The Red Letter Disciple 010: Rich Birch on The Number One Factor to Grow Your Church, The Ideal Number for How Much a Church Should Grow, and Where to Find the Best Poutine in Canada
Often we benchmark our growth against ourselves when the real indicator of growth is if you are matching the growth of your community. Rich Birch breaks down ideas of tracking church growth and what actual measurements to use. To learn more about the podcast or access the show notes, visit www.redletterpodcast.com.
Join the FREE webinar on August 11th at 1PM CST called “Fund Your Vision—Don’t Let Money Limit Your Ministry.” Phil Ling, President of The Giving Church, will be joining me and we’ll dive into how The Giving Church has helped more than a thousand churches raise more than a billion dollars. They also commissioned a study with more than 4000 churches and uncovered some incredible data that we will bring out in this webinar. Phil will talk about what he has learned through both his experience and through this unique study. You won’t want to miss it. We will be giving away loads of free stuff as well! You can sign up at www.thegivingchurch.com/red and you can grab a FREE PDF “5 Ways to Grow Your Church’s Giving,” while you are there.
Resources mentioned in the episode:
7 Facts About Church Growth That Will Make You Think Twice
7 Startling Facts: An Up Close Look at Church Attendance in America
Church Growth Flywheel master class
Gallop Survey: Sermon Content Is What Appeals Most to Churchgoers
Key insights from the episode:
It’s the practical things that hold churches back from growth, not theology. - Rich Birch
Executive pastors and those leading from the second or third chair live at the intersection of vision and execution. - Rich Birch
The way fast-growing churches think is not just to get first-time people in the door, but how do we build a community that ultimately moves people into a growing relationship with Jesus. - Rich Birch
Churches that are growing are benchmarking against the wrong thing: don’t benchmark against yourselves, benchmark against the growth of your community. - Rich Birch
Only 6% of churches in the country are growing faster than the community they are in. - Rich Birch
Our church attendance is in decline. If those trends continue, the actual church attendance in 2050 will be half of what it was in 1990 while at the same time, the population will double. - Rich Birch
No growth and staying small are not OK, if you remain where you are you will lose ground. - Rich Birch
The sweet spot is growth just over the growth of the community. - Rich Birch
Online giving presents a new challenge of a “set it and forget it” mentality. - Rich Birch
The healthy and ideal way to grow that is reasonable and sustainable is to grow 10% a year. - Rich Birch
The local church is the only organization that exists for people who are not here yet, every other business exists for its members. - Rich Birch
Fast-growing churches equip their members with all kinds of resources to help them invite their friends. - Rich Birch
70% of why people come to a church is because of the teaching. - Rich Birch
People will talk to their friends about what they are hearing at church if they think it will make a difference in their lives. - Rich Birch
Invitability: It’s not about you, it’s about your friends. - Rich Birch
People like to be a part of something that makes a difference. - Rich Birch
Rich’s Challenge of the Week: Practice inconvenient hospitality this week.
Some not-so-key insights:
Omaha is a slice of heaven. - Rich Birch
McDonald’s has the best poutine in Canada. - Rich Birch
Petting zoos (including turtles) can grow your church. - Rich Birch
I don’t want to build a better mousetrap to catch a bunch of church followers. - Rich Birch
I can watch church now with my egg sandwich and a mimosa. - Chris Johnson
Those that eat poutine have a three year longer expectancy. - Zach Zehnder
If it wasn’t for Canadians we would be pulling our shirts and jackets off because we couldn't fasten them. - Chris Johnson
A Hurrdat Media Production. Hurrdat Media is a digital media and commercial video production company based in Omaha, NE. Find more podcasts on the Hurrdat Media Network and learn more about our other services today on HurrdatMedia.com.
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.