ChurchGrowth

Principles & Practices

Dr. Jeff Fugate

P. O. Box 1099 Murfreesboro, Tennessee 37133

(800) 251-4100 (615) 893-6700 FAX (615) 848-6943
www.SwordoftheLord.com
Copyright 2015 by
Sword of the Lord Publishers
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All Scripture quotations are from the King James Bible.

CONTENTS
Introduction

I. The Philosophy of Church Growth

1. An Expectation of Growth
2. Why Our Churches Should Grow
3. Why Some Churches Keep Growing While Others Do Not
4. Growing a Vision for the Church
5. Maintaining Momentum
6. Enemies of Church Growth
7. Building an Evangelistic Church
8. Church Growth Is Spiritual Growth
9. Growth Killers

II. The Principles of Church Growth

10. Reaching and Keeping People
11. Growing Throughout the Year
12. A Passion for Building Your Church
13. Maintaining Consistent Growth
14. How to Overcome a Plateau
15. PlateauingMore Hooks in the Water
16. Affecting Your Region for Christ
17. How to Become the Growing Church We Want to Be
18. Setting Goals for a Growing Church
19. Building a Family Church
20. The Peaks and Valleys of Church Growth

III. The Pastor and Church Growth

21. Church Growth and the Mind of the Pastor
22. The Pastor and Church Growth
23. The Pastor and His Schedule
24. The Pastor and His Staff
25. Maintaining Proper Priorities as a Leader
26. A Growing Church and a Happy Family
27. Characteristics of Pastors of Growing Churches

28. Leadership Tips for the Pastor of a Growing Church

29. Three Basics to Start Church Growth
30. Growing People in a Growing Church

IV. The People of the Church Growth

31. Involving the Staff in Church Growth
32. Getting More Production From the Church Staff
33. Committed to Faithful Men
34. The Power of Teamwork
35. Training Lay Leadership
36. Warning to Workers
37. Helping People Reach Their Potential
38. Where to Find Workers in the Church
39. A Church Growth Mind-Set Must Be Taught
40. Qualities of Faithful Men
41. Keeping Your Workers Encouraged
42. Should I Push My People?

V. The Programs of a Growing Church

43. How to Boost Soul Winning
44. Sunday School Is Vital to Growth
45. Taking Advantage of Limited Space
46. Qualifications for Teaching in the Sunday School
47. Finances of a Growing Church
48. Ministries of a Growing Church
49. Growth Through a Departmentalized Sunday School
50. How to Organize Your Sunday School for Growth
51. Conducting Multiple Services

VI. The Promotions of a Growing Church

52. Promoting Your Church to Your Community
53. The Philosophy of Promotions
54. Building Your Drive-In Crowd
55. Maintaining Your Drive-In Crowd
56. Making a Positive Impression on Guests
57. The Benefits of Big Days
58. Ways to Increase the Number of First-Time Visitors

59. Planning a Big Day

60. Preparing for a Successful Sunday School Campaign
61. How to Get People to Bring Guests to Church
62. A Checklist on Making Guests Feel Welcome

INTRODUCTION
Some may say, "You cannot build a church; only God can build the church." This is true. However, when
we say that we "grew a garden" or we "grew some flowers," we do not mean that we grew them by
ourselves but that we followed the principles and laws of nature; that is, we provided the atmosphere for
growth for that garden or those flowers. The same is true for the individual Christian and for our
churches.
As we open the pages of the Word of God to see what the Bible has to say on the subject of the church,
we find that every word which describes the church is a word that implies growth. For example,
"And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and
the gates of hell shall not prevail against it."Matt. 16:18.
The word "build" means "to increase, to construct and to edify."
The following verses describing the early days of the church tell us about church growth.
"Then they that gladly received his word were baptized: and the same day there were added
unto them about three thousand souls."Acts 2:41.
"Praising God, and having favour with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily
such as should be saved."Vs. 47.
"And believers were the more added to the Lord, multitudes both of men and women."5:14.
Then when we come to Acts 6, we find that the churches began to multiply!
"And in those days, when the number of the disciples was multiplied."6:1.
"And the word of God increased; and the number of the disciples multiplied in Jerusalem
greatly; and a great company of the priests were obedient to the faith."Vs. 7.
"Then had the churches rest throughout all Juda and Galilee and Samaria, and were edified;
and walking in the fear of the Lord, and in the comfort of the Holy Ghost, were multiplied."
9:31.
"But the word of God grew and multiplied."12:24.
These men did not build a church by themselves. They simply obeyed the commands of Christ to take the
Gospel to every creature, to preach the Word of God, to teach the Word of God, to organize the work of
God; and as a result, the church did grow! They simply followed the instructions of God to provide an
atmosphere of healthy growth.
The same is true of the individual Christian. If you put a Christian into the environment of the world all of
the time, that Christian will not grow but will in fact begin to die spiritually. If we place ourselves in a
spiritual atmosphere of growth, we will in fact grow spiritually!
"But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be
glory both now and for ever. Amen."II Pet. 3:18.
"But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even
Christ."Eph. 4:15.
"As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby."I Pet. 2:2.
"And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge;

"And to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness;

"And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity.
"For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor
unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
"But he that lacketh these things is blind, and cannot see afar off, and hath forgotten that he
was purged from his old sins.
"Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if ye
do these things, ye shall never fall."II Pet. 1:5-10.
You will not find in this book any ideas borrowed from the emerging church movement. In fact, what I
know about the emerging church are the things that I see some of our own churches trying to borrow, and
they are not working. These attempts to borrow ideas from outside the Bible kill the growth of the church.
In this book I simply take the Bible principles for growth and show how they can help us create an
environment for our churches, and more importantly for individual Christians, that will bring about
growth. It is the responsibility and work of the pastor to lead the church in obeying the principles of
growth for both the Christian and the church.
I believe there are two directions in which churches or Christians can go. We can either grow or die. I
pray that this book will help you grow in your Christian life as well as in your local New Testament
Baptist church.

{chapter 1}

AN EXPECTATION

OF

GROWTH

It has been said that you get what you expect in life. There is a certain amount of truth to that statement.
Our expectations often determine which results we experience. Unfortunately, many pastors have little or
no expectation for growth; and as a result, their churches never experience substantial growth. My study
of the New Testament leads me to believe that a pastor should expect his church to grow and be surprised
and concerned if it does not.
The New Testament presents growth as a normal part of the church. It constantly refers to the growth of
the early church. From all that Jesus taught His disciples, I think we can surmise scripturally that He
expected their work to grow. Results are a normal part of anything we do in life. If we do the right things
in our churches, inevitably we must grow. Here are several things that I believe should be growing within
a church.
Converts or disciples
The Sunday school
Soul winning
Workers
Ministries
These things work hand in hand, so as one of them grows, all of them should be growing. In the New
Testament church, we see all of these things growing together. Even the ministry of Jesus increased as He
ministered, which means the crowds grew as more people came to know Him for who He was.
The Lord Jesus founded the local New Testament church and stated to Peter in Matthew 16:18, "Upon
this rock I will build my church." Notice the word "build," which we pointed out means "to increase, to
construct and to edify." As you then read about the development and building of the church, you see that
there was a continual growth. In other words, growth is not to be sporadic but continual. I think we need
to rethink our understanding and expectation about the growing of our churches.
Growth is exciting. I am the pastor of an excited church because we are a growing church.
Growth brings more growth. That is, the more we grow, the more we are able to grow because our faith
and understanding are increased. We cannot allow those who are negative toward the work of God to
hinder us from seeing our churches grow. Neither do we have to compromise our standards and
convictions to see our churches grow.
Having been the pastor of two churches since 1986, I have seen visitors come to church week after week
throughout these years. I have seen the Sunday schools grow. I have seen the bus ministries grow. I have
seen God's people grow and become a part of the growth of the church. We are constantly adding new bus
routes and Sunday school classes. Growth is not an anomaly but the normalcy in our church.
Growth in the church is the result of following biblical principles for growth, not emerging church ideas
or some other fad. I am speaking of following the Bible mandates and obeying Bible principles to see the
church and its ministries grow.
There are many methods I would not endorse even though they have produced numerical growth in some
churches. The fruit of their growth is not a fruit that I believe should exist in the New Testament church.
The Bible tells us we will know something by its fruit (Matt. 7:20). The fruit of a church ought to be holy
living and more separation from the world, not compromising to reach more people. I do not believe

compromise is necessary in order for us to build a growing church. It concerns me that we follow men
who dishonor methods that were used in days gone by to build godly yet growing churches, and replace
those methods with new ones that are worldly.
As we read of Pentecost, we find that there were three thousand added to the church that day. In the
verses following that we see indications and principles of church growth.
"Then they that gladly [notice the excitement of growth] received his word were baptized: and
the same day there were added [here is the increase] unto them about three thousand souls.
"And they continued [key to growthcontinue] stedfastly in the apostles' doctrine and
fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers."Acts 2:41,42.
"And they, continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to
house, did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart,
"Praising God, and having favour with all the people. And the Lord added [here is another
indication of growth] to the church daily such as should [indication that this is normal to add
daily to the number of the saved] be saved."Vss. 46, 47.
This growth was not an anomaly; it was to be a pattern for the church. This should set a fire in our souls
and be an example for our ministries. As we discuss church growth throughout this book, we will see
three basic areas that we need to consider.

1. OUR PURPOSE IS TO GROW

Once you determine your purpose, you are on y our way. If Jesus said that He would "build" the church,
then you and I should have the same mind-set of doing the work given to us so Christ may build His
church in our town or city. Growth is the outcome, the result, the purpose of our work as a pastor or leader
of our particular ministry. Many pastors make the mistake of assuming that their job is merely feeding the
sheep. We cannot feed sheep we don't have.
The purpose is to grow the flock and then care for them. It amazes me that pastors don't see the need of
building a flock. We are not here simply to feed a flock someone sends us. Pastor, it is your responsibility
to lead in building your church.

2. OUR PRINCIPLES ARE THOSE THINGS THAT ARE THE FOUNDATIONS OF BIBLE TRUTHS
Growth should never be through the sacrifice of biblical truth, compromising our standards and
convictions. Many churches today have justified worldliness as a means of reaching people.
We grow by using the principles of the Word of God. A Bible-based church is built upon several things.
It is centered on the Gospel, which is what we want everyone to have. The Gospel should be a
strong part of your church's emphasis.
Preaching should be based on the Bible. Every service is built around the preaching of God's
Word.
Church services should honor Christ. The music should be hymns and spiritual songs, not
contemporary worldly music. It should be doctrinally sound as well. Every aspect of the service
should honor Christ and not be tainted with worldliness.
The program should be based on growing in Christ. In the Book of Acts they prayed, sang
songs, had fellowship, taught Bible doctrine, and preached.
In the Book of II Corinthians, Paul warned the church at Corinth against bringing the culture of that day
into the church (6:14-17). They had become a worldly church rather than a Bible-principled church. We
must be careful that in the desire to grow we do not exchange God's principles for those that are manmade.

3. THESE ARE OUR PRACTICES, OR THE THINGS WE DO TO GROW

Much of this book is dealing with this particular point. This is a how-to book; however, if our purpose
and principles are not right, then our "how-to" will be merely man-made methods and will not accomplish
fully the purpose God has for our churches.
Many pastors understand point two but are weak on the first point and this one. They have not determined
that their purpose is to grow, and they have not mastered the practices to help make them grow. Many are
correct on principles but need to understand the purpose and learn the practices.
Throughout this book I will mix these three points together as I teach how we have built a growing
church. But we must understand them as a foundation in order to build what I believe is a church that
glorifies our Lord and accomplishes His purpose for establishing His church.

{chapter 2}

WHY OUR CHURCHES SHOULD GROW

"I will build my church," Jesus said (Matt. 16:18). What could be clearer than that? Jesus did not say, "I
will maintain My church." He did not say, "I will isolate My church." He did not say, "I will contain My
church." He said, "I will build my church." Building is growth. When we see the church in the Book of
Acts, we see it growing first through addition and then through multiplication.
A church that is not committed to growth is not committed to building His church. Growth is what
characterized the New Testament church. The language used under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit to
describe the church in the Book of Acts denotes that churches were growing.
"And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved."Acts 2:47.
Where were they added? "To the church."
How often? "Daily."
"And so were the churches established in the faith, and increased in number daily."16:5.
In what did they increase? "Number."
How often did they increase? "Daily."
"And the word of God increased; and the number of the disciples multiplied in Jerusalem
greatly."6:7.
You see that the disciples did not just grow in number; they multiplied! You can't multiply souls unless
you multiply numbers. Therefore, we must conclude that the churches in the Book of Acts and beyond
were growing churches. Let me share what I believe Jesus meant when He spoke of building His church.

1. BUILDING IS EXPANSION
A builder is not one who supervises the tenants of a housing development. A builder is one who expands
the housing. A builder is not a realtor. A builder is one who expands or builds. Jesus trained His disciples
to build His church. Through their obedience to His command, the church expanded. Now, you would
either have to claim that they did it wrong or that we who are not growing are doing it wrong. There is no
doubt that the churches in the New Testament were building and thus growing.

2. BUILDING IS PROGRESS
If you drive by a sign placed on vacant land that announces a new subdivision, you expect progress. If
one house is built and everything comes to a halt and no more progress is seen, do you not wonder what is
wrong? You may think people are not interested in buying those houses or perhaps the builder ran out of
money. But we expect progress. Progress is not watching a handful of houses constantly being improved
upon. It is more houses being added to the property. Where there is building, there is definitive progress.
A church that is building will be a church with definitive growth. I did not say a growing church is
automatically a good church, but a good church should be a growing church.

3. BUILDING IS MULTIPLICATION
Churches grow through multiplication. That is not just through door-to-door soul winning either, although
that is important. Let's examine Acts 5:42 through a different approach. "And daily in the temple, and in
every house, they ceased not to teach and preach Jesus Christ." When we see the words "every house," we
assume they were knocking on cold doors; but that is only a part of it. In those days households were
much more extended than ours are today. A household was multigenerational, meaning there were usually

numerous families in one household. So if one member of a family came to Christ, he would go home and
preach Christ to the others in the household. Then they would go to the neighbors' house and begin to
preach to them.
We have lost sight of the multiples of a single conversion. Every person who comes to Christ has
multitudes of relationships and people he influences. He has those at home, those in extended family,
those in the neighborhood, those at work, those at school, etc. In other words, one soul saved represents
multitudes of other people. The way we have built our church is through those multiples. A new convert is
often more effective with his influence than he is with the actual skill of leading a soul to Christ.
The woman at the well was a multiplier. The maniac at Gadara was a multiplier. Those Jesus healed were
multipliers. People who saw what happened to them came to see Who was responsible for the
transformation in their lives. How could a soul-winning church not be a multiplying church? Imagine the
number of people every convert in your church knows and then imagine being a church that is reaching
those people. Your church would eventually begin to multiply. Today we would call what happened in the
church at Jerusalem "mushroom growth," but really it was "multiplication growth."

4. BUILDING IS PURPOSEFUL
I have heard it said that it is Jesus' job to build the church, not ours. Some would suggest that if we just go
soul winning, the church will build itself. While I believe we are all commanded to go soul winning, I
know many soul-winning churches that are not growing churches. They are trying to reach the lost
without trying to build the church. That is why the Great Commission clearly states that there are multiple
steps in reaching the lost.
Go and win
Baptize
Teach them to go and win
That is the purpose of the church. The Great Commission is more than a door-to-door proposition. It is a
church-building method. A building church should be a soul-winning church, but I know of soul-winning
churches that are not building churches. Many Christians have been discouraged because they wonder
why their church is a non-growing soul-winning church. It is because they have confused soul winning
with building a church. They are not the same, though they should go hand in hand.

5. BUILDING IS DEFINITIVE
For some reason there are those who have decided that building the church has changed over time. It is
obvious that in the New Testament church it was all about addition and multiplication, but many in
American churches seem to think that has changed or that at some point in the life of a church it changes.
They think that growth is for the new church and not for the old one. Growing a church does not change
after it has reached a certain number. Others think growing churches is for the foreign field but not for us.
Growing is a specific design for churches. Not all churches will grow the same, but all churches should
grow.

6. BUILDING CREATES THE NEED FOR MAINTENANCE, BUT IT IS NOT MAINTENANCE

Here is an important principle that I will discuss more in later chapters. The church has a responsibility to
maintain those they have reached. However, that is not the main duty of a church. The main duty of the
church is to build. If you went to a construction site where no building was going on, you would probably
wonder why they were not building. The contractor may say, "Oh, we are in maintenance mode right now.
We believe that the most important part of building is maintenance. We want to repair the houses we
build." You would leave thinking that it was not a construction site at all. And a church that is only
maintaining is not fulfilling its purpose either.

7. BUILDING REQUIRES LABORERS

It amazes me that someone would say it is not our job to build His church. I thought His work was my

work. I thought His purpose was to be our purpose. How does Christ accomplish His work on this earth?
He does it through His people. He calls us to be co-laborers for that which He builds. It is our job to build
that entity for which He gave His life.
Imagine a contractor calling his crew together and telling them he had a plan to build a subdivision of
homes. He tells them, "See this land? On this land I am going to build a new subdivision."He leaves them,
and they all stand around saying to one another, "It is not our job to build this subdivision because the
boss said he was going to build it." That would not only be silly, but it would probably cost them their
jobs. No, they would get busy building what the boss told them he was going to build. They would
consider it their job to do so. One might say, "You guys heard the boss; let's get to work building."
That is what we are supposed to do. Jesus said, "Upon this rock I will build my church." He left His crew
behind, and they said, "You guys heard what the Master said. Let's get to work building."

8. BUILDING IS ONGOING
Jesus said to look at the fields that were white unto harvest. He said the plentifulness of the harvest was
not the problem. The problem was that there were not enough people to work in the fields to bring in the
harvest. That is what we are all supposed to do.
"And the lord said unto the servant, Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to
come in, that my house may be filled."Luke 14:23.
So, when do we have enough? When can we say that we are finished growing? The Bible says we are to
keep building until the house is full. When is the house full? It is not my duty to decide when the house is
full. It is my duty to keep bringing them in until He says differently. I suppose it is not full as long as the
Lord tarries His return. So until I die, it is my responsibility to be building, which means bringing more
into His house.
Jesus spent three years training the disciples to carry on the work He began. One of His most vital works
was the local church. After He was gone, they went to the work for which they were trained by Him.
There is absolutely no doubt that their focus was on building churches, and there is no doubt that is to be
our focus as well.
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