The three keys to an effective church

In 2019, Joye and I had the opportunity to worship with 32 different church plants across New England. We do something similar to this every year, and we really enjoy it. We get to see how God is moving in a variety of places among a variety of peoples in a variety of ways. It is an obvious blessing to us, and adds to our perspective of God’s work in New England.

But our presence on the weekend at their church likely reinforces what many church planters, pastors, and church attenders think: what they “do” at their weekend service is the most important thing they do weekly for the ongoing effectiveness of their church.

I’m writing today to tell you I don’t believe that is true.

What really matters in church life are the following: an effective outreach strategy, a disciple-making pathway and a leadership development pipeline.

• An effective outreach strategy has both internal and external components that are significant. Internally, it continues to bring new people into the church on a consistent basis. It reminds the attendees that we exist for those yet unreached. Externally, it forces the church out into the community where the unreached people are located. It helps the church be incarnational, and not simply attractional, in its approach to connecting with the people in its community.

• A disciplemaking pathway helps new believers understand the process and steps necessary to grow to maturity. It recognizes all believers are not at the same place in their development, and as a result, need different emphases to grow and mature as they should. It keeps the church focused on the main thing Jesus emphasized for His followers to do in the Great Commission of Matthew 28.

• A leadership pipeline has three enormous impacts on a church. First, it enables a church to always have the leaders it needs for the roles and responsibilities it feels called to fulfill for Christ. Second, it facilitates believers of Christ growing to their full God-given potential. Finally, it gives a church the ability to reproduce other churches and congregations through the maturing of leaders who can serve as church planters and missionaries.

In other words, what happens between Sundays is more significant to the growth and development of a church’s long-term success than what happens on the weekend in its worship gatherings. We are called to mobilize an army, not simple gather a crowd.

Perhaps new metrics of success are needed now more than ever. Instead of simply counting attendees and dollars given, maybe we should be measuring spiritual connections and conversations during the week. Maybe we should be counting how many disciple-makers are reproducing others and how many new leaders are stepping out and taking responsibilities in and for the church. These metrics will help us know if we are truly mobilizing an army for service to our King.

If you recognize the challenge and validity of these statements, and want to do something about it in the church where you serve, the BCNE and NAMB stand ready to help. We have resources to help you with outreach strategies and disciplemaking/leadership development. These resources are FREE to you, and only involve filling out forms to have access to these things that can make a permanent difference for your church.

Why not focus on the keys that will help your church not just thrive in the future, but also outlive you as a church planter or pastor?

Dr. David Jackson serves as the director of church planting & strategy at the Baptist Convention of New England.