How Mad Are You That Your Church Has Plateaued Or Declined?

Let’s go back five years to September 12th, 2011.  You analyze the attendance numbers of your suburban church.  You run 500 in attendance with annual giving of $750,000.  Your evaluation is you have a good, solid church where lives are being changed.  Great things appear to be ahead for this congregation.
Now let’s return to today.  It is September 12th, 2016 and you revisit your numbers.  You still run 500 in attendance with annual giving is now $825,000.  Giving has slightly increased but you have not grown by a single person.  You have people coming in the front door and exiting out the back door but the net growth is zero.
After five years of ministry, how does a net growth of zero make you feel?  Before reading any further, just take a moment and write down your thoughts.
After processing your feelings, some of you may go into your next staff meeting and focus on the things God HAS done through your ministry.  You will talk about the baptisms, restored marriages and freedom from addictions.  You will discuss how grateful you are for your staff and their hard work.  Then you will pray for revival and open doors in your community.
Or……………….
You will walk into your staff meeting and say, “In the last five years, the people of this church have entrusted us with over $4 million of their hard-earned dollars and their investment has yielded a net of ABSOLUTELY ZERO in terms of growth.  If you were in the marketplace and someone invested $4 million in your business and the next growth was zero, what would you think they would say?  Do you think they would invest any more dollars?  Would you expect them to invest any more?  Worse yet, should we be entrusted with anymore of their hard-earned resources or should they invest it elsewhere?  Something is going to change right now!  We have not been good stewards of what we have been entrusted with.  This is unacceptable!”  It would be your church’s version of Jesus overturning tables.
Which describes you?  How concerned are you?  How mad are you?  How would you handle this situation?
This posts is not meant to encourage or discourage anyone.  It is simply a numerical reminder that evaluation, accountability and the need for change are constant requirements for those in church leadership.
If you are stuck as a ministry and wanting to grow, I recommend you contact Tony Morgan, Mark Meyer and the team at The Unstuck Group by clicking HERE.  They can analyze your ministry and help you regain lost momentum.  I am rooting for you because your mission and vision is too important to remain stagnant.

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