Church Magnets
Churches can be graded on a scale of 1-5
Level 1: declining
Level 2: plateaued; Level 1 and 2 churches—declining and plateauing-- are 80% of churches in America.
Level 3: growing (addition growth; gaining more members than they lose); 13% of churches in America
Level 4: reproducing (has started a new church or satellite campus); approximately 7% of churches in America
Level 5: multiplying (shows reproducing growth to the 4th generation); so rare as to be almost unicorns. Two stick out, The Hope Chapel Movement (led by Ralph Moore) and Church Multiplication Associates (led by Neil Cole, but this group is so crunchy and organic, they don’t really need a leader…)
If you arrange these “levels” on a horizontal line,
1 2 3 4 5
you can begin to imagine 3 “magnets” that affect church growth.
There is a powerful magnet outside of Level 1 which draws churches to decline. This magnet, “The Magnet of Death,” is very identifiable. Churches under its pull say “we don’t have the money,” and “we have to grow here first before we can spend the money to invest in new opportunities.”
There is a powerful magnet at Level 3, which draws churches to grow. In fact, the churches you hear about, the ones in your community that seem to just be exploding, that you say you want to be like, these are most likely Level 3 churches. The Level 3 magnet is powerful. Pastors want their churches to grow. Level 3 growth is a very well-known set of principles, but it is hard. And that Level 1 magnet is always calling out to churches, giving fine-sounding reasons to not do anything. Level 3 growth requires a church to invest money. You have to spend money updating the facility. It requires a staffing stack, recognizing which ministry areas most directly contribute to church growth, and then having 1 full-time staff person per 80-100 attendees. And most importantly, growing churches spend the money for staff at the level they intend to reach, not the level they are already at. If a church is in decline, there is a very high probability it is understaffed.
Level 4 churches. This is a huge success story! Just a few years ago, growing churches were 16%, but they dropped to 13% That sounds bad, except it is because 3% of churches entered the Reproduction level! This is largely due to launching satellite campuses. For decades, approximately 3,000 churches closed every year, and we never opened nearly as many as had closed. 2017 MARKED THE FIRST YEAR WE OPENED MORE NEW CHURCHES THAN WE CLOSED—3500 CLOSED, 4200 OPENED!!! Yes, I used all caps to shout at you!
If we reach 10% of churches reproducing, that will be more than 30,000 new churches in America. This is the Level 5 magnet pulling at churches...to reproduce…to multiply.
I have to be brutally honest. The Level 3 magnet is soooooo powerful. It is growth—how can that be bad thing? Level 3 growth however, can’t keep up with the pace of loss. But I have to admit, Level 3 growth just feels so good. One of the big obstacles to reproducing is that we all want to see people in our church, at our location. Reproduction means some of the growth is going to be somewhere else. If you want that “the gang’s all here” feeling, it will be very hard to escape Level 3’s pull, and you might even be dragged back to Level 1. The Level 3 magnet is soooo powerful to pastors, as well. Believe me, I get it. I want Trinity Hill to be the largest church in the Conference. That’s a good goal, a right goal. Nothing wrong with it.
The Level 5 magnet is “The Jesus Magnet.” Have you noticed how He was all about multiplication… seeds, fruit, loaves, fishes, wine… Addition was not His way. Reproduction and multiplication growth requires a different mindset. Where Level 3 growth requires money on buildings and staff, Level 5 reproduction and multiplication growth requires us to spend money away from the church and send people out.
I also want Trinity Hill to be a church that plants churches. Can it be both the largest church and a church-planting church? My bet is yes, because a church that has such a zeal for souls as to seek to multiply the kingdom of God has, well, a zeal for souls! And that will translate not just to multiplication and reproduction elsewhere, but also to growth right here.