When God Builds a Church | Bob Russell

Bob Russell. When God Builds a Church: 10 Principles for Growing a Dynamic Church. Simon & Schuster, 2000. 304 pp.

If you are convinced that God wants to do a mighty work through your congregation, then consider the suggestions below to implement positive change immediately.

Pray for a Vision

Gather your leaders together and pray for a vision of what your church can be. Ask the Holy Spirit to guide you to become the Body of Christ, the church that God intends you to be. Determine you will try something so big that if God isn’t in it, you will fail. Ask God to give you a vision for what you should set out to do.

Discuss the Ten Principles With Your Leaders

Almost every church leader will agree that each of the ten principles in this book are rooted in Scripture and needs to be part of your church. Discuss them one by one, and pray that God will reveal to you any principle your congregation has failed to implement. Ask God to give you a harmonious spirit as you discuss these issues.

Realistically Evaluate Your Situation

It’s healthy to think optimistically, but you also must be objective. Even the seed planted in fertile soil grows at different rates: some 30 fold, some 60, or 100. Some churches have the potential to grow 100 fold. But others are limited by location barriers, leadership challenges, facilities, or finances. If you have limitations, admit them honestly.

Develop a Mission Statement

This process will have positive results among the leaders. Once the mission statement is complete, make sure it is communicated to the congregation and posted prominently to remind people often. Every couple of years, preach a sermon series on the mission statement to remind people to “keep the main thing the main thing.”

Develop a Five-Year Plan for Change

If your church has been heading down the wrong path for a while, it will take a significant amount of time and energy to turn it around. Don’t try to revolutionize things too quickly. Turning a church around is a lot like turning a large ship. It takes a long time to stop the momentum and head in the right direction. It usually takes a minimum of five years to turn a dead church into one that is alive and growing, and few leaders are willing to wait that long.

Work on the One Hour of Weekly Worship

The tone of the entire ministry of the church is set by that one hour. Make sure everything that surrounds that hour is done with excellence and bathed in prayer. Make sure the sermon is biblical and applicable, the worship songs are meaningful, and the special music well-rehearsed, the prayers carefully thought out, and cut out any dead time. When that one hour is done with excellence every week, there is a trickle-down effect. Members come more regularly because they don’t want to miss it, and they become more confident about bringing visitors. And new people like what they see and want to come back.

Find a Worship Leader

Put as much effort into choosing a worship leader as you do choosing the person who will be preaching sermons. The impact of worship is vital to the atmosphere of the entire church, and the spiritual blessings occur when people are inspired to worship God in an authentic way. Ask God to guide you to find the right worship leader. I am convinced that most churches will get healthy faster if they focus on choosing a good worship leader.

Get Men Involved in Leadership

When men are involved in the church, they bring their families with them. When women are in leadership, the men often stay home. Men attract other men, and those other men bring their wives and children.

Start a “What We Believe” Class

Your people old timers and newcomers need to know the basic beliefs of your church. Begin to offer a three- to six-week course on your basic beliefs. People in our culture are more likely to attend a two-hour class that to welcome you into their home for a two-hour doctrinal discussion.

Love One Another

The world is attracted to any group of people that sincerely loves others. Find tangible ways to love the members of your congregation. If the leaders of your church begin showing love toward one another and the congregation, the people will catch on.

Give Up Control

One of the greatest challenges in any church is to overcome the temptation to battle over who’s in charge. If the pastor has to be an autocratic leader or the elders have to micromanage every ministry in the church, then you will only grow as large as your ability to control things. Your church’s influence will be severely limited until each of your leaders is willing to give up control. Follow the biblical guidelines for authority, and trust that God is in charge and let go of your power.

Visit Other Churches That Are Alive and Growing

The preacher and the entire church board should visit churches in other areas that are offering leadership conferences. Find the local church that is doing the best job of ministering in your community and talk to the leaders there. If they have the right attitude, they’ll recognize that we’re all on the same team and be happy to share their secrets with you.

Celebrate Victories, Giving God the Glory

From the pulpit, in your newsletter, and in your board meetings, begin to champion the things that God is doing in your church and watch enthusiasm and attendance grow.

From When God Builds a Church by Bob Russell, with Rusty Russell. Copyright © 2000 by Bob Russell. Reprinted by permission of Howard Publishing Co., Inc. an imprint of Simon & Schuster, Inc.

Like this post? Subscribe to our feed .