10 Things To Consider As Your Church Grows

We have the privilege of working with many thriving and growing churches on a daily basis. Every week, we hear stories from across the country of the Kingdom work being done in thriving churches. If your church is finding itself in a season of growth, you know better than anyone that it’s an exciting (and chaotic) time! There are many things for church leaders to consider and implement to support that growth in the future.

Use these 10 considerations to help your church sustain a current season of growth.

1. Building

Build new? Buy space? Continue our lease?

Whether you are constructing a new building or gutting and remodeling a building, remember to be diligent in decisions and with the budget. Be conservative with what is budgeted, but don’t settle for the cheapest option that won’t last very long. It may be difficult to picture 10 (or even 20) years from now, but this building should be in service for the long haul. This might mean avoiding that “cool” new building that needs repair within the first two years.

2. Staff Count

Is there a need for additional staff? Is there a need for addition by subtraction in your church staff?

For instance, maybe a staff member hasn’t done anything wrong necessarily, but just isn’t keeping up with the speed of growth your church is experiencing. If this is the case, read this Forbes article from William Vanderbloemen on how to fire someone who hasn’t done anything wrong. It’s a tough decision, but will ultimately prove to be a value add to your team.

3. Staff Compensation and Benefits

How do your staff compensation and benefits packages line up with other churches of similar size, budget, theology, and demographics? If you have a rock star staff team, necessary steps need to be taken to retain and keep your staff happy and thriving in your ministry.

Your leadership team should ask questions like, what is a fair pay for our church staff? Or, what would it cost to hire a replacement for our key staff? If you are interested in a third-party consultation on staff compensation and benefits, we offer custom compensation analyses for churches and organizations.

4. Parking

This is simple: do you have enough parking to support your growth? If your church is looking to construct a new building, this is an essential question to ask. Does the amount of parking spots that you provide reflect the number of attendees that you expect? A general rule of thumb is usually 2.0 to 2.5 attendees per spot. This should also include having an appropriate numbers of handicap-accessible parking spots.

Perhaps more importantly, do you have more than one point of entry and exit into the parking lot? This is huge! Your church can save significant traffic, bottlenecking, and frustrated attendees when this is taken into consideration.

5. Event Venue 

Schools, organizations, traveling summer camps, and even church members will often seek out space at churches for events, weddings, dinners, markets, etc. If this is the case in your church, don’t miss this amazing opportunity to host a group of people who wouldn’t typically come on a Sunday! Set some ground rules that your church will use with all future inquiries of this nature.

Some questions to ask: What are your “house rules” regarding maintenance and noise? What is your hourly fee for the space? Who needs to be present for certain events? These are all great questions to consider if you allow for you space to be used as an event venue.

6. Security

Security is essential all the time, but do you have a security plan that will support your church growth? This starts with hiring professional security on the premises at all times, but it is also worth considering providing training for greeters, welcome team, or other “first impression” volunteers. These volunteers will be the first line of defense against the endangerment of your weekend visitors. While it is not a thought many church leaders desire to have, it’s important to plan for the unexpected.

7. Storage

Where is the storage space for your miscellaneous church materials? Is it 2 miles away in a warehouse, or in the broom closet downstairs? The space needs to be easily accessible to staff members and volunteers and shouldn’t be dangerous to access. It might be necessary to regularly organize the space so it doesn’t become too cluttered as your assets grow. If your storage space is off-site, provide clear instructions to your staff and volunteers on how to retrieve items from storage.

8. Volunteers

Volunteers are a large driving force in a church’s growth. 

In fact, volunteers are often the catalyst that spurs growth in thriving churches. It is important to have a strong core of leadership to build around, so consider establishing a leadership pipeline within your volunteers. Of course it is important to grow your volunteer base numerically, but establishing effective training and equipping will help retain your core and new volunteers.

9. Ministry Opportunities

Are there some needs in your congregation and community that are not getting met? Whether it’s local missions, senior ministry, special needs ministry, college ministry, pre-teen ministry, or young adult ministry, these are all individually-operating pieces of a thriving church. Regularly assess the needs of your community and equip the necessary ministry groups to meet those needs.

10. Service Times

If your church is experiencing overcrowding in its regular weekend schedule, it might be time to consider adding an additional service or two. If adding another Sunday morning service sounds like too hefty of a task, consider the option of a Saturday or Sunday evening service to lighten the crowd.

With these things to consider, it is important to remember to have ever increasing agility in your church staff’s DNA. Make wise decisions that will support your church’s growth and set up your current and future staff and congregation for success.

How has your church supported rapid growth in the past?

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