How NOT To Grow Your Church

Charlie Munger, the renowned investor and vice chairman of Berkshire Hathaway, is famous for his use of the inversion principle.

This contrarian way of thinking suggests that instead of focusing on what you want to achieve, you should consider what you want to avoid.

So, how can this principle be applied to church growth, or rather, the lack thereof?

Let’s explore the counterintuitive approach of “How not to grow your church.”

Neglect the Community

A surefire way to halt church growth is to ignore the needs and interests of the community. Churches that fail to engage with their local community or create a sense of belonging will struggle to attract and retain new members.

And whatever you do…don’t invite new people to church through simple Facebook ads like I teach here. It’s way too effective at reaching new people and seeing new guests come through the doors every Sunday.

Resist Change

Want to stay stuck? Keep doing the same stuff. Definition of insanity? Do the same thing expecting different results…

In a rapidly changing world, sticking rigidly to old ways and traditions can be detrimental. Churches that do not adapt to new cultural trends or technological advancements will likely find themselves left behind.

Poor Communication

Communication is key in any organization. A church that does not clearly communicate its vision, values, and activities, both internally and externally, will create confusion and disinterest.

If you want to virtually guarantee your church doesn’t grow make everything unclear and confusing. Confusing next steps. Confusing messages. Religious language. You get it!

Inward Focus

Make EVERYTHING about the people inside rather than those outside. Great Commission? Better not preach or teach your people to take it seriously. It was probably just a suggestion anyways, right?

To make sure your church does not grow you need to turn your focus inward and forget the world around you…

Underestimating the Youth

“Darn young people!” Loud music. Weird clothes and hair. Kind of irritating! Here’s the good news if you want to make sure your church doesn’t grow and even dies out before the next generation…just ignore the young people.

Oh and even better…don’t provide any fun or engaging kids classes! That will really show those uppity Millennial parents that they can’t have their cake and eat it too!

Don’t Think About Sundays

Another tried and true way to make sure your church doesn’t grow is to completely forget about the Sunday experience. Just keep doing whatever you’ve been doing. 2 hour services? Why not?! Outdated decorations, dirty bathrooms, and musty carpet in the nursery…who cares?

No greeters, unclear signage, cliques and groups in the lobby? Yup, that will do it…no growth.

Conclusion

Remember, this is a thought experiment using Munger’s inversion principle and should not be taken as actual advice for church growth. 

I hope that was clear as you were reading it!

But if not…just do the opposite of everything above!

The goal is to provoke reflection and encourage you to consider how we get stuck in our ways. The inversion principle helps to blow out the cobwebs in our thinking!

Well, that’s all I have time for today…

But before I go I want to personally invite you to join me and a bunch of other pastors in the UpLevel Leader community for pastors. It’s weekly coaching. All my courses are included. And an active community of growth-minded pastors.

Right now I’ve got room for 5 more pastors to join and I’m offering a 50% lifetime discount on being a member. Click here to learn more and join.

Talk soon,

Pastor Jake