3 Ways to Tell if Your Church is Stuck

I received an email recently that posed the question, “Is your church stuck at 1,000-2,000?”

And I thought, stuck?!? What do they mean, “stuck”???

In an age where ragebait follows are ever-increasing, please know: my reaction wasn’t anger. I’m not mad that an organization is trying to help large churches reach more people. It’s great that there are large churches who want to keep growing. I was flabbergasted that “stuckness” could be felt from an organization that’s so, well, big. 

I mean, you’ve got over 1,000 people in your building each week and you feel… stuck? 

Then I paused, took a breath, and the Holy Spirit whispered, “But of course plateaus exist for ALL sizes of community.” Silly Renée. 😅

We can easily slip into copy-paste rhythms. Our focus can shift to maintaining what is vs. moving towards what could be. Messages can be motivated more by how people will feel from a sermon, vs. how many will follow a Savior. Those shifts can happen to any organization. And, then, yeah… stuck happens.

So how do you know if your church is stuck?

I’m so glad you asked. 😁

1.  Your people don’t know other people inside the church. Not really.

There’s a difference between the person who sees familiar faces every time they attend your church and the person for whom time isn’t real as soon as they arrive on church property, because they’re always chatting with someone. 

Yes, there are times for relationship building outside of “regular church hours.” But, goodness, isn’t it encouraging when relationship-building spills out inside the church walls, too? When laughter is so loud that it interrupts a small group, or folks linger a bit too long after worship, or are late to Bible Study because they’ve bumped into someone they just had to catch up with?

Churches can either be places where community flourishes or flops. So… what happens at yours? As a church, how well does your community know one another?

Questions to ask to see if your church is stuck when it comes to knowing one another:

• Does everyone in the church have someone else in the church who they would show up for outside the church?
• Are your people experiencing a sharing of resources (like at the end of Acts 2)?

for example…

• Do people bring meals, throw showers, or provide support for others when there’s a life event? (First of all, do they even know when life events happen?)
• For hospital visits, are others available to simply sit with a family in the waiting room or show up to pray or be present before a procedure? 
• Are folks asking for the concert dates or game schedules of kids and youth so that they can join families and root for the youngest people in the church?

If your people don’t really know one another, what are three ideas you can offer to church leadership to begin building better connections within your church family?

2.  Your people don’t know people outside the church. Not really.

This is not a redundant point. Your church may be stuck if the only people known and cared for by the people in your pews are the other people in your pews. Other Church people. 

I’m using a big ‘C’ here because, knowing people from other churches, who already know Jesus, is still only knowing Church people. Do we believe our calling is only inside the church?

Befriending one’s literal neighbors is becoming increasingly rare these days. For all the reasons we could give for why this is happening, there’s at least that many reasons for why that’s just not the Jesus way.

If your church is a church that cares well for its people, but only its people, then how can we know who else is hungry or thirsty or imprisoned or naked? How will we know who else could use some Kingdom kind of care unless we build real relationships beyond our church walls? 

This encouragement isn’t a bait-and-switch; we can get to know our neighbors without the intention of inviting them to church. We get to know our neighbors so we can know our neighbors. Because they, too, are made in the image of God, and knowing them and loving them is what we get to do when we do life with Jesus.

Questions to ask to see if your church is stuck when it comes to knowing others:

• Are the people who live in the homes nearest your church connected to anyone who’s a part of your church?
• When was the last time the people in your church had a real conversation with their next-door neighbor(s)?
  • Is the time between chats measured in days, weeks, months, or years?
  • Has there been an exchange of telephone numbers or even a welcoming into each other’s homes? 
  • Are interactions only seasonal (summer lawn chats, for example) or kid-related (can you send mine home?), or do your people know they can rely on their neighbors if there is a need?
• Is your church living out Acts 2 in a way that shows your community—especially those outside your church—that it truly cares for others?

If your people don’t really know anyone outside of a church, what are three ideas you can offer to church leadership to begin building better connections with your community?

3.  Your church has no way of knowing if your people know anyone – inside or outside the church. (No, really.)

This is the systems and processes part of the conversation. Because, let’s face it, anyone can keep their circles small and their community closed to new people. But it takes real effort, strategic energy, and intentional actions to engage with a world that extends beyond yourself. 

And to do that – to help your people know other people – your people… need to be known, too.

The folks who enter your church spaces week after week, the ones who volunteer in your ministries, who is asking them how their walk with Christ is going? Outside of that hour or two when they’re on church property, does everyone have some kind of 1-on-1, person-to-person care, guidance, and accountability?

Churches become stuck when their people become stagnant and stop living out faith in Jesus-following, God-honoring, Holy Spirit-leading ways.

So how can we help that not happen?

If the apostle Paul is right, the purpose of the church isn’t to gather as many humans as possible on Sunday morning to sing songs and hear a preacher. The purpose of the church is to “equip the saints for the work of ministry” (Ephesians 4:12).

While corporate worship can be an entry point for the curious seeker, worship is only one slice of the ministry pie, friends. (And, generationally speaking, worship isn’t everyone’s preferred starting place.)  

So, does your church have a way to know its people, really know them? How do they live out their faith when they’re away from your fellowship?

Questions to ask to see if your church is stuck when it comes to knowing if people are known:

• Does your church have a way to identify every person who calls your church their church?
• Does your church have a way to identify where someone is in their discipleship?
• What are the goals of your church for everyone who’s curious about or claims to follow Christ?
• Does the church clearly outline discipleship goals, make them publicly accessible, and ensure they’re easy to understand?
• What resources are available to support someone’s movement from where they are to where they want to go?
• Has church leadership considered potential multiplication needs and how to consistently care for people of the church if the church starts including more people?
• Ultimately, does the church actively support the connections that help people engage in one another’s lives?

Is your church stuck?

At the end of the day, “stuck” isn’t really about numbers on a spreadsheet or how many seats your church fills on a Sunday. It’s about movement, and people connected to your church community actively engaging in this sweet gift of a life Jesus invites us to. A life of loving and serving others. A life of discipleship. Any church discipling well will see lives impacted beyond church walls. Every church, no matter the size, can have systems and processes in place for knowing how their people are doing. All it takes is asking the right questions, paying attention, and daring to move into relationships just like Jesus would. 

Want to explore a few ways to build deeper community in your church? Schedule a call with a coach who would be happy to talk through a few ideas.