How do we get more people to come to church when we don't have a big outreach budget?
How can we recruit more leaders?
How do we assimilate or connect people better?
What's the best way to get people into groups?
How can we leverage Facebook and social media?
We've taken your questions and built insanely practical products. The Small Group Action Guide, the Volunteer Action Guide, and The Systems Course – just to name a few – are all built to answer the questions listed above. We've also released a ton of free resources designed to answer your questions and provide practical help. We love questions.
Pastors that ask questions are probably great leaders. They know that if they are the smartest person in the room, it's time to go into a different room.
But even though we're asked all kinds of questions about outreach, growth, small groups, multi-site, Facebook and more, there's one question we think you ought to ask us. While all questions are good, there's one question that is much more important than all of the others. There is one question we think you should ask yourself, ask smart people, and ask God.
How do I need to grow as a leader?
Leadership is the #1 church growth barrier churches face. It's not facilities or staff or strategy.
9 times out of 10, if your church is stuck, growing as a leader will help you navigate the necessary change. More often than not, when the pastor gets better, the church gets better. Most often, it's the personal leadership ability of the pastor and leaders that need to grow.
It's more fun to start new services and new ministries. But it's more effective to grow as a leader.
I've found this to be true in my own ministry and business. When our church was stuck, it wasn't our facilities or staff holding us back…it was me. When our business was stuck, it wasn't because we needed a new product or advertising campaign…it's because I was stuck. I didn't need to look at other people or outside forces. I needed to look in the mirror.
So how do you need to grow as a leader? Where do you need to create an intentional plan? What part of your life or ministry needs to get better?
Senior Pastors that don't ask these questions end up stuck. But Senior Pastors that ask this question often (then take action) tend to lead their churches well.