Why Your Church's Programs Aren't Producing the Growth You Expected
by Bart Rendel
For some reason, we've convinced ourselves that buildings, programs, and events advance the gospel.
The reality? They can't. People do.
Maybe it started with Constantine and got solidified the day the church filed for 501(c)(3) status. Once you become an organization, you start thinking like one.
I've watched it play out in church after church. A “church” program launches to reach new people. The energy is real. A few people get activated. Eighteen months later, it's running on fumes. Because the strategy was organizational. The ownership never became personal. Nobody was asking the person in the seat on Sunday whether they had a name in mind, someone who didn't yet know Jesus.
We call this institutional thinking. It's a tremendous headwind. With this mindset, you value transactions over transformation. Programs over process. Responsibilities over relationships. Having the event is the win. Filling the role is the win. Hitting the number is the win.
It may be worse for the professional pastorate. Pastors and staff are seen as doers, not developers. They're expected to accomplish the Great Commission on behalf of the congregation instead of living it out personally first and then equipping the congregation to do the same.
The Bible is pretty clear about this. The church is an equipping organization. That's Ephesians 4.
So what do we do?
Audit. Every event, ministry, program, role, and job description should be tested against its Great Commission purpose. Ask a simple question: how does this help us make more and better disciples?
Not "is this a good thing?" Good things are everywhere. The question is whether it connects to the mission. If you can't draw that line, you have a candidate for an honest conversation.
But here's the deeper test. Have you gone first?
Do you have a One? Is reaching them at the center of your life?
Who is your One? Not who is your church trying to reach. Who are you, personally, praying for and moving toward?
When that question goes from the organization to the individual, something shifts. Programs create activity. Personal conviction creates movement.
Leaders go first when it comes to making commitments. This one is no different.
Start there.
If you want a more structured way to do that work, the Radical Alignment Assessment (alignmychurch.com) gives your team a common framework to rate where you actually are — together — before you talk about where you're going.