20080507 On Church Growth

20080507 This is a talk I gave on Church Growth

Notes from the Talk:

Opening Prayer

Opening Scripture: Revelations 3: 14 - 22 (warning to the Laodiceans)

Presentation of credentials:

Political Scientist, with research focusing on institutional adaptation (especially political parties and insurgencies) and the sociology of religion. Participated in Orthodox and Protestant committees on church growth. Intensely interested in the subject - evangelism is what we do. Declining numbers means fewer people being touched by the Gospel, deified through the Sacramental Life. Church Growth matters because the Truth matters. It’s not about filling the pews or paying the bills: it is about fulfilling our obligation as Christians and sharing the Light of Christ with a world of shadows and darkness.

Introduction:

Describe declining numbers and commitment, “faith switching”, and how it has affected the Orthodox (Pew Survey on Religion). Describe how this parish has fared.

Three main demographic variables involved with regard to church growth: 1) Immigration 2) Birth Rate 3) Conversion. Describe how we have been losing on all three accounts.

The Bottom Line: We MUST do better. Our salvation as Christians, our future as a parish, and the health of potential communicants DEPEND on it. Some things are out of our control, but we can control many things. This talk provides an Orthodox approach to Church Growth, but it is not abstract theology. I will offer specific things that will improve our lives as individual Christians and as a parish. Following them (which is to say, following Christ) will ensure that we are not “spit out” and (less importantly) contribute to parish growth.

A Caveat: there are circumstances when even parishes that are on fire for the Lord will decrease in size. The most obvious is during times of persecution. In such times, being on fire can actually cause the parish to decrease in size. But this shows a clear lesson: our goal is NOT Church growth. It is following The Path that Christ has set for us. If we have Church growth as our goal, then it can actually lead us off of this Path if we are not careful! Thank God we do not live in such times. We live in times when (more often than not) righteous living is correlated with growth. Most of our parishes are not dying from persecution, but from apathy.

Setting the Stage: Why this Matters

People need Christ. They need the Truth. It is found in its fullness in the Orthodox Church.

Bringing and Keeping People Home: Tales of Conversion and their Motivations

Drawn to Beauty (St. Volodymyr)

Drawn to Authority and Authenticity (Personal Testimony)

Drawn to the Unadulterated Truth (Seekers; Sociological Findings)

We have the Truth. Attracting and keeping people does not require us to change who we are, but rather to become more of who we already are as Orthodox Christians

Practical Tips:

Worship in beauty. Parish upkeep. Music. Chanting.

Submit and witness to authority. This includes priests and bishops.

Share the fullness of the Truth. In ALL aspects of your life. Relations, money, entertainment.

Most of all, witness in love. Think of Christ’s testimony on love (Toward the stranger, the hungry, he thirsty, those in prison, the children, the undesirables, and towards his chosen people.)

The Reward of the Complete Embrace.

We are talking about the most important thing you can control: your own salvation. Through it, the world changes (not just in outlook, but ontologically).

Question and Answer

Benediction