Why Doesn't My Church Grow?

I’ve tried everything, so why doesn’t my church grow?

There may be as many answers to this question as there are pastors asking it. So perhaps the most helpful approach would be to suggest a couple of answers that are generally accurate, then, if these do not meet your particular situation, contact us and let us know your more specific circumstances.

• First, make sure your motivation is correct. James 4:3 tells us that “When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives.” 

Make sure your motivation is making disciples, not church growth. Sometimes we can feel great pressure to grow the congregation in order to meet denominational expectations or even self-imposed goals. It’s important to remember that our job as pastors is not to grow the church but to make disciples (Matt. 28:18). When we get to heaven Jesus is not going to hold us accountable for the size of our congregation; He will expect that we will have been fully engaged in making disciples. That being the case, it can be helpful to remember that making disciples does not always translate into church growth.

Often, people will come to Christ, begin to see dramatic and powerful life changes, and then move out of the area because better opportunities suddenly open up elsewhere for themselves or their families. Your statistics show salvations and baptisms, yet not enough steady population growth to offset those who die or move away. Does that mean your church is stuck in a rut? Not necessarily. If you are consistently making disciples for Jesus Christ, then you are actively sending new believers into other communities, spreading the gospel wherever they go. Remember, following the necessary explosive growth on the day of Pentecost and the months following, the most effective advance of the gospel involved the establishment of small churches across the Roman Empire.

• Understand your neighborhood. If you live in a community that boasts more cows than people, church growth is likely going to be limited by the ratio of people per acre of land and travel distance to your church facility. Even so, your primary objective remains the same—making disciples of all nations (ethnic groups), locally and globally. The smallest country church can be intentionally and creatively engaged in that mission and never see explosive growth. That’s okay! 

It is the Lord who grows His church, not us. With that in mind, let your motivation be serving Him by making disciples.

• Bring new disciples into the family. Assuming “church growth” for you means making disciples, and your area of ministry—your neighborhood—represents a large harvest field, then be intentional about engaging new converts immediately in the life of the church. Begin with home Bible studies—in their homes and yours. Invite others from the church family to these, and then invite the new believers to corporate worship and church events. “Go out to the roads and country lanes and compel them to come in, so that my house will be full” (Luke 14:23).

Above all, love them and demonstrate that love in practical ways, meeting needs and entrusting them with appropriate ministry responsibilities as soon as possible, according to their spiritual gifts and willingness to serve. Making disciples goes way beyond making converts; it entails bringing those you have led to Jesus into a lifestyle of surrender and following Jesus. You are their spiritual parent. Your church family is automatically their church family.

So do not be embarrassed about your church’s small numbers or outdated worship style. Every family has its quirks. Just show them what the love of God looks like in the family of God and teach them to obey everything Jesus teaches. The superficial things you may be embarrassed about will never change until there are new people brought in to help effect that change. Your job is to make disciples. Focus on that and trust God with the rest!