The reasons why small churches don’t grow & Solution

Before I get into the reasons why small churches don’t grow, there’s nothing wrong with being a small church.

( I have seen many smaller churches demonstrating the raw power of God than big churches! You actually have a lot of advantages over larger churches)

All I know is that almost every small church leader I speak to wants his or her church to grow.

Just because your church is small now, doesn’t mean it has to stay that way!

The typical size of a church in the Africa 90, US is 89 people, and probably smaller in the UK

60% of churches have less than 100 adults in attendance and only 2% have more than 1,000 coming on a Sunday morning.

So now we know what we’re working with, let’s help you buck these trends and take a look at the root causes of stifled church growth.

What causing small church not to grow

1. It’s NOT because you don’t want growth

The very fact you’re reading this post means you’re serious about taking your church forward.

I have yet to meet a pastor or church leader who doesn’t have a heart to reach more people or have a greater impact on their community.

2. It’s NOT because you’re not praying enough

This is a big one. Pastors blame themselves for low attendance thinking it’s because they’ve not prayed long enough or hard enough.

Of course we should all be talking to God everyday and most pastors do, but the Great Commission requires actual action.

Prayer is a great way of helping us remember God’s promises and taking Him at His Word but then we need to do something about it.

There are targeted prayers, as a man of God you don't need to focus on one way prayers, we have to pray all manners of prayers.

3. It’s NOT because of where you are

Your lack of growth is probably not because of the building you’re in. I know churches that are growing in the forest, villages, warehouses and sports centers. Churches can grow in the most unlikely places.

Your church isn’t small because of the Country you’re in. Over the years I’ve been told Europe is a spiritual graveyard and Thailand is a really difficult place to breakthrough and so on. This is simply not true.

Jesus said this in John 4:35 KJV:

“Say not ye, There are yet four months, and then cometh harvest? behold, I say unto you, Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields; for they are white already to harvest..“

Why small churches don’t grow

Here are the biggest reasons small churches remain the same despite all efforts.

My prayer is that these will help you locate what might be stifling the growth in your church and identify action steps you can take to move your church forward.

1. Small churches don’t grow when visitors don’t feel welcome
It takes just 10 minutes for a first-time visitor to decide whether or not they’ll come back next week.

Think about that.

From your church entrance to your car park, to how you greet people, to how clean your toilets are – it’s vital you make a great first impression.

Unfortunately too many leaders overlook these small details either because they don’t know how big of an impact they have on church growth or they don’t care.

The solution
It’s not about having a big fancy building, it’s about taking good care of what you have. Most often it’s the little things that make the biggest difference.

Remember, every Sunday is someone’s first Sunday. Ensure you do your best to make church visitors feel welcome by creating an outward-focused culture.

Consider having a welcome team ready to warmly greet people as they come in. Go crazy and give them a church welcome pack if you have one and if you don't have a team that can speak to them after service.

Kick off your service with a short welcome speech to let your visitors know they’re welcome and your members know visitors are always expected.

church visitor quote

2. Churches stay small when the pastor does everything
If the pastor’s doing all of the teaching, bookkeeping and visiting every sick person in hospital there’s only so far a church can go.

I don’t know where we got this idea from that the pastor has to run around trying to do everything – this is the best way to guarantee a small church stays small.

A pastor can only take care of say 40-50 people before he starts to frazzle and burn out.

The solution
The top priority of any pastor is to train up members for ministry.

I have been to a church where the pastor doesn't want anyone to teach or feels they want to take my church away from me

This isn’t just my opinion, this is Christ’s method of church growth. Take a look at Ephesians 4:11-12,

“And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; 12 For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:.“

If you’re the pastor and you think only you can do everything, you need to let go, loosen the reins and give space for others to grow in the giftings.

Can they do as good a job as you? Probably not. Will they make mistakes? Most definitely, but this is a vital part of the discipleship process.

Or maybe you’d love to be able to recruit more Sunday school workers, musicians and follow up team members but you’re having a hard time getting people to step up and serve.

If this is you, check out How to recruit more church volunteers where you’ll discover how to gain, train and retain ministry team members.

Not only is your job as a leader to raise other leaders, getting more people working towards the church’s vision creates limitless growth potential.

true leaders don't create more followers they create leaders

3. Churches stay small when the preaching could be better
A recent Gallup poll revealed 76% of American churchgoers said good preaching was the main motivating factor when choosing a church – more important than having a great youth program or worship team.reasons why people go to church

Developing your preaching skills is the most effective thing you can do to grow your weekly attendance.

We preach as a labour of love and yet if we’re honest with ourselves we know we’re not as effective as we could be…

I get it, our days are packed with every hour already accounted for – where on earth will you find the time to invest in preaching training?

As a result most preachers spend countless hours struggling over their sermon outlines without clear structure or direction.

It’s stressful and it’s time-consuming.

The solution
You’re constantly pouring into others but when do you ever invest in yourself as a communicator of God’s Word?

As a pastor of a small church you have a major advantage – you know exactly what your members are going through and what issues they’re facing.

This allows you to deliver God’s message in a way that’s super relevant to them IF you know how to prepare and present well.

To see a dramatic improvement in the quality of your preaching and claim your Saturdays back from grueling sermon preparation there’s only ONE sermon system I recommend.

4. Small churches stagnate when people aren’t giving generously
Some people don’t give because they’re going through a tough patch financially or they have yet to learn what the Bible says about Tithe & offering, stewardship and generosity.

Others might not give as much as they could because they haven’t caught the vision or they don’t know what their money will be used for.

The solution
Your church may be small, but your budget doesn’t have to be.

When you know how to increase church giving you have more money for ministry and more resources to reach more people.

The 2-3 minutes offering time in a service fund the entire work of the ministry for a week so we need to make them count.

the church should be the most well funded organisation on earth

5. Small churches stay small without small groups
Growing churches tend to have more people in small groups than declining churches.

Without a small group system church members may see each other for only 2 hours a week, but church is about way more than a Sunday morning meeting.

Small groups are where your members can connect with God and connect with each other.

When a church member becomes a part of a small home group you know they’re going to connect with God and connect with others; you know they’re going to get disciplined.

The solution
Growing churches tend to have more people in small groups than declining churches.

One of the best ways to create a disciple-making culture in your church is by increasing your small group participation.

If you have 40 people in your church and 10 of them attend a weekly Bible study, you’re discipling 25% of your flock.

Some would say a 50% small group participation rate is good. Personally I think you should always aim for 100% whether you reach that or not because every person in your church should be plugged into a small group.

I will be writing on below topics:

How To Start A Small Group From Scratch

How To Run A Bible Study (Even If You Never Have Before) church home groups key to church growth

Break the limits off of your church
If you want help to get from where you are to where you want to be, I have some deeper practical help.

how to solve the attendance puzzle

How To Solve The Church Attendance Puzzle is a FREE online workshop created especially for pastors and church leaders who want to break past their current attendance barriers.

The biggest mistake churches make that costs them attendance (You’ll be surprised… it’s not what you think!)

How to get more people at your services (and keep them coming back)
The best way to get this Sunday’s guests to return next week

Slots are filling up fast so be sure to click here to register your spot today.Whether your church is 50, 150 or 250 in number, this live event will give you insights into what action steps you can take to get your church unstuck.(only 200 seats available!)

What has helped trigger growth in your church?

Why do you think small churches stay small and what can be done to turn that around?