10 Stupid Things That Keep Churches From Growing

I admit it...I like book titles that catch my eye. Even more, I like books that tell it like it is. No spin. No worries about being politically correct. I've got a few books like that on my shelves: People Are Idiots and I Can Prove It!: The 10 Ways You Are Sabotaging Yourself and How You Can Overcome Them by Larry Winget, They Like Jesus but Not the Church: Insights from Emerging Generations by Dan Kimball, Jim and Casper Go to Church: Frank Conversation about Faith, Churches, and Well-Meaning Christians by Jim Henderson and Matt Casper, and No Time for Tact: 365 Days of the Wit, Words, and Wisdom of Larry Winget are some of my favorites.

Ten Stupid Things That Keep Churches from Growing: How Leaders Can Overcome Costly Mistakes by Geoff Surratt also sits proudly on my bookshelf. The sad thing about this book is that I've seen each of these things done in churches, and I'm guilty of a couple of them myself. Here's a list of the ten things he discusses.

1. Trying to do it all
2. Establishing the wrong role for the pastor's family
3. Providing a second-rate worship service
4. Settling for low quality in children's ministry
5. Promoting talent over integrity
6. Clinging to a bad location
7. Copying another successful church
8. Favoring discipline over reconciliation
9. Mixing ministry and business
10. Letting committees steer the ship

Do any of these sound familiar? Hopefully, your church isn't guilty of doing any of these, but there's a good chance it is. Since about 80 percent of the churches in North America are not growing it's likely that your church falls in that category as well. It's also likely that one of these ten items is part of the reason. The question now is what will you do about it?

I once heard Dr. Elmer Towns say in class that we don't have to worry about growing our churches. All we have to do is to identify the reasons why our churches aren't growing and remove them. If we do that, growth will occur.

Surratt not only identifies these 10 issues that will prevent a church from growing, he provides solutions for each of them. He doesn't offer theories but real world ways to address each one of these roadblocks to church growth. I ask again, if your church is guilty of any of these what are you going to do about it? If you're not sure I suggest you begin by reading this book!