5LQ Episode 341: Scott McConnell – Research on Church Growth

In this episode of the 5 Leadership Questions podcast, Todd Adkins and Daniel Im are joined by Scott McConnell, Executive Director of Lifeway Research. During their conversation, they discuss the following questions: How do you know your church is growing? What’s the difference between church growth and reproduction and multiplication? What are the 5 levels and what is the research about? What did you discover in the research? What did you discover about the state of the church? BEST QUOTES  “A good thing to compare is the growth rate of your church to the growth rate of your city.” “If you are in a community that has 25% turnover every year, and you are holding steady, that is a huge accomplishment.” “Reproduction and multiplication is an investment and activity outside of your church. You are working to open new churches outside of your church.” “This was a chance to nationally register how many churches are in each of the levels.” “93% of protestant churches did not help a church open their doors this last year.” “If you trace it back, there are a lot of churches that helped open another church once or twice in their history.” “It’s planting churches again and again that gets you in the zone of reproduction.” “Attendance is the biggest piece in determining if a church is adding, subtracting, or plateauing.” “The larger churches that are more likely to be adding are getting people from smaller churches.” “54% of pastors say that fewer than 10 people indicated a new commitment to Christ in the last year.” “As your church begins to show the love of Christ to each other that means some attention is turned from reaching new people.” “28% of churches are declining in their attendance. 39% are in a growth trajectory.” “Economically churches are in a great spot. Only 15% of churches reported that they had a decline in offerings.” RECOMMENDED RESOURCES Lifeway Leadership Podcast Network 5LQ Episode 278: Scott McConnell on VBS Research 5LQ Episode 294: Scott McConnell on Bible Research 5LQ Episode 299: Research on the Unchurched 5LQ Episode 305: The State of Theology Text “research” to 888111 to receive a link to download this research 5 Leadership Questions and Lifeway Research Group Answers Podcast This Episode’s Sponsor: With Ministry Grid’s library of over 3,000 training videos, it’s now simpler than ever to train every volunteer and leader in your church. And this is training you can trust. Each Ministry Grid video features an experienced ministry leader who has been where you are now. Learn how to get unlimited access for you and your church at MinistryGrid.com.