The podcast discusses the importance of shifting strategies in churches to focus on mission over tradition. Topics include improving Sunday services, impactful sermons, and reaching multiple generations. They address challenges in church attendance, engaging newcomers, and building a multi-generational church. The episode highlights practical steps for aligning church operations with the mission and having courageous conversations within ministry teams.
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Quick takeaways
Prioritize new people attending Sunday worship services for growth by aiming to have the same number of new guests as current average attendance in the next 12 months.
Emphasize the importance of finishing every message with a clear next step to empower engagement with God's word and facilitate transformation.
Deep dives
Shift in Ministry: Simple Shifts for Church Growth
This final episode of the series discusses the simple shifts that any church can make to reach new people, improve teaching strategies, and connect with the next generation. The focus is on simplicity rather than dramatic changes, as small shifts in ministry can lead to significant growth and health for churches. One main idea is the importance of new people attending Sunday worship services for attendance growth. The benchmark is that churches need the same number of new guests as their current average attendance in the next 12 months to experience growth. The episode also emphasizes the need to finish every message with a clear next step to encourage engagement with God's word. Lastly, it highlights the need for churches to become multi-generational and focused on reaching the next generation, moving away from separate programs and instead creating a church designed for young adults. These simple shifts encourage churches to prioritize mission over preference and embrace change for kingdom impact.
Sunday Services: Prioritizing Attendance Growth
This episode explores the importance of new people attending Sunday worship services for attendance growth. It emphasizes the need to shift focus towards actively encouraging new people to attend church instead of assuming they will show up. The episode provides a simple benchmark that churches should aim to have the same number of new guests as their current average attendance in the next 12 months. This is because churches naturally experience a 15% attrition rate, and new guests can contribute to future growth if their first-time experience is excellent. The shift involves being intentional about hospitality, creating connections for new people, and designing inviteable services that are predictable, inspiring, and relevant. It also addresses different approaches for churches that view Sunday services as either part of their reach or discipleship strategy.
Teaching and Preaching: Transforming Lives through Next Steps
This episode focuses on the impact of teaching and preaching in churches and the importance of facilitating transformation through clear next steps. It highlights the need to go beyond delivering information and instead help people put biblical wisdom into action. The main point is that finishing every message with one clear next step is essential for empowering congregations to engage with God's word and live out their faith. Practical recommendations include investing more time in message preparation, delegating tasks to free up time, building a team to support teaching efforts, and learning from sources like TED Talks for effective communication techniques. The episode concludes by encouraging listeners to prioritize teaching that leads to transformation and to anticipate an upcoming podcast series dedicated to teaching and preaching.
Reaching the Next Generation: Building a Multi-Generational Church
The final simple shift discussed in this episode relates to reaching the next generation, specifically young adults. It challenges the idea of creating separate programs and services for young adults as a way to reach them. Instead, it advocates for churches to become multi-generational and focus on ministry that engages and ministers to young adults. This shift involves considering changes in worship services and classes to bring all generations together and prioritize the needs of younger members. The episode encourages churches not to program their way to success but to have a mindset of reaching the next generation as a church-wide mission. It recognizes the need for sacrifices and shifts in priorities to effectively reach and disciple the younger generations.
"Whether we want to admit it or not, the WAY we do church often becomes more important than WHY we do church. We choose tradition over mission."
In this final episode of our Simple Shifts series, Tony and Amy are discussing shifts related to our strategies, including our Sunday services, sermons, and multi-generational ministries.
For the full episode transcript, links mentioned during the show, and to download the Leader Conversation Guide, visit this episode's Show Notes at theunstuckgroup.com/episode242.
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If you're listening on Wednesday, when the episode first releases, join the live conversation The Unstuck Group's team will be having on social media about this week's topic. We use hashtag #unstuckchurch on Twitter. Or you can join in on Facebook.
Ask your questions and add your comments about the topic.
If you're catching this episode later, you can still join in! Just tag us @unstuckgroup or use #unstuckchurch, and include [episode 242] in your post for reference.
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