To Grow or Not To Grow
by Charles H. Chandler, Executive Director
I received a frantic telephone call from a pastor recently. He had been approached by a group of "interested" church leaders asking him to resign as pastor. As usual, they commended his character and his work ethic. However, as much as they "hated to do it," they felt that "for the church's well being," the church needed new leadership. The bottom line was the church's lack of growth. With a new pastor, they were convinced that the church would grow. He was desperate because he had no savings and did not know how he would provide for his family. The rejection all but destroyed him.
Ironically, within a few hours, I received a call from a pastor in another state saying that a group of church leaders had confronted him, demanding his resignation. The reason they gave was that he had brought too many new people into the church and they did not know everybody anymore. The pastor was confused and angry, saying, "They told me when I came that they wanted to grow; now they want to fire me because we did grow."
To grow or not to grow, that is the question! In each of the above cases the end result was the same - loss of ministry position, a deep sense of rejection, confusion about their ability to lead a church, erosion of self-esteem, shock, and an abundance of anger. How can a pastor succeed under such inconsistent circumstances? What do churches want? Do they want leadership? Do they really want to grow? These were some of the questions going through the minds of these pastors.
Though no pastor wants the church he or she serves to decline or plateau, some churches are located in communities that are diminishing. It's difficult for churches to experience continuous growth in declining communities. Though the pastor is expected to project a vision for church growth, real growth involves commitment on the part of the congregation. Through teamwork, the pastor and lay leaders can create a climate for growth. The Barna Research Studies report that according to a survey they conducted, only a minority of regular church attenders stated that evangelism, having meaningful relationships with other people in their church, and giving a tithe or more of their income to their church were very important endeavors.1
To complicate the matter further, the same Barna survey states that just eight percent of senior pastors say they have the spiritual gift of evangelism. Two-thirds of senior pastors claim they have the gift of teaching or preaching.
When a majority of senior pastors feel inadequate in evangelism, and a majority of the lay leaders do not consider evangelism or having meaningful relationships with other people in their church important, is it any wonder that a majority of churches are in a state of plateau?
When pastor search or call committees talk with prospective pastors, usually the item at the top or near the top of their list of priorities is church growth. These priorities usually come from a church profile survey. The church membership lists these priorities. However, most profiles are "left brain" or "head" responses. It's the response church members think they are supposed to give. "Right brain" or "heart" responses might be more accurate.
Some new senior pastors take the profile seriously and begin to work hard at reaching people. Then when too many new members come into the church, the homeostasis or status quo is interrupted. Change is threatening. Power structures are affected. Church patriarchs and matriarchs may assume their power is diminishing. Power cliques recognize that with so many new members, their block vote could lose its vantage point. Not only do they not know everyone, everyone does not know them nor recognize their power. Sometimes social strata becomes more diverse and church members grumble "Things are just not the same at church anymore." Since the pastor was the catalyst that brought the new members in, or at least mobilized some of the church members to get involved in outreach and evangelism, the new pastor is the threat. He or she must go in order to save the church - and the homeostasis.
The sad truth is that a significant number of senior ministers are forced out of their ministry position for one of these two reasons - lack of growth or growth. That is a sad commentary on the state of too many churches.
The Barna survey shows that church attenders expect the pastor to juggle an average of 16 major tasks, which within itself is a recipe for failure. No one can handle the wide range of responsibilities that people expect pastors to master. Only through creating a team of gifted and compatible believers who work together in pursuing a commonly held vision within a climate of love for people can this be accomplished.
1 For more information concerning findings from Barna Research Studies, see Barna Research Online, Strategic Information You Can Trust, at www.barna.org.