Many of our calendars are packed full with our kids' activities, church activities, community/volunteer services and work. We continue to try and squeeze "just one more" item into our calendars. And yet, continuing to do many things still leaves us feeling at a loss. Do we have space to connect with others or with God? As a church leader, how can we provide a place to grow spiritually and how do we measure that growth? Carey Nieuwhof and Tony Morgan from The Unstuck Group have research-backed observations on the differences between programs and a path to develop and grow disciples.
I’ve observed something interesting in healthy, growing churches over the last several years.
The ones experiencing the most healthy growth tend to approach discipleship as a path. The leaders spend time thinking on how to best help people along in their journey following Christ. They spend their energy simplifying to offer people a series of next steps.
By contrast, many of the churches I see that are in decline have an overwhelming number of programs available to attendees and even the community, but no cohesive path that helps people learn which steps to take and when.
"Healthy churches approach discipleship as a path, not a program." @tonymorganlive
I drew this illustration and shared it on my blog a couple of years ago:
As you might imagine, there are several key differences between both types of churches:
1. How They Define the Win
Over-programmed churches see the win as getting more people involved in more activities. They wouldn’t say that, but it’s how they operate.
Ask any staff member about the momentum or success they are seeing in ministry, and you will almost always hear reports of how many people attended their last event, class or study.
Churches with a path see the win as helping more people Healthy churches help people take steps. More of anything is not a step.take a next step. That common understanding unifies staff and simplifies decision making. If there’s no way to measure whether or not it helps people take a next step, they’re probably not going to do it.
2. How They Decide What Gets Communicated
Over-programmed churches communicate everything. There’s competition amongOver-programmed churches communicate everything. Churches with a path communicate one thing. ministry leaders for people’s attention, and they often complain about lack of communications support for their area. The communications director is frustrated because there can be no strategy when everything is communicated all of the time.
Churches with a path communicate one thing. They help people take one step at a time. Communications is clear.
3. How They Structure the Team
Over-programmed churches staff and structure their team around all of their programs. This naturally creates ministry silos and turf wars.
And, as I’m sure you can guess, churches with a path staff and structure their team around the path. This fosters collaboration as all staff are focused on helping people take their next step.
4. How They Engage Their Volunteers
More programs mean more demand for volunteers. Over-programmed churches often feel like they don’t have enough volunteers, even when they have a high percentage of people engaged. They spread the pool of people they have too thin.
More focus means there’s less competition for volunteers and more freedom for people to serve based on their gifts and strengths, rather than just filling positions for an ever-growing list of needs.
When you focus on a path, fewer volunteers accomplish more.
5. How They Prioritize
In over-programmed churches, whatever gets on the calendar first wins. And, things that have always been on the calendar stay on the calendar… because, well, they’ve always been on the calendar.
Churches with a path plan and build their ministry calendar around whatever helps people take a next step. Prioritization is easy. New ideas are embraced. Methods and traditions are routinely sacrificed for the good of the mission.
Here’s the reality–every individual is accountable for their own spiritual growth. And, when we look back at our lives, most of the time, it was relationships that helped us grow in our love for Jesus and our desire to follow His way.
The advantage in having a simple, clear discipleship path over an assortment of programs is that you make it easy for new followers of Jesus to build important relationships at the right times in their journey.
You give them space to ask their questions and In effective churches, people realize they’re responsible for their own spiritual growth.opportunities to exercise their faith. You also make it simpler for church leaders and lead volunteers to not let people fall through the cracks, especially early on when they need the most guidance and time investment.
All that to say, your path — or your programs — are not likely going to ever be so effective in and of themselves that you turn into a spiritual maturity factory. Making disciples is never going to be a tidy process. The Holy Spirit’s work can’t be replaced by a class or a method.
However, a discipleship path will help your church serve people better than a bunch of programs, and as we’re seeing, there’s at least a correlation between a clear path and healthy growth.
Over-programming is a sign your church is in the first phase of its decline.
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Find the original article "Healthy Church Growth: Programs vs Path" by Carey Nieuwhof.
