Home Outreach Leaders Articles for Outreach & Missions Why Most Churches That Start Small…Stay Small

Why Most Churches That Start Small…Stay Small

5 Hindrances to Church Growth

For sure there are more than five reasons (I outline eight related but different reasons why churches never grow past 200 here).

But just know there is no silver bullet.

Doing these five things is no guarantee your church will grow.

But the opposite is true.

If you don’t pay attention to these five factors, there is a very good chance your church won’t grow. At least not substantially or sustainably.

1. Big Hopes…but Small Strategy

There isn’t a single leader who’s planted a church (or started anything) who hasn’t had big hopes.

The challenge is that often those hopes have no strategy to back them up.

Or if they have a strategy, it’s a strategy that isn’t designed to take the community past 100 or 200 people.

You can’t operate as though you were a church of 500 when there are 50 in the room, but you have to plan for the day when there will be 500, not 50, in the room.

Some questions:

What’s your strategy to reach your community?

What’s your organizational chart look like at 50 people, 100, 200, 500, 1,000?

How will your role change as your church grows?

How will your team change and develop as you grow?