How many one-generation congregations are members of your association?
I’m not referring to generational groups like baby boomers or Generation X but rather to how many congregations in your association only thrive during their initial years before joining the ranks of plateaued or declining congregations.
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Most likely, your honest answer is that there are too many. Eighty percent of congregations are either plateaued or declining in membership and attendance.
You can help new congregations succeed beyond their first generation by supporting them during two critical early stages.
The first stage is when they are initially launched or planted. If done well in response to God’s empowering vision for them, then they have a great foundation.
The standard church planting framework provides support for congregations primarily during their initial three years, addressing both opportunities and challenges. After this period, congregations may operate independently without ongoing assistance.
The second critical stage is between years four and 12, and what few congregations realize is that this is when they clearly deepen their way of doing things, including their culture and their traditions. These will be a predictor of their future vitality and vibrancy.
The association can come alongside them to help during the multiplying years. These years are the first of three phases shared in the previous column titled “Engaging the Lost Years of Congregations.” See HERE.
The multiplying years
During these years, congregations formalize programs and ministries that define their first generation of life. For these to be effective, congregations must establish them with flexibility, excitement and a deep spiritual discernment of God’s movement among them.
Christian maturity is a process that must be continually encouraged, supported and celebrated. These years will be ones of great joy and fulfillment — that is, if they are responsive to the pulling of God toward the full Kingdom potential of the congregation.
There are several important characteristics of the multiplying years.
First, in Year 7 of every congregation’s life they should engage in a sabbatical year as referenced in Leviticus 25:1–12. During this year they should discern anew the empowering vision from God that pulls them forward toward their full Kingdom potential.
They are at a different place spiritually as a congregation. New strategic approaches and methods emerge. Their context and the people groups they serve change.
Second, the focus must remain on the process of disciplemaking more than the program of discipleship. Each person must be encouraged to discern, discover, develop and deploy in order to fulfill the spiritual call of God on their lives.
Third, congregations need to maintain a clear emphasis on the geographical context or the defined people groups God is calling them to serve. It is not just about growing the congregation. It is about impacting the context or the people groups with the good news of Jesus.
Fourth, the sense of being on an exciting journey ought to continually characterize congregations. Spiritually connecting with people who also gather in community with God and one another should be their spiritual passion.
Fifth, each new person, household or family that attends the congregation should be seen as precious gifts from God. Treat them as people of great worth created in the image of God. Always welcome new people. Be sure they feel special without smothering them with approaches that are too pushy.
Your desire for these congregations is for their spiritual growth and obedience to God’s commission and commandment. If you graciously and consistently love people and encourage their deepening relationship with God, then the simple miracle of numerical growth will happen.
Sixth, create an atmosphere where everyone is invited to participate in leadership and to express their spiritual gifts. Connect people with leadership roles in which they are gifted, skilled and have a preference. Let them choose a role where they can see they are making a Christlike difference in the lives of people.
Nurture a volunteer culture that allows people to rush forward to engage in ministry out of the passion they feel for God’s call on their lives. This will reduce the number of people who must be recruited to fill various roles both now and in the future.
Throughout the multiplying years, God’s empowering vision must captivate the spiritual imagination of the congregation.
Next: The maturing years.
EDITOR’S NOTE — George Bullard spent 45 years in denominational ministry. He served on the staff of three associations, was a key staff person working with associations in two state conventions and served on the association missions division staff of the former Home Mission Board of the SBC. He retired in June 2022 as director of Columbia Metro Baptist Association in South Carolina. He has led strategic planning processes in more than 100 associations and has written extensively in this area. Bullard now serves as a strategic thinking mentor for Christian leaders through his ForthTelling Innovation ministry and a correspondent for The Baptist Paper.
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