Welcome to our growing church!
Our Ambassadors have heard the same phrase used in a number of the congregations we have visited recently.
Welcome to our growing church!
It caught this visitor’s ear, partly because the presentation was so similar in each community. The pastor seemed to be saying, “We’re glad you are here, but we want you to know there is much more to our church than what you see.”
I believe that. Redeemer people know what it feels like to be judged. There is always more to a congregation that can be viewed at Sunday worship.
Or maybe they were saying, “We know we don’t look like much, but we have potential.”
Or maybe they weren’t addressing visitors but were reassuring members that relief was in sight.
Maybe they actually have an incredible track record for growth.
As I worked on 2×2’s statistics for yesterday’s post, I decided to look up the ELCA Trend reports of the churches I could remember using this phrase.
Each of them as of the end of 2011 was statistically in decline in some categories and doing little better than holding its own in others.
So maybe 2012 had turned things around for them. Or maybe they were measuring different statistics than TREND records. To claim undefined growth is pretty safe. It all depends what we measure. We could be measuring deficits.
Perhaps calling attention to the word growth is a way of paving the road or priming the evangelism pump. It satisfies existing members that problems are being addressed and hints of great potential to visitors. How can you go wrong?
Meanwhile, let’s consider the advice of TV’s Doctor Phil.
“You can’t change what you don’t acknowledge.”