Changing Congregational Trends
Every five years Faith Communities Today provides a marvelous service to all churches through their very thorough survey of religious congregations across the United States.…
Browsing: Church Growth
Articles
Do You Need a New Worship Service?
Our church had hit a plateau. We continued to welcome new members, but worship attendance stubbornly remained flat. We were bumping up against what consultants…
Learning from Growing Churches in England
The Church of England set out to learn from the 18 percent of their churches that grew in the decade up to 2010. A study…
The Parable of the Sower and the Experience of Church Growth
The parable of the sower speaks deeply of my experience of church growth and vitality. In the parable, seeds were sown. Good seeds. It is…
If Churches Can Change, They Can Grow
An exceptionally revealing report on church growth is now available from the Faith Communities Today research project. Drawing on extensive survey data, noted researcher C.…
Reaching More Disciples
The first decade of the 21st century was one of highs and lows for U.S. congregations. In the wake of the tragedy of 9/11, many…
Ten Misconceptions about Church Vitality and Growth
The Lewis Center’s reporting on American Congregations 2008 (a report about congregational vitality and growth based on the Faith Communities Today Project at Hartford Seminary) brought…
The Promise and Peril of Conflict
A compelling example of leaders turning conflict into opportunity for structural and cultural change is found in the first seven verses of Acts 6. The…
New Findings about American Congregations
Building on previous reports from 2000 and 2005, the Cooperative Congregations Studies Partnership based at Hartford Seminary has released a new research report on congregational…
Review of Myth of the 200 Barrier: How to Lead Through Transitional Growth
Kevin E. Martin is the executive director of Vital Church Ministries, a teaching and consulting outreach of the Cathedral Church of Saint Matthew in Dallas,…
Deliberate Outreach Strategy Leads to Growth
Worship attendance at Gardendale-Mt. Vernon United Methodist Church in Gardendale, Alabama, has increased more than 5 percent each year since 1999. One reason for the…
Megachurches as Resources for Learning
In their new book, Beyond Megachurch Myths (Jossey-Bass, 2007), Hartford Seminary Professor Scott Thumma and Leadership Network executive Dave Travis debunk many of the common…
Churches Birthing Churches
Richard Hunter describes a church growth strategy that involves a strong parent church launching satellite congregations that share the parent church’s basic DNA in its…
A Leading Ideas Interview with Adam Hamilton
Lewis Center Director Lovett Weems interviews Adam Hamilton to glean insights for other churches in the Church of the Resurrection’s success. The Rev. Adam Hamilton…
