I sat in a local church recently that was full and vibrant. The pastor stood up in front of the packed house and shocked me with what he said: “We need some of you to leave.”
Those who were guests couldn’t believe their ears, but the locals knew what he meant. It was time to multiply.
You see, the heartbeat of that church and others who desire to be a multiplying church is that when they reach capacity with one or two services, a building campaign for a larger facility is not on their mind. Instead, they free up space for new people by sending out a flock to plant a church.
During the church growth era, the growth curve was a steady rise to the top. Churches bought into the idea that bigger is better. Therefore, they established excellent programs to draw in others. As the church began to grow and reach capacity, either multiple services were started or a building campaign was begun. When the new building opened, they continued to grow to fill that up as well.
The speakers who were on the stage were from the largest churches. They were celebrated in popular publications. Therefore, there was a drive to be bigger and better than the church down the road. The church down the road was more of a threat than a teammate.
The future evangelistic, multiplying church will have a different-looking growth curve. The church will share the gospel, love people, and grow because people are valued and transformed. As they reach 80 percent capacity, they will launch out a flock of people to plant or go on mission and dip in attendance. They will slowly rise and stabilize, then grow again. Then the process will repeat. Swell and release.
The healthiest future church growth curve will look like a beating heart.
It may be a good time for your church to have a heart checkup. Is your church flatlined? Is it growing but not releasing? Are you willing to launch?
It’s time to leave the church. Go and multiply!