A Serious Church Growth Strategy

Three "Don't"s and one "Do".

1. Don't name it.
If a church program or activity needs a name in order to flourish (or even make sense), it probably falls into that spacious category of marginally effective things that fill our lives, leaving no space to love our neighbors. (The only exceptions are small w worship and small i instruction and small f fellowship.)

2. Don't clone it.
Don't plagiarize, don't copy what worked at Willow Creek or Saddleback or Walla Walla or on-line or anywhere else. When we try to reproduce what may (or may not) have "worked" somewhere else, we shield ourselves from that desperate dependence on God's Spirit that is a pre-requisite to blessing.

3. Don't sell it.
Our fundamentalist forefathers were probably wise in insisting that the free gift of the gospel not be compromised by buying and selling. If you have to charge money for it, is it germane to the good news, or just another convenient concession to consumers?

OK, if we can't name it or clone it or sell it, what is left? What can we do? What must we do?

1. Love your neighbor.