Velcroed for Growth: A Conversation
by Larry Osborne
Senior Pastor
North Coast Church, Vista, CA
North Coast started as a small Bible study that fit into a living room. While we are much larger today, we face the same core issue we faced then. How do we reach people for Christ and retain them long enough to disciple them to maturity?
That’s where “stickiness” comes in. It goes beyond assimilation to the development of tightly velcroed personal relationships. It connects people to one another and the word of God – not just to the church organizationally.
Why is this important? It’s not just to keep people from leaving the church. It’s to fulfill the great commission.
Jesus didn’t only say go into all the world and lead people to Christ. He said to make disciples, baptize them AND teach them to obey all the things he taught.
That takes time. It goes beyond a motivational weekend service and Bible pep talk. It demands significant, genuine, and long-term relationships. Small churches, mid-sized churches, mega-churches, and church plants all need a “stickiness factor” if we want to fulfill the great commission.
But much of the structure and context of our modern-day churches pushes us in another direction – away from sticky interpersonal relationships. There’s an old saying, “You get what you count; you pursue what you celebrate.” In most of our churches today, we primarily count and celebrate two things: decisions for Christ and church growth. Both are important, but by themselves, they leave out the important measurement of maturity without which a decision for Christ or church growth eventually means little.
Fact is, even in small churches that pride themselves on being one happy family; most of the relationships aren’t very sticky. Sure there is a tight core of worker bees at the center. But everyone else circles around wondering why they can’t “connect.” The result is lots of friendly but superficial relationships.
The STICKY CHURCH paradigm doesn’t replace a heart for seekers or a desire for church growth. It simply seeks to make sure we retain for the long-haul the gains we’ve made in the short-run and to guarantee that we fulfill the great commission in all its fullness.
So how do we get there?
More to come . . .
07/09/08 07:18 AM
Sounds like you have a great ministry! I am thrilled to hear the number of groups you currently have and would love to know more about the paths the Lord has taken you and your network on. Feel free to contact either myself or the director of our training network, Chris Mavity. Our contact information is below.
With His hands,
Tracy Webster
(760)724-6700 x240
twebster@northcoastchurch.com
Chris Mavity
(760)724-6700 x120
chris@northcoastchurch.com
07/08/08 12:57 AM
I HAVE A NETWORK OF 300 CHURCHES , 200 WOMEN GROUPS AND 150 YOUTH GROUPS. AM BLESSED WITH YOUR PROFOUND WORK YOU ARE DOING. IN WHICH WAY CAN MY NETWORK PARTICIPATE IN THIS NOBLE WORK
GRACE AND PEACE TO YOU ALL
SALIM MAYEKI SHABAN
PRESIDENT
AFRICAN CHRISTIANS ORGANIZATION NETWORK
07/02/08 10:29 PM
Hey, 40% is a great start. I think you'll discover a number of practical ways to drive up the participation rate at the conference; Wayne, Dave and I have all had good luck doing so - and best of all, we've used different methodologies - so you won't be stuck with an one-size-fits-all answer. In the meantime, two powerful tools for us here at North Coast Church have been "cutting the competion" as much as possible (most churches have way too much going on each week) and tying the small group experinece to the weekly sermon.
Blessings on your journey and work
07/01/08 07:49 AM
Looks like a great conference. We are a church of just over 1000 attendees each week. We have a small group ministry called "House Churches" with about 40% participation. This is the issue: no matter how much we "educate" our people about the need to be more connected outside Sunday morning, it doesn't seem that they take advantage of the opportunities we provide for doing so. This is why I'm looking forward to the conference. I'd like to know some practical ways to increase involvement and participation in authentic relationship building ministries. Is there more we can offer? Are we even offering the right things now? How can we improve our approach? How can we as a church practically apply Acts 2:42-47 today?