Rich Birch has interviewed over 200 leaders from the fastest growing churches in the US, and he’s taken good notes. He’s boiled down their best practices to 5 common strategies almost every growing church uses and shows you how you can implement them in your church, too.
Welcome to Episode 179 of the podcast. Listen and access the show notes below or search for the Carey Nieuwhof Leadership Podcast on iTunes or wherever you get your podcasts and listen for free.
Guest Links
Rich on Instagram | Twitter | unseminary.com | rich@unseminary.com
Church Growth Fly Wheel Download the first chapter for free!
CNLP 003: Leadership Trends with Rich Birch
CNLP 113: UnSeminary’s Rich Birch On Why Some Churches Beat The Odds And Grow
CCLP Bonus 005: Rich Birch, Jeff Brodie And Carey Nieuwhof On Caring For The Leader’s Soul
Links Mentioned
Register now for Carey’s FREE Webinar: The 3 Little-Known Secrets High Capacity Leaders Use to Take Back Their Calendars, Crush Their To-Do Lists, and Spend More Time With Their Families. February 20th, 11amPST/2pmEST. Spots are limited. Learn more at TheHighImpactLeader.com
TrainedUp Use coupon code FIRST50 and receive 50% off of your first month of service!
3 Insights from This Episode
1. A church should be growing at the same rate as its community
The majority of the churches who are growing aren’t growing faster than the communities they are in. 94% of all churches in North America are losing ground and if a church is growing by 3% that’s considered breaking even. So, that means only 6% of churches are actually growing faster than their communities.
Take time to think about how your growth compares to the growth going on around your church. Are you matching that growth, exceeding it or falling short?
2. Growth should be a priority for leaders
Often, stalled churches push back on the idea that growth should be a priority for leaders. Obviously, growth isn’t the only sign of a healthy church – there can be fast growing churches that aren’t healthy. The challenge for smaller churches – or any size church whose numbers are at a standstill – is to refrain from criticizing the growing churches around you. Don’t write off the fact that there are some practical, simple things you could do that would allow you to share the gospel with more people.
Sunday priorities can’t only be about increasing weekly attendance, but leaders should absolutely be thinking about that growth. We have the most amazing story to share with as many people as we can. At the end of the day, churches who are passionate about spreading the message of Christ should want to proactively do more to reach people.
3. Big serving opportunities can grow your church while doing good at the same time
Most churches find it’s easier to get people to volunteer for big service projects than to serve regularly on Sunday mornings. Why? Because service projects typically require less time and create those “feel good”, “give back” moments people want to be a part of.
A church grows when its people talk about it. On average, 2% of attenders will promote their church to others over the course of a year. 2%! But events that make a difference in the community are the kinds of things you want to tell your friends about – and share on social channels. They also offer ways to reach out to those friends who may feel more comfortable being a part of a good thing rather than a God thing.
Quotes from This Episode
CNLP 179: Rich Birch on the Church Growth Flywheel – The 5 Things Growing Churches Do That Most Others Don’t Click To Tweet Just because something is growing doesn't mean you should criticize it. @richbirch Click To Tweet CNLP 179: Rich Birch on the Church Growth Flywheel – The 5 Things Growing Churches Do That Most Others Don’t Click To Tweet CNLP 179: Rich Birch on the Church Growth Flywheel – The 5 Things Growing Churches Do That Most Others Don’t Click To Tweet CNLP 179: Rich Birch on the Church Growth Flywheel – The 5 Things Growing Churches Do That Most Others Don’t Click To Tweet CNLP 179: Rich Birch on the Church Growth Flywheel – The 5 Things Growing Churches Do That Most Others Don’t Click To TweetThe podcast releases every Tuesday morning
Subscribe for free and never miss out on wisdom from world-class leaders like Brian Houston, Andy Stanley, Louie Giglio, Ravi Zacharias, Craig Groeschel, Sue Miller, Kara Powell, Chuck Swindoll, Greg McKeown, Jon Acuff and many others.
Subscribe via
Plus, I host a second podcast every month called the Canadian Church Leaders Podcast. If you’re Canadian, or just interested in ministry in a post-Christian culture, you can subscribe for free as well at:
Appreciate This? Rate the Podcast.
Hopefully, this episode has helped you lead like never before. That’s my goal. If you appreciated it, could you share the love?
The best way to do that is to rate the podcast on iTunes and leave us a brief review! You can do the same on Stitcher and on TuneIn Radio as well.
Your ratings and reviews help us place the podcast in front of new leaders and listeners. Your feedback also lets me know how I can better serve you.
Thank you for being so awesome.
Next Episode: William Vanderbloemen
Every church and workplace has a culture. Unfortunately, often it’s a bad one. The Vanderbloemen Search Group has been named by Entrepreneur magazine and other organizations as one of America’s top workplace cultures. William Vanderbloemen explains the keys to creating an amazing workplace culture and why it will help you gain a competitive edge in an increasingly scarce labor market.
Subscribe for free now and you won’t miss Episode 180.
