Book Review Church Growth 101

In his 2012 book Church Growth 101: A Church Growth Guidebook for Ministers and Laity, Glenn Mollette offers valuable insights on pastoral leadership, evangelism, church ministry, church development, and other pastoral and church ministry aspects. With extensive reference to biblical text, the book is organised into 15 chapters. This paper offers a chapter by chapter summary of the book. After the summary, implications for the author’s personal life as well as ministry are offered.
The first chapter is about vision. The chapter is based on Proverbs 29:18, which states that “where there is no vision the people perish.” According to Mollette (2012, p.1), “vision begins with calling.” He narrates the encounters of Paul, Moses, and Peter to illustrate how calling is the basis of our vision, which is driven by our intrinsic drive and strength to serve God. Our internal drive is motivated by what we see or hear God doing in our lives and the lives of others. However, Mollette points out that living a vision-oriented Christian life is not an easy endeavour as one may think – it is a journey full of ups and downs, challenges, tribulations, and temptations. In spite of the hardships, vision is vital for the growth of the church. Having vision means we have a passion for living for God. We orient our lives to the service of God. We develop a strong relationship with God at the individual level, which ultimately builds our fellowship with other Christians. This creates a healthy church – an environment where love, forgiveness, help, and inclusiveness abounds.
Chapter 2 focuses on connecting people to God and man. The overarching message of this chapter is that a church that helps the congregation connect with God and fellow Christians will experience growth. This message is anchored in Luke 10:27, which urges Christians to love God with all their body, mind, and soul, and to love their neighbours as they love themselves. According to Mollette, connecting with God and fellow Christians contributes to church growth by enabling conversion. When we connect with God, we gain the power to introduce others to God, thereby expanding the congregation. Connecting with God also increases our commitment to the church. Commitment in this case means not only devoting ourselves to serving God, but also fulfilling our obligations to the church such as financial support and helping the needy. Connecting with God also gives us a sense of completeness. As explained by Mollette, we may find fulfilment in family, friends, work, and material wealth, but there is nothing that brings ultimate completeness than our relationship with God. The church achieves this completeness through such activities as ushering, music, providing an opportunity for prayer, and preaching.
The third chapter dwells on winning souls to the kingdom of God. Mollette explains that pastors and passionate Christians have a responsibility to bring the lost to the church – they have mission to help people get born again. It is important to note that the lost are not just people who do not go to church or non-Christians. Indeed, there are many people who proclaim to be members of the church, but they are lost – they are not born again. Paying attention to this group is important for building the church. Every church service presents an ideal opportunity to reach out to the lost. The lost can also be reached by ensuring relevant preaching, creating a welcoming church environment, inviting people to church, and visiting people in their residences. Mollette adds that outreach should also be targeted to people who have never heard the gospel. Essentially, Mollette’s message in Chapter 3 is that pastors and committed Christians must endeavour to win souls for God. This is indeed the core mission of Christianity.
Chapter 4 pays attention to the role of the pastor in the church. According to Mollette (2012, p. 19), “the pastor is a central figure in the community.” In the church context, the pastor wears several hats simultaneously. He is not only a preacher and a minister, but also a shepherd, a counsellor, a consoler, a healer, a leader, an organiser, a motivator, and a role model. These roles are especially important given the day to day hardships the flock goes through. From work difficulties and family problems to sickness and emotional suffering, church members often encounter adversities that might shake their faith. By offering spiritual, social, moral, and emotional support, the pastor can help church members overcome life’s tribulations. While church members have needs, Mollette reminds us that the pastor also has needs – the pastor is human too. Thus, church members must also be willing pray for the pastor and offer any support he or she may require. Chapter 4 is arguably one of the most insightful chapters of the book as it highlights the multiple roles the pastor plays in building the church.
In Chapter 5, Mollette talks about pastoral outreach. This chapter basically builds on the role of the pastor described in the preceding chapters. The pastor must be strongly committed to the growth of the church. The pastor achieves this growth by not only preaching, teaching, and leading, but also outreach. Outreach means visiting. Visiting may take several forms including moving door to door, telephone calls, office appointments, Sunday morning surveys, as well as evening dialogues with church members over the week. Outreach contributes to church growth by presenting an opportunity to not only convert the lost, but also gain new church members. The fundamental message Mollette is passing in Chapter 5 is that church growth cannot be achieved at the pulpit only. One may be a great preacher, but if the element of outreach is missing, it may be quite difficult to grow the church. This is without a doubt a challenge to many pastors out there – they must be personally involved in outreach. Nevertheless, the chapter does not fail to mention the challenges pastors may face in outreach – e.g. lack of the open-door police in urban areas.
The role of the pastor is further expounded in Chapter 6. This chapter explains how the pastor can demonstrate care through preaching. Pastoral care is a vital component of church ministry. In fact, pastoral care skills are important skills for an effective pastor. Pastoral care as explained by Mollette is about ministering to the needs of the congregation. This usually takes a substantial portion of the pastor’s time. Pastoral care may be done at home, the hospital, the pastor’s home, and the pulpit. The prayer, help, and encouragement the congregation gets through these avenues go a long way in not only ministering to the needs of church members, but also building the church. Mollette notes that pastoral care goes beyond preaching about salvation. The pastor should as well focus on life’s problems such as depression, parenting, failure, anger, divorce, and bereavement. These problems can cause one to question God and eventually minimise the individual’s commitment to church, hence the need for the pastor to talk about them routinely. It can be seen that Chapter 6 is an extension of Chapter 4, which talks about the multiple roles of the pastor.
Chapter 7 is about challenges associated with church ministry. Though preceding chapters have mentioned some of the difficulties pastors may experience in their pastoral journey, Chapter 7 specifically pays attention to this important matter. Common challenges include unwillingness of the part of communities to abandon deeply ingrained traditions, loss of identity, lack of fulfilment, family pressure, and lack of privacy. These challenges can be detrimental to church growth. Indeed, Mollette notes that such challenges may sometimes be overwhelming for pastors, ultimately causing depression. Mollette urges pastors to learn to overcome “pastoral headaches.” They must always bear in mind that since God called them to ministry, He will always be there in their times of need. When faced with hardships, they should always seek the counsel and wisdom of God. Mollette also urges pastors to maintain a positive attitude. One of the interesting aspects of this chapter is that it familiarises the reader with the difficulties pastors experience in the course of ministry. From the surface, one may view church ministry as a straightforward undertaking. Mollette challenges this popular perception in this chapter by demonstrating the troubles of pastoral work.
Recognising the challenges of ministry, Mollette offer useful guidelines for overcoming the challenges in Chapter 8. He notes that pastors must constantly talk about ministerial health. They must carefully balance between ministry work and personal matters such as attending to friends. This is especially crucial as ministry work may often be extremely demanding, leaving little or no time for the pastor to engage in other things. Pastors can overcome the pressure of ministry by drawing their own schedules, remaining aware of their humanity, reserving time for self and family, and cultivating friendships. Such avenues may offer immense relief from ministry pressure. Pastors are human beings just like everyone else – they should, therefore, not disregard their human needs. On the whole, the core message conveyed in this chapter is that a healthy church is healthy from top to bottom – from the pastor to the flock. This means that church growth may not be achieved if the pastor is hurting.
Chapter 9 discusses church agents and their role in church growth. Ministry work is overwhelming – it involves several activities, which the pastor may usually not accomplish alone. Mollette points out that it is important for pastors to work together with other church leaders such as elders, deacons, and team leaders. These agents can contribute to or hinder the growth of the church. Church leaders facilitate church growth by being “agents of positivism,” “agents of service,” “agents of harmony”, “agents of outreach”, and “agents of Christian example” (Mollette, 2012, p. 47-49). This means being at the forefront in embracing and executing the activities of the church (e.g. Bible study and outreach programs), serving members of the church, promoting peace amongst the congregation, participating in visitations, and acting as role models for church members. Church leaders who do not take part in such efforts may be a hindrance to church growth. With such leaders, the pastor may not successfully grow the church irrespective of his or her talent. Chapter 9 is basically a wakeup call for church leaders to be more supportive to the pastor and to ministry work.
One of the activities the church may use to achieve growth is Bible study. Mollette explains the importance of Bible study in facilitating church growth in Chapter 10. Held on Sunday morning or throughout the week, Bible study programs further outreach and expand the congregation’s knowledge of the word of God. Bible studies also provide an opportunity for church members to interact at a more personal level. This is crucial for developing the church’s social fabric. Molletee, however, notes that a successful Bible study program should have certain characteristics. It should include prayers, principles must be clearly outlined, and planning must be meticulous. Moreover, it should provide space for everyone to contribute and church members should be regularly contacted to attend. Mollette identifies Bible study as a critical ingredient of church growth. Sunday services are not enough to build a church. The pastor must look for as many avenues as possible. Bible study is one of them. It provides a chance for the congregation to engage with the Bible at a deeper level.
Chapter 11 provides further insights on Bible study. The chapter offers useful guidelines for growing the bible study program. Given the role of Bible study programs in promoting outreach, pastors must be committed to bettering the programs. Mollette argues that as the shepherd of the church, the pastor must utilise smaller groups within the church to growth the church. The Bible study program can be strengthened by emphasizing the Bible, making the program inclusive, setting growth goals, and ensuring regular staff meetings. Frequent staff meetings are particularly important for planning Bible study sessions. The interesting aspect of this chapter is how it views Bible study programs. It depicts a Bible study program not as a mere social activity, but as an activity that helps the church to grow. As portrayed by Mollette, Bible study programs cannot be taken casually if church growth is to be achieved. He urges pastors to take Bible study programs with the seriousness they deserve.
Church growth can also be achieved through Sunday school. This is the focus of Chapter 12. The Sunday school program basically involves breaking the congregation into smaller groups, mostly on the basis of age. These groups have a teacher and meet on Sunday to undertake classes relevant for their needs. The teacher serves as the pastor of the group. Sunday school programs provide an opportunity to study the Bible, pray, and reach out to church members. This ultimately improves ministry. For instance, a given class can initiate programs aimed at assisting the needy with food, clothing, groceries, and other basic needs. Similarly, another group may take part in visiting the elderly. As the Sunday school program brings church members together, ministry goals can be achieved more readily. Additionally, togetherness can enhance the welfare of church members by forging love, care, compassion, and social support. Such actions according to Mollette demonstrate the love of God. More importantly, Sunday classes can contribute to soul-winning and church growth.
The topic of Sunday school is further extended in Chapter 13. The chapter specifically pays attention to the training of Sunday school workers. Training is particularly vital for small Sunday schools. Dissimilar to large Sunday schools, small Sunday schools grapple with leadership, personnel, and financial deficiencies. These deficiencies can hinder Sunday school work. According to Mollette, workers in small Sunday schools can be trained through printed communication, pulpit communication, and personal communication. The pastor should play an especially important role in training Sunday school teachers. Given his or her position, the pastor is best placed to equip Sunday school teachers and leaders with the knowledge they require to carry out their roles more effectively. Training can also be offered by planning visits to other churches with similar programs. The pastor should be pivotal in arranging such exchanges. Again, Mollette demonstrates the significance of small groups in furthering ministry and church growth. He urges pastors to put more effort in improving Sunday school programs.
Chapter 14 focuses on what Mollette (2012, p. 67) refers to as “the small church syndrome.” He reiterates the importance of overcoming this syndrome. The small church syndrome basically denotes satisfaction or contentment with a small church. It is not uncommon for churches to prefer a small size in terms of membership. For Mollette, this complacency can be detrimental to church growth. He challenges pastors with the small church syndrome to aim for larger memberships. While numbers do not necessarily matter as far as worshipping God is concerned, Mollette argues that worshipping alongside a larger number of people makes church services sweeter. The small church syndrome can be overcome by identifying members with a desire for growth and tasking them to assist with outreach. Also, assigning church responsibilities to new members and killing the “we cannot” attitude can go a long way in killing the small church syndrome. Mollette also identifies the hockey syndrome as a hindrance to church growth. The hockey syndrome is a situation characterised by lack of order in church services – for instance, absence of formal bulletins, lack of rehearsed presentations or prepared sermons, uncontrolled movement of children, as well as moving in and out the sanctuary in a disorganised fashion. Mollette points out that such a church may not achieve growth.
Finally, Chapter 15 urges pastors and churches to pursue growth relentlessly. To grow, pastors and churches should be willing to try new ideas, methods, directions, approaches, and programs. This, however, does not mean departing from the word of God. Whereas the core mission of the church remains the same, the church should be more creative. Pastors should try new ministries and churches should be flexible. Such flexibility is important for growth.
Overall, Mollette’s book is a must read for not only pastors and members of the clergy, but also church leaders and church members. The book offers valuable teachings on several aspects of pastoral work, ministry, and Christianity. For pastors, the book outlines the nature of pastoral work, associated challenges, and ways of overcoming the challenges. As Mollette explains, growing a church requires vision, passion, and commitment on the part of the pastor. The book offers guidelines for expanding outreach, caring for church members, connecting with church members, winning souls, inspiring and motivating church members, as well as organising and implementing Bible study and Sunday school programs. These activities substantially contribute to church growth. Even so, pastors require the support of church leaders and church members to perform their multiple roles. For the church to grow, church leaders and church members must be more involved in ministry and church activities. In essence, Mollette’s book does not just talk to pastors. The book demonstrates that building the church takes the effort of not only the pastor, but also every member of the church.
Personally, Mollette’s book is an eye opener with respect to Christianity and serving God. I realise that I have a responsibility to participate in church building. Alongside other Christians, I have a duty to reach out to the lost, participate in church activities, as well as support my pastor and other church leaders in ministry. I am now aware that ministry is not as easy as I initially thought. It takes work and dedication. When Christians are committed to church at the individual level, commitment at the collective level can be more easily achieved, thereby advancing church growth. Going forward, I desire to be more committed to church. I will be not just a church goer, but an active member – a member vigorously involved in church activities. I strongly believe that this will not only contribute to church growth, but also strengthen my relationship with God. It would be imperative for other Christians to follow suit.


Reference
Mollette, G. (2012). Church growth 101: A church growth guidebook for ministers and laity. Newburgh: Newburgh Press.