Half of All Churches Are Instantly Growing. Here’s Why And Here’s What To Do.

From Carey Nieuwhof-

Maybe losing access to our buildings as church leaders wasn’t as disastrous as we thought. Church growth just spiked by 300% in the last month.

Sure…so much as happened. And as frazzled and exhausted as you might feel in the midst of the current global crisis, a fascinating statistic emerged last week that you don’t want to miss.
49% of all churches are growing right now.

A month earlier, before the pandemic hit the West, the statistic would have been that between 8-15% of all churches were growing.

So literally in 30 days, we’ve moved from a tiny percentage of churches growing to virtually half of all churches growing.

What’s even more surprising is that the growth trend holds up in every church size category.

According to the weekly polling we’re doing through Church Pulse Weekly (my new podcast/project with Barna and Gloo you can participate in), half of all churches,  regardless of church size—from very small churches (under 100) to megachurches—are experiencing growth.  It’s remarkable that this is true if you have 75 people attending, 750 or 7500.

More here-

https://careynieuwhof.com/half-of-all-churches-are-instantly-growing-heres-why-and-heres-what-to-do/?fbclid=IwAR3ZYobZOltgvSi8jO3i-GnF0FrYiW3cG44H0CP9w6g5fekq-HSaKe_52oo

Falls Church Episcopal’s Healing Rector Leaves After 7 Years of Growth

From Virginia-

The Rev. John Ohmer, who for seven years led the recovery of the congregation of the historic Falls Church Episcopal from its many years of exile, held his final service there last Sunday, departing for a new position in Asheville, North Carolina. Over 400 attended his last service and a reception held after.

When Ohmer came onto the scene at the church in September 2012, the property had just been reclaimed by the Episcopal Diocese of Virginia from a more than six year occupation by defectors who’d voted to leave the denomination in December 2005, but then continued to occupy the property. They voted to leave in large part protesting the Episcopal denomination’s election of an openly-gay bishop in 2003.

During those years of occupation, whose claim to the property after years of litigation was denied by the Virginia Supreme Court and then went unheard by the U.S. Supreme Court, a small remnant of “continuing Episcopalians” persisted, first meeting in the living room of a lay member and then invited to worship in the fellowship hall of the Falls Church Presbyterian Church across the street.

More here-

https://fcnp.com/2019/10/31/f-c-episcopals-healing-rector-leaves-after-7-years-of-growth/

St. Barnabas Episcopal Church celebrates 60 years in Brackenridge

From Pittsburgh-

There was a time, not so long ago, when the congregation of St. Barnabas Episcopal Church had all but disappeared.

When the Rev. Frank Yesko arrived in 2011, he didn’t know if they’d end up closing their doors, but he knew he had to try.

Now, the church has about 100 members.

“It stayed open,” he said, smiling. “We really put our trust in God.”

On Sunday the congregation got to reflect on the history of the church as they celebrated 60 years at its Morgan Street location in Brackenridge. The church moved there in 1959 after outgrowing its first location in Tarentum.

Bishop Dorsey McConnell delivered the sermon for the service.

“60^th anniversary — congratulations,” he said. “That’s a beautiful thing.”

More here-

https://triblive.com/local/valley-news-dispatch/st-barnabas-episcopal-church-celebrates-60-years-in-brackenridge/

Churches That Play Together Stay Together

From Christianity Today-

In its new Households of Faith report, Barna researchers claim that one of the many reasons “vibrant households” stand out from others is because they engage in “meaningful, fun, quality time with both their housemates and extended household members.” That includes playing games together (32%), sharing meals (63% eat breakfast as a family and 75% eat dinner as a family), and enjoying other leisure activities. “These are practicing Christians who know the meaning of play—and indeed, half call their home life ‘playful,’” according to the report.

In other words, the old adage still rings true: Families that play together stay together, and more than that, exhibit signs of strong spiritual health.

The same can be said of the church family.

From softball leagues to book clubs, jazz ensembles to craft nights, churches that play together seem to stay together and grow together, too, adapting more easily to upheaval and building up the camaraderie, compassion, and collective resilience that are essential to a robust church body.

More here-

https://www.christianitytoday.com/women/2019/march/churches-that-play-together-stay-together.html

New Harvard Research Says U.S. Christianity Is Not Shrinking, But Growing Stronger

From The Federalist-

“Meanwhile, a widespread decline in churchgoing and religious affiliation had contributed to a growing anxiety among conservative believers.” Statements like this are uttered with such confidence and frequency that most Americans accept them as uncontested truisms. This one emerged just this month in an exceedingly silly article in The Atlantic on Vice President Mike Pence.

Religious faith in America is going the way of the Yellow Pages and travel maps, we keep hearing. It’s just a matter of time until Christianity’s total and happy extinction, chortle our cultural elites. Is this true? Is churchgoing and religious adherence really in “widespread decline” so much so that conservative believers should suffer “growing anxiety”?

Two words: Absolutely not.

More here-

http://thefederalist.com/2018/01/22/new-harvard-research-says-u-s-christianity-not-shrinking-growing-stronger/?fbclid=IwAR0HttC5bzq58Fgb58xf0YkcHVcH4sk99dpGF0XcGNM1Dttz2fm-ECXX76M#.XIRq1dwBZs7.facebook

Church of England to hold first service in Farsi after a huge rise in converts

From The Telegraph-

When the Bishop of Loughborough was 13-years-old, her brother was murdered for being a Christian. 

Born and raised in Iran, she was forced to flee her homeland in 1980 on the grounds of religious persecution - a story that is all too familiar for many Iranian Christians. 

Now, as the ordained Bishop of Loughborough, the Rt Revd Guli Francis-Dehqani is leading the Church of England’s growing community of Iranians who have found a home in the Anglican church. 

This unprecedented shift was yesterday marked with a “historical” service at Wakefield Cathedral in Yorkshire, where the Holy Communion scripture was delivered in Persian for the first time to cater for the growing - yet traditionally unusual - new Anglican congregation. 

With the Cathedral packed full of 450 Persian Christians from parishes all over the UK, Rev Francis-Dehqani led the inaugural service, delivered in both Farsi and English.

More here-

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2019/03/03/church-england-hold-first-service-farsi-huge-rise-converts/

Amid Pittsburgh division, a priest revives the parish that raised him

From ENS-

When the Rev. Kris Opat returned to St. David’s Episcopal Church in suburban Pittsburgh in 2012, only 20 people were there to start over as a congregation with him. The sanctuary, which seats 300, made the group look even smaller. The building’s previous occupants, part of the Anglican Church in North America, had just decamped.

Ordained for only three years, Opat had never been a priest-in-charge.

Today, St. David’s is a growing parish with almost 300 members, mostly busy young families in a growing suburb who have no previous Episcopal ties. They hear the message of Christ’s unconditional love preached every week from Opat, 38, a trained engineer with dreadlocks who grew up in this congregation.

Opat’s entire career as a priest has unfolded amid the rancor and litigation in the Diocese of Pittsburgh, and weathering that conflict has influenced his welcoming, no-nonsense approach to ministry.

“The split in 2008 was terrible, but since then some wonderful things have happened,” said the Rev. Lou Hays, a retired priest who served in the diocese and mentored Opat. “St. David’s is the top of the list.”

More here-

https://www.episcopalnewsservice.org/2019/01/23/amid-pittsburgh-division-a-priest-revives-the-parish-that-raised-him/?fbclid=IwAR16f9kqxgfQWBnwfxC03v0RSLz7yF_ry18XZl-D2L8XDZr-kcq65N6x9AM

Bradford nightclub could be £4.6m church

From England-

THE Anglican Diocese of Leeds has announced it is going to create a £4.6 million church in an old nightclub in the centre of Bradford. 

The church, which is described as a friendly Christian worship centre with its own café and gym, will be created in the West End area near City Park and will engage with the whole community. 

The new church is planned for a former nightspot and will have its doors open to all – welcoming the large resident student and business population in particular, alongside those who call the city centre their home. 

he project has been developed by the Bradford Episcopal Area of the Church of England Diocese of Leeds, supported by £3.1m from the national Church Commissioners’ Strategic Investment Board and £1.5m of local money.  

More here-

https://www.thetelegraphandargus.co.uk/news/17376942.bradford-nightclub-could-be-46m-church/

Two vibrant Anglican congregations in Winnipeg

From Canada-

When United Church of Canada minister Paul Derry moved to Winnipeg, Manitoba, in the early 2000s, there were seven United Church congregations in his quarter of the city. At the end of 2018, he told me, there was only one. The rest have closed and sold for condos or been merged with other congregations.

Most mainline pastors paying attention these days—in Canada as well as the United States—know that their parish is perhaps ten minutes away from closing. If there is a future for this kind of church, it will be one in which every pastor is something of a church planter, seeding life in the midst of the enormous upheaval in institutional religious life. Not many pastors were trained for this work. How do we do it?

I traveled to Winnipeg because I had heard about two Anglican churches there that were doing innovative things and growing in significant ways. I’d also heard that they represented two opposing wings in the Anglican Church.

More here-

https://www.christiancentury.org/article/features/two-vibrant-anglican-congregations-winnipeg

So You Want Millennials In Your Church?

From Dallas-

1) Take your liturgy seriously

If Millennials do not get the idea that the Holy Eucharist on Sunday morning is the source and summit of Christian worship on earth, they won’t be coming back, especially since we spend so much time on it! The “main event” in our service is not preaching, nor music, nor fellowship, crucial as these are.

I was recently having a conversation with a Millennial who told me he wanted to leave his church, and I asked him why. “Our priest is way too casual about the service, “ he said. “It just seemed like he didn’t care about the ritual and tried way too hard to dumb it down and make it ‘user friendly.’” He said it felt disrespectful, dishonoring to Jesus.

The holy sacrifice of the Eucharist joins us to the worship of heaven, with angels and archangels. If our altar party isn’t there to offer God their selves, souls, and bodies, Millennials will know, and they won’t put up with it. If your preaching has no urgency, if you’re cavalier about your music, if your chalice bearers are wearing purple flip flops…you’re guaranteeing Millennial disinterest.

Our generation was raised to believe that we could create ourselves ex nihilo, that we are the sum of our desires, ambitions, and deepest longings. That our projections on social media have metaphysical significance. Liturgy is the wake-up call, the antidote, theno. It reminds us that we aren't "self-made men," and it connects us to the Transcendent. Our tradition can do for Millennials what the big box megachurches could never do. Lean into it.

2) Don’t assume that making the Church “contemporary” (whatever that means) will automatically attract Millennials.

More here-

http://edod.org/resources/articles/so-you-want-millennials-in-your-church/

Pastoral care should punch us in the face

From The Living Church (reference the previous post)-

I am not entirely sure when pastoral became a synonym for nice, but it was already the case when I was in seminary a decade ago. Classes on “pastoral care” focused on things like how to run vestry meetings and how to avoid conflicts. When parishes put together profiles for the priest they want, pastoral is a word that often comes up. The expectation seems to be that a pastoral priest is someone kind and easy to talk to who is highly affirming. This pastor-as-life-coach model of ministry has become dominant in the American Church, and it is killing our congregations.

Of course, Murphy’s Ecclesiastical Law dictates that whenever something terrible catches on in the life of the Church, there is an equal if not more stupid backlash. Enter the Church Growth movement with its emphasis on transforming the work of the pastor into a series of managerial tasks.

“If pastors could figure out how to better tackle the issue of pastoral care, I’m convinced many more churches would grow,” says Carey Nieuwhof in a blog post last month that has been shared more than four thousand times. Nieuwhof says that pastors are spread too thin trying to attend to every tragedy, meet with every family, and handle every baptism or wedding. His solution? Get a team of lay people to do all that stuff while you work on management and leadership development instead.

More here-

https://livingchurch.org/covenant/2016/02/16/pastoral-care-should-punch-us-in-the-face/

We’re not Kmart. The Church is Not Dying.

From Country Parson-

One theme keeps driving online conversations among Episcopalians: How can we grow the church in the face of decades long decline?  It doesn’t matter what the original subject was, only moments are required to turn it toward church growth.  It’s a common marketing question just like ones asked at Kmart, Macy’s, J.C. Penny, McDonald’s, and even Amazon.  It’s the same question asked in every consumer products company about every consumer product.  Maybe that’s why it so easily becomes our question too.  Its pervasiveness in American culture makes it appear as the natural, normal, necessary question every organization must ask about everything they do.  The consultants say so. 

Maybe so, but not for the church.  At least not for the Episcopal Church.  We’re not selling a consumer product.  My nonreligious buddy disagrees.  You are too, he says, you’re trying to sell me a religious product with “wait, that’s not all” promises, and I’m not buying.  It that’s what we’re about, he’d be right, but we are in (or should be) the business of proclaiming the gospel, the good news of God as revealed in Christ Jesus.  The right question is, How can we better proclaim the gospel?  It isn’t our church.  It’s God’s church.  We don’t have to save it.  Last I heard, God was not in need of a marketing consultant.  What we need is to faithfully proclaim the gospel by word, sacrament, and and hard work of living into what we proclaim.

More here-

http://countyparson.blogspot.com/2018/01/were-not-kmart-church-is-not-dying.html

A theology for Anglican church growth

From The Living Church-

‘It’s just an unspiritual bigging yourself up.” This was the acerbic verdict of one Durham ordinand on the subject of church growth.

His hostility to talking of growing churches is widely shared, at least in the Global North. When two or three clerics are gathered together and the subject of church growth comes up, a multitude of theological objections rapidly appear: It’s the kingdom that matters, not numerical growth; It’s an ungodly sidelining of the need to love one’s neighbor; Isn’t church growth just something those uncouth schismatics obsess about?

These are serious objections, but beyond them, there is often a lurking sense of other fears. For many parish priests in North America, Britain, and much of the West there is a troubling worry that looking for numerical church growth is not only theologically dodgy but also practically futile. In the Western world, nearly every media and academic outlet trumpets the decline of Christianity. When many parishes and even whole dioceses are being spliced together because of their decline, looking to expand congregations can seem like wishful thinking.

More here-

https://livingchurch.org/covenant/2018/01/03/a-theology-for-anglican-church-growth/?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=paid_post&utm_campaign=traffic_jan2018&utm_content=church-growth

You Want to Make the Visitor Welcome? Twelve Church Website Tips

From Christy Thomas-

In my past role as “mystery worshipper” for a newspaper column, I am offering a few pointers for an effective church website. The number one issue: Never, ever change your normal worship time without splashing it all over your website!

But other than that particular rant, below are some things I have learned after perusing hundreds of church websites.

One: Do not assume that a Facebook page provides adequate electronic presence. You still need an actual, up to date, reasonably professional looking website.

Two: Make sure your website actually shows up using basic keywords in different search engines. There are ways to do this by the good use of metatags. At the very least, your keywords should indicate your city or town, state, and general religious affiliation. Ask multiple people to test how quickly your church site shows up on searches from their own computers and mobile devices. They also need to view it using different browsers.

More here-

http://www.patheos.com/blogs/thoughtfulpastor/2018/01/09/make-visitor-welcome-twelve-church-website-tips/#FPm2uUAcEdM5J7XV.01

Church of England unveils £24 million national investment in new churches and evangelism

From ACNS-

The Church of England has announced grants of £24.4 million in the latest tranche of its Renewal and Reform programme funding. The money is being provided by the C of E’s Strategic Investment Board, which was created as part of a change in the way national funding from the Church Commissioners is provided to diocese and parishes. Previously, the Commissioners provided support to dioceses on the basis of a national formula. But after a review looking into “Resourcing the Future” of the Church, the Archbishops’ Council and the House of Bishops agreed instead that all of the national funding should be distributed for investment in the spiritual and numerical growth of the Church.

The Diocese of London, which plans to open 100 new churches in Britain’s capital, will receive the biggest grant, valued at £4.8 million, to revitalise churches and develop “Church Growth Learning Communities”. It will also receive an additional £3.89 million to help it train curates to be deployed across the country to support the national Church.

More here-

http://www.anglicannews.org/news/2018/01/church-of-england-unveils-24-million-pound-national-investment-in-new-churches-and-evangelism.aspx

A theology for Anglican church growth

From The Living Church-

‘It’s just an unspiritual bigging yourself up.” This was the acerbic verdict of one Durham ordinand on the subject of church growth.

His hostility to talking of growing churches is widely shared, at least in the Global North. When two or three clerics are gathered together and the subject of church growth comes up, a multitude of theological objections rapidly appear: It’s the kingdom that matters, not numerical growth; It’s an ungodly sidelining of the need to love one’s neighbor; Isn’t church growth just something those uncouth schismatics obsess about?

These are serious objections, but beyond them, there is often a lurking sense of other fears. For many parish priests in North America, Britain, and much of the West there is a troubling worry that looking for numerical church growth is not only theologically dodgy but also practically futile. In the Western world, nearly every media and academic outlet trumpets the decline of Christianity. When many parishes and even whole dioceses are being spliced together because of their decline, looking to expand congregations can seem like wishful thinking.

More here-

https://livingchurch.org/covenant/2018/01/03/a-theology-for-anglican-church-growth/

A Texas-sized Growth Story

From The Living Church-

St. Martin’s in Houston has been the largest Episcopal church for many years, and that is not likely to change anytime soon. Its 2016 average Sunday attendance of 1,871 is more than 30 percent higher than the next-largest church. The Rev. Russell Levenson Jr., rector of St. Martin’s since 2007, has been a prominent voice among evangelicals in the church. He recently spoke with me for well over an hour. The interview has been edited for brevity, clarity, and narrative flow.

How did St. Martin’s get to be so big?

A consistent pattern of engagement with members; a Christ-centered ministry. Our mission is to make and grow disciples for Jesus Christ. I think that’s what the world hungers for. I think they hunger for connection with God, and I think we within the Anglican-Episcopal tradition can offer a very clear, concise message of helping people become connected to our Lord.

More here-

https://livingchurch.org/2017/12/13/a-texas-sized-growth-story/

How diversity saved a historic church in West Philly

From Philadelphia-

Philadelphia’s neighborhoods are studded with hundreds of historic churches. But as attendance steadily declines, many of these religious buildings have fallen into disrepair. Some have been forced to become something else entirely, like loft-style apartments.

A Pew Charitable Trust study released in October found that of the city’s 839 historic churches – defined as those constructed before 1965 – about 83 percent were still being used for religious purposes. 10 percent have been repurposed into other uses and five percent are vacant.

From 2011 to 2015, 23 were demolished.

The loss of historic churches is a trend that continues, as Bella Vista’s Christian Street Baptist Church is now targeted for demolition, even after the building was thought to have been spared the wrecking ball by the Historical Commission.

In West Philadelphia, the Calvary Methodist Episcopal Church at 48th Street and Baltimore Avenue, faced a similar fate. The building had fallen into disrepair, but instead of allowing the demolition of the church, the neighborhood saved the space by embracing the diversity of the surrounding community.

More here-

http://planphilly.com/articles/2017/12/08/how-diversity-saved-a-historic-church-in-west-philly

Hispanic Growth = Episcopal Growth?

From The Living Church-

If you ask any American what comes to mind when you say Latino religion, the response will almost certainly be Catholic and not Episcopalian.

But the link between Latins and Romans is not as strong as it once was, and the shift is accelerating. In 2006, Pew Research found that 70 percent of American Latinos were Roman Catholic. Just six years later, that number had dropped to 57 percent. Nearly one in four Hispanic Americans are now former Catholics.

But while the pope’s share of the Hispanic pie is in decline, the pie is growing dramatically. In 2012, Nielsen found that the Hispanic population was expected to grow 167 percent between 2010 and 2050 — compared with 42 percent for the population as a whole, and 1 percent for white non-Hispanics.

More here-

https://livingchurch.org/2017/11/29/hispanic-growth-episcopal-growth/

London welcomes first purpose-built Anglican church in 40 years

From Premier-

The first new purpose-built Anglican church to open in London for 40 years has been unveiled during a ceremony attended by local residents and the Bishop of Edmonton.

The official launch of St Francis at the Engine Room on the new Hale Village housing development in Tottenham Hale was also attended by local MP David Lammy.

Priest Missioner at the church, Fr Andrew Williams said: "After four years working from our temporary space it is wonderful to move into our permanent home, a community centre and church from which to base our work in the wider community of Tottenham Hale."

The congregation, which has grown to 500 weekly attendees since the church was founded in 2013, had been meeting at the old Engine Room community centre in Hale Village.

More here-

https://www.premier.org.uk/News/UK/London-welcomes-first-purpose-built-Anglican-church-in-40-years