FAQ Friday | What is the Growth Strategy at Grace?

In this FAQ series, we will try to answer questions that will hopefully help us become more biblically informed and better equipped to live out our faith in community. To submit and vote on questions you would like to see answered on the blog by our pastors, click here. To see other FAQ Friday posts, click here.

This week’s question was from Seeking Truth in Powdersville:

Does Grace actively try to attract people into church through its various ministries by something other than (maybe in addition to) the Gospel of Jesus Christ? What is the underlying theology in Grace's "growth" plan?

This is a great question and one that is definitely worth exploring. Over the past ten years, Grace Church has experienced close to 10% growth annually. Although numerical growth has never been our primary concern, we do believe that growth can and should be one result of a healthy church. Additionally, we do want to be aware of why growth is happening so that we can continue to foster opportunities for more people to come and experience the grace and love of Jesus in the context of a local church.

With that said, we have never had a formal growth strategy at Grace. There is no manual, document or check-list that staff and elders implement to help our church grow. In fact, we do little to no marketing as a church. You will not see a Grace Church add on your television or hear about us on your local radio station. There are no billboards on the interstate and no flyers will appear in your mailbox. We have signs in front of all of our campuses and we do have a website with blogs, a YouTube channel and a Facebook page. That is the extent of our “outward” communication. Not a very aggressive marketing strategy by anyone’s standards.

Although we don’t have a formal growth strategy, we are very intentional about discipleship and missional living, which we believe has contributed to the growth of our church. Here are a few things that have become part of the “Grace Church DNA” and regularly implement to be in accordance with what God has called his church to be. These areas of emphasis could be classified as an informal growth strategy:

1. Missional Living. One of the core elements of Grace Church is that we be culturally engaged. We equip everyone to be engaging people with the love of Christ wherever they are. For that reason, we limit how many events and activities we have on our campuses. Our desire is that the people of Grace Church speak about their faith in their neighborhoods, schools, work places, local restaurants, etc. By intentionally being involved in the community, more and more people should be able to hear about the way God is moving in people’s lives, meaningful relationships are developed. We have seen many people come to Grace because of the cultural engagement of existing members.
2. Discipleship. Another way we have seen church growth is in the basic principle of discipleship. We believe that all Christians should be pouring into others in the context of community. When the people of Grace Church take ownership in helping their brothers and sisters mature spiritually, there’s a ripple effect that results in new people being drawn to what God is doing within our body.
3. Life Change. One of the most common phrases uttered around our church, it is what happens when we have an encounter with the living God. As the people of our church grow in their faith, they become different. Their families, friends, co-workers, classmates, teammates, neighbors and community members take notice. Time and time again, we are told that new attendees decided to investigate Grace because of the inexplicable life change they have observed in one of our members. 

If you are looking for a complex, detailed strategy of growth, we don’t really have one. However, we do encourage the entire body of Grace to speak about who Christ is and what he is currently doing in their lives. In the context of daily lives, and existing relationships, God is making himself known, which we believe is causing our church to grow. Our prayer is that we would be good shepherds to all the people that God brings into our midst and that we would continue to grow in a healthy manner for years to come.