Is Church Growth the Highway to Hell?

The guys at Church Marketing Sucks have been launching quite a dialogue over the past couple of weeks with a series of articles on church growth. I’ve been quoted a couple of times. Yes, I’m in the pro-growth category. I’ve never argued that churches need to be big, but I do think they should always be growing. And, they should be in the business of helping people grow in their faith. It’s not an either or deal for me. Growth is about reaching more people for Jesus and helping people become fully-devoted followers of Christ.

Regrettably, I think there are way too many churches and church leaders that think you have to sacrifice one to have the other. And, frankly, I think most churches have landed on "we’d rather grow our current members" over "we need need to reach more people." As a result, lots of churches (and denominations) aren’t growing.

I really appreciate CMS for raising the issue and continuing the dialogue.