After a decade in youth ministry, I moved to a small town church in 2002. The best days were behind us and the church knew we were in trouble. It was apparent our community moved on and forgot about us. If something didn’t break, the church would close and I would have to find another job. For some reason, the people stuck it out with me (at least most of them did). We tried every crazy idea to find traction in our community. Really, it took about five years before we were able to quit our moorings, starting a gradual, healthy growth to significance in our community.
You will not find a magic bullet for church growth. This isn’t about a wildfire, book worthy rocket growth lead by a pied piper pastor who knows how to gather a crowd. What you will find here is what I wish I would have know in 2002, resources I wish existed in 2002 and the lessons learned in implementation of good, bad and ugly ideas through the years.