Leadership Network | Diverse DNA 1

Diverse DNAVarying Factors In Church Cultures Lead To Rapid Growth

Andy Williams

Leadership Network | Diverse DNA 2

Overview:

Article SummaryLeaders of rapidly growing congregations pinpoint different factors built into the DNA of their churches that allow for such accelerated growth rates, according to Chris Willard, director of the Rapid Growth Leadership Communities at Leadership Network. “There is something different about the cultures of churches that grow rapidly,” Willard says. “They have put things in place that allow for this type of growth, and they are good at identifying what hampers rapid growth.”

Further ReadingRapid Growth Pressure Points: How Pastors and Church Staff Deal with the Pressures of Rapid Church Growth by Sherri Brown

Pastors and church staff in rapidly growing churches experience a unique set of challenges. How they deal with those challenges will shape future growth and church health. Developing leaders, freeing up finances, finding space, creating community, keeping staff healthy and regaining momentum when growth slows down—they’re all issues facing these congregations.

Diverse DNAVarying Factors In Church Cultures Lead To Rapid Growth

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No one would have blamed J. Don George for accepting his retirement gifts and riding off into the sunset. At 70 years old, Don had logged years of fruitful ministry at Calvary Church in Irving, TX (www.calvarychurch.cc). The demographics of the community around him were rapidly changing, and the city looked nothing like his 98% white congregation—which had initially grown in remarkable ways, but then experienced years of flatline growth as the neighborhood had changed. With all the lives he had touched and the community leaders he had rubbed shoulders with over the years, Don could have easily handed the keys to some young guns and enjoyed a bon voyage.

But in Don’s mind, that would have been turning his back on the culture he had worked so hard to build at Calvary. “We have an absolute intolerance for status quo-ism,” George says. “It’s part of who we are.”

Instead, Don began rebuilding himself, his staff and his church to look and act like what has been called the most ethnically diverse community in Texas. Cultural relevance and cultural awareness took on new meaning and ultra-focus for the congregation.

“I had a word from God several years ago, and he told me one of our biggest problems as a church was we were just too white,” Don says. “We had a hard choice to make: we could go into decline, relocate to a predominantly white area or reach the mission field God was bringing to our front door.”

With Don and new Lead Pastor Ben Dailey at the helm, Calvary leaders chose the latter. Don took a college course in African-American history, and began several preaching crusades in Mexico, which enabled him to better understand those cultures. The

church began hiring staff members of color, and integrating ethnically diverse leaders into all aspects of ministry. The weekend service became a melting pot of diversity, with a Hispanic worship leader, and Spanish and Nepali language pastors also leading services.

Diverse DNAVarying Factors In Church Cultures Lead To Rapid Growth

J Don George, the founding pastor of Calvary Church chose to rebuild himself, his staff and his church to reflect his ethnically diverse community instead of retiring.

Below: Calvary Church is an example of a U.S. congregation that is experiencing rapid growth.

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As a result, Calvary has doubled in weekend attendance the past three years. The congregation is now 1/3 Caucasian, 1/3 African-American, and 1/3 Hispanic and Asian. “We have a great congregation with a culture of solid diversity,” Don says.

Calvary Church is an example of a U.S. congregation that is experiencing rapid growth, and is part of a group with similar growth patterns that meets regularly for Leadership Network’s Rapid Growth Churches Leadership Community. Leaders of those congregations pinpoint different factors built into the DNA of their churches that allow for such accelerated growth rates, according to Chris Willard, director of the Rapid Growth leadership communities. Willard says:

“There is something

different about the cultures

of churches that grow rapidly,

They have put things in place

that allow for this type of

growth, and they are good

at identifying what hampers

rapid growth.”

There is no cookie-cutter formula for today’s rapidly growing churches to navigate and maintain their momentum. While some leaders point to detailed strategic planning as a key to their fast-paced growth, others view an atmosphere of “grace and truth” with less focus on strategy as being significant. Meanwhile, leadership consultant Dr. Samuel Chand (www.samchand.org) has seen a number of factors that contribute to rapid growth,

including staff members who are driven to ever-increasing levels of competency, and those who turn their departments into “growth centers.”

“Preaching Grace And Telling The Truth” Fuels Growth For One ChurchMike Lee, the senior pastor at Hope Community Church in Raleigh, NC (www.gethope.net) knew the heartbreaking news he had just received would shape—and certainly reveal—the culture of his congregation.

Lee had just finished a Saturday morning swim when he got the word: one of the church’s long-time elders and the husband of the church’s creative director—distraught over the loss of a 25-year career and other life issues—

had committed suicide at home, outside in his driveway. “I once described him as the most Christ-like individual you will ever meet,” Mike says. “We were devastated.”

For Mike and his

congregation, it became an

opportunity to move deeper

in building community and

“really understanding what’s

going on with people.”

Small groups rallied around the widowed staff member and her two college-age children—starting a college fund that raised $120,000. Based on information from the Raleigh police chief that the struggling economy was contributing to weekly scenes such as the one with the fallen elder, the people of Mike’s congregation sharpened their focus on the emerging need. When a man in the community emailed saying he was in a similar situation with a lost job and a lost home, Mike paired him with another businessman who “took him by the hand and led him through it.”

Mike points to this focus of loving people while still tackling their difficult situations as the cultural cornerstone that has led to Hope’s rapid growth. Pastor Mike wears a wristband that reminds him to shed his legalistic upbringing and “Preach grace”—with a strong balance of truth. The church has grown rapidly to 5,100 in the past few years—all without marketing or promotional campaigns. “We’re confident that everyone who sees their life change also knows someone who needs life change,” Mike says. “The message is very clear: nobody condemns you, but God wants you to clean up your act.”

VIDEO EXTRA

Don George, the longtime senior pastor of Calvary Chapel in Irving, TX, joined by his named successor, Ben Dailey, talk together about their transition, especially the trust they’ve developed to see Tapping the Influence of your Predecessor: An Interview with Don George and Ben Dailey, go to: leadnet.org/videos

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Mike has to look no further than his church’s front desk to see this philosophy in action. The church’s receptionist was a stripper when she accepted Christ at Hope a few years ago. She didn’t have any job skills, but the church hired her. “I told her she had to get some clothes that fit the church culture a little better,” Mike says. “And I’m pretty sure she was high at the time, so I told her, ‘you’ve got to be sober.’”

The woman was also living with her boyfriend, and wanted to know if Mike was going to “make” her move. “I told her we weren’t going to make her do anything, but God wanted to do some incredible things in her life—if she was willing to make some hard choices,” Mike says. Two weeks later, the young woman and her daughter moved to her parents’ home, and she began a 7-year journey that has seen her earn a college degree, buy a home and start a ministry for teenage girls. “We’re going to love you regardless of what you choose, and we’ll be here to pick up the pieces,” Mike says. “But we don’t mind having the hard conversations. We want to teach relevant truth in an atmosphere of love and acceptance—and people are responding.”

Challenge Staff Members To Grow In Competency And Grow Their DepartmentsSamuel Chand finds common guiding principles at work in many of country’s largest churches: staffs are “playing to win” by constantly raising the bar on their craft, and those staff members view each department of the church as a center for numerical and financial growth.

Samuel finds that rapidly growing congregations “push people to higher levels of competency”—a trait that’s rare in churches in general. “Most people are not doing that much about growing their skill set,” Samuel says. “Very few leaders are thinking about increasing their competency levels.”

Samuel saw this kind of self-driven learning recently when he asked a 19-year-old youth pastor in California what he does to develop his skills. “I just wondered if this was even on his

radar,” Samuel said. The youth leader showed Samuel his contacts on his mobile phone—other leaders in youth ministry around the country. “He said, ‘I’m always talking to people about what they’re doing, and my best ideas aren’t mine,’ ” Samuel said. “He has a long list of consultants at his disposal at any time—and they don’t cost him a cent.”

Samuel also sees churches

grow rapidly when staff

members look beyond the

weekend service “doorway,”

and view their department as

a growth center.

“Most senior pastors have a gift of gathering, but there is a ceiling built into that,” Samuel says. “And most staff members have the mentality of ‘you bring it in, you make it happen, and we’ll do our best to take care of it.’ But that’s a management mentality, not a growth mentality.”

Right:Leadership consultant Dr. Samuel Chand has seen a number of factors that contribute to rapid growth, including staff members who are driven to ever-increasing levels of competency, and those who turn their departments into “growth centers.

Far Right:Mike Lee points to this focus of loving people while still tackling their difficult situations as the cultural cornerstone that has led to Hope’s rapid growth.

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Instead, Samuel says, each department should have its own growth goals—with measurements and accountability. For instance, a youth leader with a goal to increase a ministry from 100 to 150 people is a good start. “But I want to see how he’s going to get there, and we’re going to check along the way,” Samuel says. “If one month from the end of the year, you’ve only grown by five people, you’re in trouble.”

Samuel says each staff

member needs to feel some

of the same “pressure” that

lead pastors experience

for numerical growth,

development and use of

financial resources.

“Churches do not grow exponentially through Sunday morning,” he adds. “They grow exponentially when every department head takes responsibility for growth.”

Honor The Past Navigate The Future…And Be PatientWhen Jeff Appling became the first full-time pastor in the 188-year history of The Grove in Maysville, GA (www.grovelevel.com), he could have easily taken the reins, shoved out the old guard and immediately began implementing his many plans for the future. Fortunately for The Grove, which has grown from 30 people to 1,600 in Jeff’s 20 years there, he chose a different path.“I was the youngest guy there, so I had to establish that I truly did love

the people,” Jeff says. “It began with a culture of love and understanding, and there had to be a heart-to-heart connection first before I could accomplish anything—and that takes time. Because I showed them respect and didn’t ostracize them and just start changing everything immediately, they allowed me to lead and lent me their credibility.” Jeff says he was able to lay the groundwork for such a culture of love, understanding and patience because he planned on being there for the long haul. “I didn’t need to come in and clean house. I went there to stay, so I didn’t have to be in a big hurry to make sweeping changes.”

Jeff also knew he wanted to establish a healthy equipping and discipleship culture—another process that takes time. His approach has allowed The Grove to establish a two-year Bible institute that comes complete with a valedictorian, salutatorian, class rings, caps and gowns and diplomas. “A lot of people in that first class never even graduated from high school,” Jeff says. “Today, I still see a lot of those first graduates, and they are empowered to lead at a much higher level than they ever dreamed.”

That equipping culture has contributed to The Grove’s consistent, strong growth over the years and has produced

many graduates such as the staff member who got his start after a drunk driving incident. The man accepted Christ on his first Sunday at The Grove, eventually graduated from The Grove’s Bible Institute, and served in multiple leadership capacities before joining the church staff. He now writes curriculum, teaches classes and oversees community groups. “He went from being drunk on his back to becoming a great leader—

Samuel finds that rapidly growing congregations “push people to higher levels of competency

VIDEO EXTRA

Jeff Appling talks about his 20 years as pastor of The Grove, a 208-year-old congregation in northeast Georgia. The unity he built with those before him has been a blossoming effect, “They lent their credibility to me and let me lead.” he says. To see They Let Me Lead: Pastoring a Long-Established Church go to leadnet.org/videos

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all because we didn’t get in a hurry to see God work, and invested in him,” Jeff says.

That same culture of patiently blending new leaders and new ideas with the wisdom and direction of long-term leadership has also fueled Calvary’s rise over the past three years. While founding pastor J. Don George has stayed on to “help the younger guys,” Ben Dailey has reconfigured the church staff to follow Don’s lead. “A lot of times, young leaders come in and they want to get rid of the guy who has all the influence to spend—and that’s a terrible waste,” Ben says. “But the cool thing is, when it’s done right, there is mutual trust and that is powerful for a church. The younger generations can celebrate that there is a father in the house and all the great things that come along with that.”

Don is enjoying the fruits—maybe more than ever. “I’m 73 years old, and I’m pastoring the most youthful church in my 50 years of ministry,” he says. “The longer I go, the younger our congregation seems to get.”

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Additional Resources: PAPERSRapid Growth Pressure Points: How Pastors and Church Staff Deal with the Pressures of Rapid Church GrowthBy Sherri BrownPastors and church staff in rapidly growing churches experience a unique set of challenges. How they deal with those challenges will shape future growth and church health. Developing leaders, freeing up finances, finding space, creating community, keeping staff healthy and regaining momentum when growth slows down—they’re all issues facing these congregations.

VIDEOSThey Let Me Lead: Pastoring a Long-Established Church Jeff Appling talks his 20 years as pastor of The Grove, a 208-year-old congregation in northeast Georgia. The unity he built with those before him has been a blossoming effect, “They lent their credibility to me and let me lead,” he says.

Tapping the Influence of Your Predecessor: An Interview with Don George and Ben DaileyDon George, the longtime senior pastor of Calvary Chapel in Irving, TX, joined by his named successor Ben Dailey, talk together about their transition, especially the trust they’ve developed. Both want the church to continue and grow. “He knows where the bodies are buried, so I don’t get in trouble digging up the wrong thing!” says Ben.

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This report was compiled by Andy Williams, the Communications Manager for an insurance company in Omaha, NE. He is married to Lorrie, has three boys and is part of a network of organic churches in the Midwest.

About Leadership Network:Leadership Network welcomes your response. The primary writer is Andy Williams. Editorial advisors were Jim Kuykendall, Director of Rapid Growth Leadership Communities for Leadership Network and Warren Bird, Director of Research and Intellectual Capital Support for Leadership Net-work. Contact them via Kelly.Kuleza @leadnet.org © 2010 Leadership Network www.leadnet.org

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