Important Questions to Ask if You Want Church Growth

With thanks to our good friend, Bradley Hadleigh, of Great Tremlett. Inspired by the far more sensible Kelvin Holdsworth.

1. Aren't you a bit crowded anyway? Apart from the pews in the front half of the church. And nobody wants to sit there.
2. Do you really want another building project?
3. Are you prepared to sit next to somebody you don't know? In your pew?
4. Where is everyone going to park? The lanes round the church are already full on Sunday mornings. And the Archdeacon says you can't put parking on the graveyard.
5. Do you really want to go to the trouble of getting to know new people?
6. Those hymn books are out of date, out of print, and they're running short. What sort of process does your church have in place for selecting a new hymn book, and raising the money for an unspecified number?
7. You're going to have to buy a new PA, aren't you?

   

   Do you really want these seats occupied? Think of the cleaning.

8. Who's going to run all the confirmation / membership / Alpha courses? The Vicar's already maxed out. And now s/he has the building project to cope with as well.
9. Are there enough cups in the church hall for post-service tea? Has anyone considered what they might cost if there's a revival?
10. What happens if the growth brings enthusiastic people who want to change things? How will you stop them?
11. Church growth might bring children. And Sally who runs the Sunday School is 98. How will she cope?
12. Isn't God really keener on a remnant?
13. Growth can be spiritual as well as numerical. And spiritual things are better than mere numbers. So what you really need is another hymn on Sunday mornings.
14. If you are more welcoming, people might come along to more services. Can you cope with the effort of being welcoming every week?
15. If you have more people singing each week, is the organ up to it?
16. Can you remember the names of new people? Only if you can't remember them, it would be rude to have them there.