Knowing how to grow your church attendance starts with getting new families through your church doors and then making sure they come back.

At the birth of the church, there was so much debate regarding the Jewish customs and whether or not circumcision was still necessary as Gentiles were being added to the church more and more.

After much deliberation in the Jerusalem Council, it was decided that they should not put stumbling blocks in the way of unbelievers coming to Christ.

You can find it in Acts 15:19:

We should make Jesus as accessible as possible.

The Bible gives us Jesus’ exact blueprint and step-by-step method for making disciples and if we need to follow its instruction it’ll going to work wherever you are in the world.

Grow Your Church Attendance In 3 Steps

1. Reach (Luke 5-6)

When Jesus called out his disciples and asked them to follow Him He met them where they were.

He found Matthew whilst he was collecting tax and then held a party for all his tax collector friends.

Peter, James and John were fishing when He called them.

Jesus didn’t set up a booth with a big sign saying “Recruiting Disciples Here“.

We laugh but that’s exactly what we do today – we set up a building, open the door and expect people to walk through the doors…

Where did Jesus do the most miracles?

It wasn’t in the synagogues.

Jesus didn’t wait for people to come to him; it was out on the streets, in markets and public places.

Reach Strategically

What is the entry point to your church for the unchurched?

What’s your outreach program?

It could be an invite-a-friend Sunday, a men’s breakfast or a small group Bible study.

Whatever you do, have bridge events that get your church seen, attended or thought about.

Study the culture of your area, find out the biggest needs of your local community and meet them.

In my opinion, the best way to do evangelism in the Western world today is not done through tent revival meetings, street preaching, leaflet drops or door knocking – I just don’t think these are effective.

(If you think I’m wrong, let me know in the comments.)

If you want to build your church you need to have an entry point for your church and then once you get people to your church you need to make your Sunday program an event.

You can do this by making your visitors feel welcome and planning out relevant monthly sermon series.

Make sure you’re ready for guests.

Set the table. Be welcoming. Have good music. Make sure your preaching is powerful, memorable and life-applicable.

KJV English is not today’s English, use a modern translation.

Be careful of the songs you choose, “Worthy is the Lamb who was slain” does not mean much to the unchurched.

2) Teach (Luke 7-8)

Then we see in Luke 7 that Jesus started teaching his followers very relevant, applicable life skills – loving your enemies, not judging, bearing spiritual fruit and so on.

This is how he begins discipling his disciples…

In Luke 8 Jesus exposes them to practical ministry.

The disciples were there watching as Jesus cared for the down and outs and outcasts of society, they were there as He healed the lepers, they heard Jesus say “Get up and walk!” and watched on as He healed the blind eyes.

The disciples learned from Jesus’ demonstration that every human being, regardless of their status, is loved by God, they saw Jesus operating in incredible, scandalous grace.

Jesus was always a very practical teacher, He used common everyday objects to illustrate his points, He created amazing images in the minds of his listeners and He told memorable stories that people would remember years after they heard it.

Teach Passionately

If you want to build your church you need to have an entry point for your church and then once you get people to your church you need to make your Sunday program an event.

Why not set a sermon series or teaching theme for each month?

Seek God for what He wants the church to learn in the next 12 months.

That way you can be organised and have time to be creative.

For example, January might be good to teach how to set goals, February is good to talk about relationships, Easter to talk about ‘How good is good enough’ or ‘Why did Jesus have to die?’ and so on.

Whatever your theme, make sure the whole church is going in the same direction – teach it in the youth, worship, home groups and children’s church.

You could have a complementary book to go with it and recommend people read that throughout the month. Everything you do is to underline the theme for that month.

Create an image for your month’s theme, create flyers and give them to your people so they can invite people.

It makes it an event people can invite other people to.

Have your monthly theme on your newsletters, get it as your PowerPoint background, Tweet it and stick it on your church’s Facebook page.

Be Creative – Introduce the ‘confusion factor’: keep people on their toes and guessing – get ideas and mix things up!

You don’t always have to have worship, notices, offering, preaching and fellowship in the same order.

Change your music style and have video announcements.

Since you know what your sermon series will be in 6 months time from now you have time to prepare. You could include different elements like showing a dance or drama or using memorable illustrations to back up your point.

I’ve known pastors talking about marriage whilst sitting on a bed at the front of the church, complete with a side table and lamp!

People always get a little worried when I preach; talking about being focused instead of distracted I’ve had someone call my phone at a set time and another person disrupt the service ‘unexpectedly’.

I was preaching once on Character Under Construction and I filled the church with traffic cones and men at work signs.

Talking about faith I walked very precariously across a plank at the front of the church that was 10 feet high!

You want people to remember what you’ve said. The key here is to just make sure anything you do is emphasising your point and not taking away from it.

• We never compromise the message – but our styles, and methods of getting that message out are always subject to change.
• You know you’re on track when the people in your church feel comfortable inviting their unsaved friends.

3) Mobilise (Luke 9)

Moving onto the next chapter, after they’ve heard His teachings and watched Him minister, Jesus sends the disciples out to minister together.

He gives them the opportunity and space to grow before they come back and have a debrief.

Now we see the disciples in full-time service; Luke 9 shows the disciples handing out food baskets to 5,000 people.

Learn how to get people in your church to start volunteering, give them opportunities to serve and watch them flourish in their giftings.

Ready To Raise Your Attendance Levels? 📈

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