How to lead a church that want to engage, part 2: Encouraging your congregation to grow

Rev. Richard Hardy of Care for the Family examines how for churches, sometimes less church is more!

One of the key questions I’ve been asked by church leaders is: ‘How do I mobilise my congregation?’

The answer is complex, and may well include some self-awareness by Church Leaders to recognise that sometimes what we do in church life discourages this kind of engagement.

For example, expectations are placed upon the congregation in terms of attendance at church events. This means they have little time to think about engagement. If you are expected to be in attendance at a small group; participate in a ministry; go to business meetings and be in church at least once on a Sunday, then there is little time for anything else.

This can be particularly acute for those in the various forms of church leadership. A volunteer children’s worker, for example, will find the time needed for preparing a children’s session will edge out other activities.

Part of the solution is not to abandon these aspects of church life, but rather to modify our expectations of the congregation.

A ‘come and receive’ culture

It is also true that churches can be guilty of encouraging the congregation to regard church as a place to ‘come and receive’. Some radical thinkers have even suggested that having a paid, ‘professional’ class of church leaders encourages the growth of church as a spectator sport. I’m not sure I agree with that, but I do like this quote:

“Church is a little like a football match with 22 men on the pitch desperately in need of a rest, watched by 22,000 spectators who are desperately in need of exercise.”

In his book, Forgotten Ways, Alan Hirsch suggests that if we are to see our congregations grow in character more like Christ we need to think through what we offer by way of discipleship.

Hirsch argues that the best way to see people grow in faith is to encourage them into places of service that will stretch them and encourage them to rely upon God and others. This means encouraging them to do things that are unfamiliar to them and for which they may feel ill-equipped. Hirsch calls this pushing them to the ‘edge of chaos’ where change and growth occurs.

Community engagement – a place of chaos (but good chaos!)

What better place to see this happen than in the area of community engagement? It is amazing how often our church members’ enthusiasm for church grows, as we encourage them to move out into our neighbourhoods, our networks of relationships and our places of work, to meet need and demonstrate the relevance of our faith in practical ways.

One church encouraged its congregation to set up a team to visit a local prison. The team was told that they were now a small group and that their prayer; study and preparation should focus around their area of practical service. The fact that they had never done anything like this before made them rely on each other and look to God for more.

Another church encouraged those who commuted to work on the train to gather together and become a small group on the train. They met on the same train; same carriage every Tuesday to pray; study and talk about their work pressures. By using dead time in their days it freed up other time for service.

Recently a friend of mine joined her local branch of Street Pastors, gathering with other Christians from across her city to pray together and serve together on the streets on a Friday night. She has seen her faith grow in the extremity of the situation and she feels real affinity for those she serves with and those who receive her service.

It is amazing how much impact encouraging your congregation out of the building and into the community in novel ways can have. And as people grow, the church will usually grow too.

Last Updated 11 January 2010