Three More Counter-Productive Church Growth Strategies

Mark Tidsworth, Founder and Team Leader

NOTE: Ready to awaken your church to the transformation opportunity window? These six Counter-Productive Church Growth Strategies, plus the Six Productive Church Growth Strategies coming in next articles make for a substantive learning and discussion opportunity for lay leadership teams, church staffs, or entire congregations. We are glad for you to use these to help raise awareness in your ministry setting.

This is the second of three articles addressing the most excellent church transformation opportunity right before us. The Great Re-Evaluation is underway, providing a transformation window for churches, positioning us for moving ahead with proactive purpose.

Part of maximizing this opportunity is shedding that which is no longer helpful. In addition to the three counter-productive, outdated church growth strategies described in the last article, here are three more to jettison right fast.

Gathering around something other than the Way of Jesus.

Have you read ReJesus, Remaking The Church In Our Founder’s Image by Michael Frost and Alan Hirsch? Originally published in 2008, the 2020 revision is even richer and more relevant. These two missional leaders call us toward Christology, allowing Jesus to be the center of our individual and communal lives as churches. To that end, they quote N.T. Wright, who says:

“If you want to know who God is, look at Jesus. If you want to know what it means to be human, look at Jesus. If you want to know what love is, look at Jesus. If you want to know what grief is, look at Jesus. And go on looking until you’re not just a spectator, but you’re actually part of the drama which has him as the central character.” 1

This is worth mentioning due to a particular tendency we observe, especially in moderate and progressive churches, though plenty of conservative churches struggle with this as well, though in a different way. Because we want to be welcoming of everyone wherever one is on their faith journey, and because we don’t want to be perceived as exclusive, some churches subtly shift the focus away from Jesus. Perhaps they interpret a clear focus on Christ as being judgmental toward other faith perspectives. With varying motivations, it seems that some churches become “Christian-ish,” rather than clearly pursuing the Way of Jesus.

I would suggest that Christian churches may want to be Christian churches. Certainly we are not interested in continuing the worn-out judgmental approaches of last century. Yet many of us also are drawn by the winsome, life-giving, and hopeful Way of Jesus. When a church goes all in on Jesus as its focus, church participants and those considering participating are rarely surprised. The story and way of Jesus are what draw us into the Christian story.

Practicing a reactive and defensive posture toward the current situation.

“Church: where the angry people are.”

That’s how far too many in our culture see church. They take note of the complaining, whining, irritation, frustration, and blaming… seeing churches as gathered communities of generally angry people, even while many non-church people don’t understand why church people are upset.

Here’s how this dynamic was created. Not too long ago (pre-2000), the Age of Christendom was still in effect in this USA. This was a time when Christianity and culture were thoroughly mixed, or even married, with each reinforcing the other. Christianity was the golden-child religion among many religions in North America. As the Postmodern Era became the new normal, Christendom steeply declined, dethroning Christianity from cultural prominence, bringing privilege-loss.

When loss occurs, the natural human response is grief (actually a healthy response), with its stages, including anger. Unfortunately, some churches became stuck in their anger, turning it toward the outside world (outside their walls), blaming culture for their lowered cultural status. Certainly this was/is not a conscious phenomenon, else who would do it? Yet, the blaming is real.

The result is that people who are not involved in churches sense the blame and anger when they encounter these churches, quickly recognizing they want no part of that kind of community. Defensive and reactive postures toward larger culture typically translate into barriers for those who otherwise may be interested in church.

Allowing energy-drainers to continue.

There are those church practices, programs, ministries, and structures that have seen their time, existing beyond their life-cycle. Church leaders know it’s far easier to begin something new than it is to stop doing something old. Yet, there are lingering practices from the Age of Christendom which were helpful and life-giving at one time…yet no longer. Unfortunately, too many churches allow these to continue, draining their energy for more helpful and relevant mission and ministry.

I’ve written extensively about snapback churches in ReShape: Emerging Church Practice In A Volatile World. These are churches who determine to snap back to exactly what they were doing before the pandemic. The extreme discomfort we experienced during the pandemic is super-charging the determination of some churches to become exactly who they were pre-pandemic, holding onto worn-out ways of being church.

If we want to stunt growth, preventing adaptation and innovation, then allowing that which drains our energy to continue is a great strategy.

Now, I’m very eager to move onto productive and helpful church growth strategies uniquely beneficial while this transformation window is open. In the meantime, courage Church, courage. God gives us what we need to do what God calls us to do. When it’s time to lay aside that which no longer serves God’s Church, we can move ahead boldly, pursuing that which is life-giving and empowering.

1 – N.T. Wright in a video about what he would want to tell his children. Cited in ReJesus, Remaking The Church In Our Founder’s Image. Michael Frost & Alan Hirsch, 100 Movements Publishing, Cody, WY. Revised edition, 2020.