"Before we get into how to break through the 200-300 attendance barrier I want to give you eight characteristics of small churches. Social scientists call churches that are 60-80 people and below primary groups. There are some definite characteristics of primary groups that you need to be aware of if you're pastoring a small church and what those things are and how you overcome them."-Rick Warren
HOW TO BREAK THROUGH THE 200 300 ATTENDANCE BARRIER by Rick Warren
Some "problems" with a small church: (according to Rick Warren)
The following quotes are from : HOW TO BREAK THROUGH THE 200 -300 ATTENDANCE BARRIER by Rick Warren
"PROBLEM!"- "Small churches (churches that have below 80 people in attendance) have a strong sense of belonging."
And yet Rick says:
"A church family identifies you as a genuine believer.
I can't claim to be following Christ
if I'm not committed to any specific group
of disciples. Jesus said, 'Your love
for one another will prove to the world that
you are my disciples.' (John 13:35 NLT)"
"PROBLEM!"- "It's very rare for someone to stand up and say, "I'm having a problem with such and such temptation" or "We're having marriage problems". You just don't talk about those kinds of things in a small church."
"Only in a small, close-knit group can one experience real fellowship,"
(-Rick Warren Purpose Driven Life, Chapter 18, , Experiencing Life Together (synopsis)
“When it comes to fellowship, size matters: Smaller is better.
You can worship with a crowd, but you can’t fellowship with one.” PDL pg. 138
(-Rick Warren Purpose Driven Life, Chapter 18, , Experiencing Life Together (synopsis)
Big Think Question: How do you maintain a sense of intimacy with your parishioners?
Rick Warren: "Whenever you’re talking to an audience and you start to lose them, just start telling a story"
"PROBLEM!"- "They (small churches) are late adapters when it comes to consumer things. "
Consumer things?
Is Rick suggesting consumerism is positive and
conservation or conservatism is not?
Should one be like a "Berean" or
just jump on anything
NEW that happens to appear to
glitter like gold?
"PROBLEM!"- "When you are in a church of 60, 70, 80 people you don't need a cause, a purpose, a reason for people to come, we exist for us. I'm coming I'm here. You're coming you're here. We exist for us."
And yet Rick says:
"40 Days of Community will help
move your congregation toward spiritual maturity
and a meaningful life on earth, revealing how God
uses other people for your good and growth."
And yet Rick says:
In regard to the opening of The Peace Center,
"This is one building that says we love the community,"
Warren said. "It's a one-stop shop for the community."
Warrren's Peace Center Open's Today at Saddleback, by Erika I Ritchie OCRegister Dec. 13, 2011
Video of Saddleback Church BUILDINGS that he and others
do not have a sense of ownership over or get an identity from, here.
"PROBLEM!"- "It is almost impossible to kill a small church...... That's why there's so many small churches because they are incredibly strong and resilient. They just can't be blown away."
And yet Rick says:
“There’s only one thing that lasts forever and
keeps standing in a community, and that’s the Church.”
This could be the Church’s finest hour, By Rick Warren, Sept 5, 2005
"PROBLEM!"- "They are resistant to change."
(Those pesky little churches!)
and people are so resistant to CHANGE that you have to get rid of resisters
before real change can happen, says Rick:
"I'm saying some people are going to have to die or leave. Moses had to wander
around the desert for 40 years while God killed off a million people before he let them
go into the Promised Land. That may be brutally blunt, but it’s true.
There may be people in your church who love God sincerely,
but who will never, ever change."
What To Do When Your Church Hits a Plateau by Rick Warren June 14, 2006, Christian Post
"When a human body is out of balance we call that disease....
Likewise, when the body of Christ becomes unbalanced, disease occurs....
Health will occur only when everything is brought back into balance.
The task of church leadership is to discover and remove growth-restricting
diseases and barriers so that natural, normal growth can occur." -Rick Warren
Purpose Driven Church, by Rick Warren,, pg 16
"Be willing to let people leave the church. And I told you earlier the fact
that people are gonna leave the church no matter what you do.
But when you define the vision, you're choosing who leaves.
You say, "But Rick, yes, they're the pillars of the church."
Now, you know what pillars are. Pillars are people who hold things up ...
And in your church, you may have to have some blessed subtractions
before you have any real additions." - Rick Warren
"Building a Purpose-Driven Church" seminar at Saddleback Church, January, 1998.
"One thing that I learned from Peter Drucker is a
concept that he got from Joseph Schumpeter. He talked
about systematic abandonment. Systematic abandonment means
you intentionally stop stuff in order to start something new. "
Rick Warren
Three Purposes of Christmas, by Rick Warren, Christianity Today Interview, christianitytoday.com, 12-22-2006
Galatians 2:9
And when James, Cephas, and John, who seemed
And when James, Cephas, and John, who seemed
to be pillars, perceived the grace that was given unto me,
they gave to me and Barnabas the right hands of fellowship;
that we should go unto the heathen,
and they unto the circumcision.
to kill a small church." - Rick Warren
Matthew 16:17
"And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou,
Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee,
but my Father which is in heaven. And I say also unto thee,
That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church;
and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it."
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