he or she is ready to become the pastor. At this point the church planting team leaves and an indigenous congregation with a trained and indigenous leader is in place.

This is similar to the method used by the Apostle Paul. Paul entered a community, a congregation was formed from within the context, and Paul arrived assuming (praying!) that the congregation would form around the development of indigenous leaders. Eventually, Paul would leave the responsibility of leading the new community to someone that he had identified and trained from within the context. He knew that it is easier to make a leader into a Christian than it is to make a Christian into a leader (although either way is possible and both are necessary).

Using this method today means that by thinking creatively and practically, new congregations are started by an existing congregation or group of congregations who are willing to send leaders who will volunteer to work part time in order to make it happen. Often, no outside finances are needed. Synods and churchwide resources are more related to training and coaching and less about writing checks. Eventually, the original core planting team leaves the new congregation and the indigenous and trained leaders lead the new church using a model that is appropriate for that context.

New ways of Equipping and Sending Leaders.
A second path can be seen in traditions with different methods of raising up and credentialing leaders than mainline denominations usually have been comfortable doing. The Four Square Gospel Church, which has its strength on the west coast, relies heavily on this method. In this model, the parent congregation identifies a person to serve as the mission developer of the new ministry. This person may need to be trained and mentored. In some cases, he or she may have none of the educational prerequisites traditionally assumed for such a role within mainline traditions. However, training and mentoring are provided and at the point when the person is deemed ready, he or she would then be sent out to start a new ministry. A key here is that the parent congregation not only sends out the developer - the parent congregation also sends out some of its most mature and passionate people to be the core of the new ministry. This means no developer starts from scratch and no congregation starts alone. People and resources are already in place from the beginning. This is a key to multiplication.

Essential to this model is the willingness to send out capable people for the sake of the mission. It means starting from strength. Research shows (a major study of this was done in Spain) that in most cases, a missional parent congregation will receive more new members into its ministry than it initially gives up to the mission start. This has been the experience of the Four Square Gospel movement. But it is counter-intuitive and takes more courage than many congregations and leaders can envision themselves mustering up. Research shows that congregations that simply collect people will eventually stagnate. Congregations that send people will continue to receive what they need to proceed faithfully.

What is needed for the ELCA and other traditions to pursue this tact and begin to grow again?
First, we need a worldview transplant. For too long we have relied on our past and our buildings to attract people to us – those days are long gone. A burning desire to reach people with the gospel of Jesus Christ has to move people out of their comfort zones for the sake of mission. To take the steps required to begin to multiply congregations will mean that our passion for mission will have to exceed our commitment to stability.

Second, we will have to raise up leaders who raise up leaders. We have too many pastors and lay leaders who hope to make followers. Multiplication of congregations means having leaders who first multiply leaders. Every missional leader needs to see his or her role as including the identification, equipping, mentoring and coaching of new leaders.

Third, we need to find new ways to test leaders to help them learn. This means starting up more new ministries within congregations where new leaders can learn and flourish. The entrepreneurial task of starting new congregations will grow best in an environment where new ministries are always forming. These can be small groups, new worship experiences, or a wide variety of other new ministry efforts within the life of a congregation. The truth is that people need supportive environments to learn and practice entrepreneurial leadership. Without such a farm system, leaders can only be sent out untested. Within such a framework, skills and confidence provide a base for new mission when it is time to send a prepared leader out to start a new congregation in the world around us.

Fourth, we need leadership that is more willing to take chances for the sake of mission. By playing it "safe" with leadership we have cultivated one of the most educated clergy forces in all of Christendom and ended up with a church that is at risk. Education alone has not translated into a passion for mission or any ability to reach out to the world. Bishops, Candidacy Committees and others who oversee the credentialing of new leaders within the church need to be more creative in how people enter mission development.

This is not to say that standards should be lowered. In fact, it may be that standards will increase in some ways. But the key is how standards are applied and where markers are placed in the journey may need to change. More indigenous leaders will need to be raised up locally. The vast majority of these people need to be able to stay in their settings while they are equipped. This will involve seminaries thinking bigger. The need for large scale, missional and theological education for both lay and ordained leaders has never been greater. All that is needed is the imagination to seize the moment and to mobilize for mission in this new day. This means more use of local faculty, ecumenical partners, and distance learning. It will utilize an elevated role for mentoring and coaching in the process. It also means that all leaders need to have better continuing education standards so that credentialing is not the end of learning but a benchmark in the journey that is expected to continue for life.

Fifth, leaders will have to become more comfortable with a wider variety of models for the church. Congregations of 30 – 50 people with a part time or non-stipendiary leader who is licensed to provide word and sacrament ministry may be one way to reach out effectively into some places where the denomination would or could never plant a traditional congregation. Such a group that would facilitate the formation of other such groups could multiply the church several times over without ever producing one group that could own a traditional building or support a full time pastor with a graduate school education. Yet the church would grow and the body of Christ would be flourishing. Done well, such communities could still have well trained and effective leaders that everyone would be proud of and be incredibly important in the formation of Christian disciples.

Finally, leadership will have to be willing to support and recognize a wider variety of definitions of pastoral leadership. Pastors trained in congregational and synodical programs would need to be seen as equally valid with clergy who attended seminary and received graduate degrees. Plumbers who work part-time as pastors would have to be valued as much as clergy who work full time in the church. Non-stipendiary positions would have to be as valid as paid ones. The word, the integrity of the leadership, and the mission would have to replace the "guild mentality" that some leaders have in our church today.

Within the ELCA and several other denominations, the current policies already permit much of what we need to do the work. While such policies could be strengthened to better encourage multiplication, more than policies we need courageous and creative leaders who are willing to use the policies creatively in order to encourage multiplication of both new leaders and new congregations. If parish pastors and lay leaders, judicatory leaders and churchwide staffs can agree on the need to multiply and agree to work toward this end, amazing power is located just beneath the surface of our church!

In conclusion, although it may not be a popular notion, the most effective way to grow the church is to encourage small family sized and medium pastoral sized congregations to once again enter the work of planting new congregations. Many of the congregations they plant will also be small and middle sized. There will always be a role and a need for larger program and corporate sized congregations. In fact, they should be multiplying all the more often than their smaller counterparts! But if the ELCA and other mainline denominations are to once again be influential in producing new disciples of Jesus Christ, it will be essential that we see small family sized and medium pastoral sized congregations as the asset they are. Multiplication is the one thing that can change this reality almost overnight.

Another article on this topic is "Local Churches With High Capacity Church Multiplication Centers" by Linda Stanley