Deliberate Simplicity: Browning's Church Growth Model

Background and Overview

Deliberate Simplicity: How the Church Does More by Doing Less is a 2009 book by David Browning, published by Zondervan Publishers as part of the Leadership Network Innovation Series. The book describes a new Christian church movement centered on simplicity. Browning is an innovator who deliberately embraced simplicity, moving away from the "big, bigger, best" mega-church and corporate church models toward a "less is more" spartan approach to church development. As the founder of Christ the King Community Church International (CTK), Browning launched a movement that is expanding rapidly. Outreach magazine named CTK one of the fastest-growing churches in the United States, and it is also considered among the most innovative. The CTK family of churches has expanded beyond the United States to other countries, and their work is significantly influencing perceptions of what a church should be.

In Deliberate Simplicity, Browning discusses the CTK model and his thinking in developing this approach. He works from six principles that comprise his "equation for action": minimality, intentionality, reality, multility, velocity, and scalability. Five of these terms are familiar; the sixth, "multility," is unfamiliar and fails to appear in standard dictionaries or internet searches. However, the word appears as the name of an OS-X app and a garden tool with a single handle and six interchangeable heads (trowel, culti-rake, V-hoe, flat hoe, cutting edge, and weeder). It appears to be a concatenation of "multi" and "utility," which Browning uses to express the concept of keeping the church unified, simple, pure, and cellular.

Foundations of the Deliberate Simplicity Model

The essence of Browning's approach to the CTK churches is his "less is more" model, which remains consistently focused on his simple equation for action. The church should embody and exemplify minimality (focus on simplicity), intentionality (focus on mission), reality (focus on authenticity), velocity (focus on momentum), scalability (focus on expansion), and multility (focus on cellular structure). Deliberate Simplicity serves as Browning's guide to an active, growing church movement that he seeks to share with church leaders to enhance their ministries.

Browning's introduction describes a church where ministry is performed by ordinary individuals, and the pastor's role is to recognize, organize, train, and support these ministers (Browning, 2009, p. 15). This vision of churches that meet in homes rather than grandiose buildings is the image Browning wants readers to hold to understand his basic premise: "less is more." His vision includes more baptisms (Browning, 2009, p. 3) and growing membership through small, active groups meeting in tiny spaces rather than mega-auditoriums. Browning's worldview is one where the message of faith spreads because the simplicity of his equation enables the church to reach out and continue growing without geographical limits (Browning, 2009, p. 3).

Starting in 1999, Christ the King Community Church grew from a single workshop in April to a monthly growth rate of 12 percent, increasing by nearly 500 churchgoers each week. By the end of 1999, CTK had expanded to 38 groups meeting weekly. Between 2004 and 2008, CTK expanded to a ten-city range of workshops and, while retaining simplicity as the foundational principle, continued to grow steadily.

The Six Principles of Church Growth

Browning (2009) attributes CTK's success to the six aspects of his equation. A closer examination of each principle as applied to CTK demonstrates the "less is more" foundation. First, minimality emphasizes that it is important for a church to remain small and restrict its activities, avoiding the temptation to expand into new programs. Focusing on workshops with small groups where real impact can be made, Browning stresses that interpersonal exchange is pivotal in keeping the church alive and growing (Browning, 2009, p. 55). The church becomes stronger with a small-group focus and a simple, minimal message and set of activities. This principle constitutes the ministry focus—what the ministry is fundamentally about.

Intentionality keeps the church focused on the goals of the ministry, which include the church's mission: outreach and growth, spreading the gospel—what is called the "Great Commission." The full title of Browning's book, Deliberate Simplicity: How the Church Does More by Doing Less (2009), encapsulates this focus. Part of this principle is not allowing focus to shift beyond the stated and planned mission, and specifically avoiding any urge to expand beyond those boundaries.

Reality is about "keeping it real," although what this means precisely is more difficult to explain. Basically, it comes down to remembering what the church is about and what it is not about. It also includes understanding that everyone is a sinner and all should be welcomed. The Great Commission, central to Christian theology, underlies this principle of reaching and including all people.

The unusual term multility is intended by Browning to indicate "keep it cellular"—localized, focused, and centered on Christ. At the same time, it refers to growth like a cell, growth by what might be considered "cloning." The idea is to take a small local church that is working and replicate it in another town, and another, and another, and so forth. This term is frankly off-putting and awkward; more conventional words such as "multiplicity" might more readily convey the key concept Browning is pursuing.

Real-World Impact and Results

Velocity emphasizes keeping things moving—not slowing down or wasting time. Organizational change theory supports this emphasis on momentum in institutional growth. Scalability refers to the transferability of what works in one church to a new church being established elsewhere, and doing so quickly. Browning's formula for all of this is expressed as "< = - X + ?," where each symbol represents part of his six values. Within his book, each term receives an entire chapter where he discusses the concepts and their application in depth.

Ultimately, Browning's "Deliberate Simplicity" is reminiscent of the simple monks of the past, who gave up everything for the practice of faith, yet in a harnessed manner that engenders growth. It is apparently not entirely novel if one considers other churches that embrace simplicity. However, the most important fact is that Browning's method and message are effective. They have clearly resulted in growth for CTK International, which now operates in twelve states and seven or eight countries. Evangelicalism as a movement has similarly emphasized direct, personal faith and mission-driven expansion.