How many people are back at your church?
That seems like the predominate, post-COVID pastor question, doesn’t it?
30%, 45%, 60%, or “I’m afraid to answer out loud”…
We used to ask, “How many people attend each Sunday?” Or in church vernacular, “Whatcha runnin’?”
But not now. The question has changed. Neither question is a great question. Nevertheless, it’s the most frequently asked question.
Today, it seems how many people you previously had isn’t as relevant as how many of those have returned. Every pastor is concerned with attendance return.
There are several reasons our return-to-church rates are poor. I previously wrote about two scary reasons people aren’t returning to your church.
In this post, though, I want to address this new post-COVID “returning” focus.
Here’s my thesis: Everyone’s focus seems to be “getting people back!” I’m not sure that’s the right goal, though. Not because we don’t want them back. I’m afraid too much focus on getting our people back to church will permanently shift our plans, leadership, hiring, and budgets in the wrong direction.
Here’s why: The more focused we place on keeping people, the less energy we spend on reaching people.
A focus on re-attracting those who aren’t returning turns us into a “keeping-focused” church. Here’s what I’ve learned in my decades of church leadership:
You can focus on reaching people or keeping people, but not both.
We should acknowledge that our organic instinct is to keep people. Businesses realize this. It’s infinitely better (and cheaper) for a company to keep current customers than reach new patrons.
In the church, it’s our current people who give and serve. It’s our present people who keep our doors open. Our current people attend. Naturally, without great intention, these are the people who receive our focus. Mainly because they are right in front of us. But, placing our emphasis on keeping people requires we give in to the demands and whims of these people. We cater to them. If they complain about the music, we indulge them. If they desire a new ministry, we create it for them. If they don’t want anything changed, we keep everything the same — for them. This creates enormous problems.
It may feel easier to keep people in your church than reach people who need your church, but that’s not our calling. We are to “go into all the world and make disciples.” That requires a reaching heart, not a keeping focus.
I’m not suggesting we don’t create full discipleship paths. I am suggesting we stop negotiating with terrorist church members.
If you allow your church to become keeping-focused, there are significant consequences:
- Your church will turn inward, not outward.
- Your church will eventually decline and die.
- Your church will start and stop programs only for those already in the church.
- Your church will cease to complete the discipleship cycle (disciplees to become disciplers).
- Your church will become irrelevant and out of touch with the surrounding community.
- Your church attenders will become focused on what they can get rather than what they can give.
- Your church will require anyone and everyone to adapt to their preferences. This includes the next generation (who you’ll lose).
- Your church won’t be friendly to outsiders or guests.
- Your church will begin believing “church” is something we do, not something we are.
I could go on and on. You get the point. And you don’t want that to be your church. You don’t want to lead that church, either.
In this post-COVID world we are all experiencing (or, Lord willing, about to share), we must not become a keeping-oriented church.
Here are 5 strategies to keep a reaching heart in a keeping-focused season of church leadership:
1. Don’t “think” like a church planter; ACT as a church planter.
In this post-COVID time, we need to reset, not “restart.” Restarting insinuates everything we were doing before the pandemic is necessary and needed now. It’s not. Not even close. If you are attempting to restart, you are focused on recreating the church your previous people attended. But those people are different now, and the community around you has changed, too. Evaluate your community and church as a church planter. What does my community need from a church? How can we best make a difference in this community and individual lives in our community? What ministries are necessary? What ministry offering is only luxury at the moment?
2. Resist the urge to adjust ministry offerings for the vocal and absent minority.
The loudest complainers are not only a minority, they are likely the most disengaged. There’s often a direct correlation. The more engaged people are, the more missionally connected they become. Complainers see themselves at the center of the church, where contributors see Jesus, the mission, and those far from God at the center. Resist the vocal minority of disengaged complainers.
3. Admit that some people will never return, no matter what you do.
Some people just aren’t coming back. There are lots of reasons. Some are our fault, and some aren’t. Blame aside, we need to remove our focus and energy from re-attracting this group. They are gone.
Side Note: Many people aren’t gone from church — they’re just gone from your church. They are now attending somewhere else. More and more people are seeking a church theology that matches their cable news ideology. This should NOT be true, but it’s a reality of our current times. Don’t give in to the temptation to fit your people’s ideology into your theology. Jesus refused to do that, and we should, as well.
4. Start over by focusing on what the unchurched and dechurched in your community need.
The world around us has changed, including the community around you and your church. The pandemic accelerated the changes. If we hope to reach people still, we need to understand where people are and what they need while presenting the Gospel as the solution. It’s a new time. This gives us so many new ministry opportunities, unless we see these changes as obstacles. That’s what a keeping church sees.
5. Thinks steps, not programs.
Churches with a multitude of programs typically are keeping focused. Not always, but often. Why? Well, the current people have a need or a great ministry idea, and needs and ideas are where programs are born. Not to say that your church shouldn’t meet needs. Quite the contrary. But your church shouldn’t make the need-meeting of the current attendee the primary focus. The goal is to move people from where they are in the direction of their Heavenly Father. Thinking steps, not programs, allows you to keep the mission as the focus, not your current people and their desires.
Resisting the urge to become insider-focused is one of the most significant challenges of church leadership. As we exit the pandemic, it’s never been more challenging to remain reaching centric. The consequences of becoming keeping focused are so destructive. My hope is you see this new season as an opportunity to reset, not restart. It’s not going to be easy. If it were, I guess everyone would do it.
If I can help, let me know.
How can I help?
Coaching ministry and marketplace leaders through change, transition, and transformation is why I created Transformation Solutions. Go right now to mytransformationsolutions.com and sign up for a free, 30-minute conversation to decide if working together works for you.
