LEADERSHIP FORUM
Church growth is a worthy goal, but is it a measuring stick for success? Observations from five church leaders.
January 1, 1981
"I don't even like to use the word success anymore," commented a pastor friend at a recent meeting. "It means so many different things to people, you never know what they're hearing when you say it.''
As we asked church leaders what they'd like to see in a LEADERSHIP issue on success, we heard the same thing over and over. Depending on who uses the word, success might mean a big salary, a private secretary, a huge organization, or faithfulness to an ideal.
But what is success for church leaders? What's personal success? Does it mean a large, growing church? A large budget? An influential voice in the denomination? A television ministry?
And what's a successful church? A church that's growing in numbers? In the commitment of its members? In achieving established goals?
We asked John Huffman, pastor of St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church in Newport Beach, California, to assemble some church leaders from California and talk about the question. John met with Larry DeWitt, pastor of Calvary Community Church, Westlake Village; Vernard Eller, professor of religion, LaVerne College, LaVerne; Ben Patterson, pastor of Irvine Presbyterian Church, Irvine; and Peter Wagner, professor of church growth, Fuller Theological Seminary. Author Harold Fickett edited the taped proceedings.
John Huffman: What do we mean by church growth? Peter, you're the expert; you and Fuller Seminary have turned "church growth" into a technical term. What is it?
Peter Wagner: Some people think the church growth movement deals only with churches growing larger, particularly people who try to rationalize away the problems that keep their churches from adding new members. But that's not what is meant.
Church growth has four dimensions. In commending the church at Jerusalem, ...
Like the preview? To read this complete article
and 18,013 more in the archive—JOIN NOW!
Easily find high-quality, well-researched materials that provide a Christian perspective on topics ranging from headlines to history.
Start using this invaluable tool TODAY for preparing your Bible studies, presentations, class lectures, sermons, meetings, and more.
|
It's easy and quick to join:
Brought to You by Christianity Today Int'l |  |
|
| 
Find similar articles
E-mail this page
