{"id":140939,"date":"2025-10-31T09:01:00","date_gmt":"2025-10-31T13:01:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kendallharmon.net\/?p=140939"},"modified":"2025-11-01T12:06:06","modified_gmt":"2025-11-01T16:06:06","slug":"ryan-burge-most-churches-arent-growing-what-we-can-learn-from-those-that-are","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kendallharmon.net\/?p=140939","title":{"rendered":"(Ryan Burge) Most Churches Aren\u2019t Growing \u2014 What We Can Learn from Those That Are"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

I\u2019ve been around churches my entire life\u2014specifically evangelical ones. There\u2019s a certain kind of conversation that happens among pastors and denominational leaders, usually in almost hushed tones: \u201cDid you hear about how [insert church name] added a thousand new attendees last year?<\/strong>\u201d<\/em> Someone will inevitably chime in with another example of a church experiencing rapid growth. Before long, the discussion circles back to the same question: \u201cHow in the world do they do that?\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

For most pastors, leading a church through that kind of explosive growth will never happen. A good year might mean adding ten or fifteen new members. More often, the reality is stagnation\u2014or even a slight decline. And there\u2019s a good reason for that: most churches just aren\u2019t that big. The FACT study (PDF<\/a>) found that about 70% of congregations have fewer than 100 people in regular attendance. The National Congregations Study concluded<\/a> that the average church has just 70 active members.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

So when we hear about a church adding a thousand new members, it\u2019s so rare it almost sounds impossible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For the last decade, Outreach Magazine<\/a><\/em> has published a list of the \u201cfastest-growing churches in America.\u201d They gather this data by contacting thousands of churches via email, asking them to report two numbers: their average attendance in February\/March of the previous year and their current average attendance. Outreach then runs calculations and spot checks to confirm the numbers are accurate before publishing the Outreach 100 list<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Read it all<\/a>.<\/p>

Great article (see link), and I'm glad to be a teaching pastor at @MarinersChurch<\/a>.

Our growth last year was a great blessing, but this year's growth is even larger.

Lots of people coming to Jesus! The Spirit is moving!

Pray we might steward it well. https:\/\/t.co\/p311oxhxIz<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/lGeTe179dM<\/a><\/p>— Ed Stetzer (@edstetzer) October 30, 2025<\/a><\/blockquote>