5 Keys to Growing your Church in 2019

Tag Archive - plan

5 Keys to Growing your Church in 2019

Sunday, January 6, 2019

I’ve never met a church leader that didn’t want things at their church to to change for the better. They want more people to say yes to following Jesus, they want people to become better friends with God, and they want their churches to think more about people outside of the church than those already in it.

The trouble is while most church leaders want this year to be better than the last, they don’t want to do anything different.

I’ve said this many times before, people (including you…and me) always want to change their circumstances, but they never want to change their lives. But everything gets better when we get better. Families get better when fathers and mothers get better. Students get better when educators get better. Organizations get better when leaders get better. And churches get better when church leaders get better. But better doesn’t happen by trying harder, it happens by trying different. It happens through change…but change is painful. Don’t let anyone tell you any different. It’s always easier and more comfortable to stay where you are than to change and move forward. But if you want to grow at some point you’ve got to stop doing what’s easy and start doing what’s right.

So, to that end, here are a couple ideas that will help you create change this year at your church…and maybe even in you.

Create Accessibility

One of the greatest changes you can make in your church to get different results is to make Jesus and His teachings more accessible to people who don’t know Him. Another way to think about this is to ask yourself or your team, “How accessible is everything at your church to people who are unfamiliar with Jesus and the Church?” How accessible is your website, signage, language, parking lot, building, kids and student ministries, worship services, and teaching to people who are unfamiliar with Jesus and His Church? Most churches simply make it too hard for people to meet and follow Jesus. They don’t do it on purpose, they’ve just forgotten what it is like to be unfamiliar with Jesus. And guess what will happen when you create more accessibility to Jesus? More people will meet Jesus…and isn’t that kinda the point?

Lean into Constraints

You probably have a list of reasons (or excuses) why you can’t grow. Barriers to the future or anchors to the past that are keeping you from getting to the future. Make a list of your top 5 constraints and figure a way through them or around them. You constraints may even be the thing that help you innovate and come up with a solution you would have never otherwise come up with on your own. To that point, one of the top 3 reasons the church I serve at went multisite 6 years ago is because the original location was nearing a point where it would be fully maximized. Today we’re reaching more people for Jesus than ever because we had a facility constraint that forced us into a new solution (multisite) that is helping us reach new people for Jesus than we ever would have or could have at that one original location. Your biggest constraints may just turn out to be your best friend.

Allow Hope to Die

Stop hoping things are going to change at your church. Hope doesn’t change or produce new results at your church. Action does. Specifically, new action. Hope is not a strategy. Too many church boards and church leaders are sitting around praying and hoping that Jesus would do something new and powerful in their church this year when He already did something new and powerful 2,000 years ago on the cross. He’s simply waiting for those same church boards and church leaders to have the same kind of courage He did and lead things forward.

Draft some new Players

If you want new results at your church, then it may be time to shake up the team a bit. New team members bring new experiences, expertise, ideas, and questions with them that aren’t currently on your team. You become who you hire and sometimes one or two new team members can help shift the entire locker room on a team.

Listen to Fresh Eyes

Sometimes you simply need fresh eyes, someone from the outside to help you see things differently. Sometimes you need an outside voice to say some things that you want to say but can’t. And sometimes you’re just stuck and need help. If that’s your church, then maybe the best step you can take to change things at your church is to engage the Unstuck Group. We help churches grow their impact through church consulting and coaching experiences designed to focus vision, strategy and action.

Taking new and different action will get you different results. And if you need a little help getting unstuck then connect with us at the Unstuck Group, we can help this next year be the best year of ministry you’ve ever experienced!

Posted in Leadership

Do you Care more about the Strategy or the Results?

Sunday, May 27, 2018

If you’ve ever been a part of a fast-growing church, you know what chaos feels like. New people are showing up every week and space can quickly become an issue. You’re making adjustments on the fly, sometimes weekly. Finding room for kids, adding new worship service times, figuring out where you’re going to park everyone, on-boarding new staff members…searching for new staff members. It can feel a bit hectic to put it mildly. It’s exciting, it’s fun, but sometimes for those people who are strategy and structure oriented it can feel a bit out of control.

In seasons like these eventually someone comes along and says something like, “We can’t keep operating like we’ve been operating. It’s time to change and take a more strategic approach.” It’s usually someone from the Board, the Pastor, or a trusted senior level Staff Member. But eventually someone will say something like; “We need to stop living on momentum and start building a strategy to get us to the future.”

This is where things can go south, quick. While various strategies, structures, systems, and processes can be helpful; they’re not the goal, they’re not the reason. Here’s a quick refresher…

Mission answers the question: “Why do we exist?”
Vision answers the question: “Where are we going?”
Strategy answers the question: “How are we going to get there?”

The reason (mission) why Jesus put the Church on the planet is to reach people (all people) with the Gospel.

I appreciate strategically minded people in the Church, heck, I am one. And I think the Church is at a deficit when it comes to these kinds of people. But I’ve also seen people like me in the name of strategy and structure squelch growth and results instead of fueling them.

Mike Tyson, who was a great boxer (or puncher) in his day and among other things bit part of Evander Holyfield’s ear off in the ring, said that, “Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth.” That statement is a spin-off of an old military principle that states. “No plan survives contact with the enemy.”

In other words, people who win chase results more than they chase strategy. That’s not to say that they’re not strategic, it’s just that they are willing to adapt their strategy to fit the current situation.

Is your church winning? Are you experiencing great results? If not, it may be time to adapt your strategy. If you need help I’d recommend connecting with the Unstuck Group. There’s not a better Church Consulting Firm you could employ to help you get from where you are to where Jesus wants you to be. It’s what we do.

Posted in Leadership

Casting Vision for the Next Chapter: Sun Valley Community Church

Tuesday, October 17, 2017

Back in the spring, I had the opportunity to facilitate a strategic planning retreat with the leadership team from Sun Valley Community Church. Sun Valley is a church with 7,000 people gathering in five locations in the Phoenix area. Many times, I don’t get the opportunity to see the vision move from the planning charts to reality. Because of that, I was encouraged to see this update. Check out the video below.

As I was listening to Chad give this update, these leadership thoughts came to mind:

1) Owners need updates.

If people invest prayer, time and money, they expect to hear about results.

2) The Lead Pastor can’t delegate vision-casting.

Although a team can develop new vision, the lead pastor is primarily responsible for casting the vision.

3) Multisite only works if you’re actually one church in multiple locations.

Sun Valley is Sun Valley in all five campuses. You get the same experience, the same teaching and the same ministry philosophy regardless of where you go.

4) It doesn’t take a big personality to lead a big church.

Chad is a strong leader and a great Bible teacher, but Sun Valley hasn’t experienced health and growth due to his personality. I personally think it’s due to the strength of the strategy and the team Chad has helped build.

5) It’s important to say “thank you.”

The vision can’t be accomplished without the contribution of people’s time, talent and treasure. If you’ve made an investment like that in the past, you know it’s good to hear “thank you.”

For more inspiration on how to cast vision for the future, check on Sun Valley’s website for details on The Next Chapter for how they plan to help people meet, know and follow Jesus.

About the Author: Tony Morgan
Tony is the Chief Strategic Officer and founder of The Unstuck Group. For 14 years, Tony served on the senior leadership teams at West Ridge Church (Dallas, GA), NewSpring Church (Anderson, SC) and Granger Community Church (Granger, IN). He’s written several books and articles that have been featured with the Willow Creek Association, Catalyst and Pastors.com.

Posted in Leadership, Testimonial

Navigating the Money Conversation at Church: A Practical Resource for Leaders

Tuesday, September 12, 2017

Most churches that create a strategic plan never quite figure out how to fund it.

I’ve seen it happen over and over: a leadership team creates a strong strategic plan and commits to working it. But, they get stuck when it comes to directing their resources to effectively fund the plan. Talking about finances with your leadership team is really tough. This is why many strategic plans end up only partially funded or shelved altogether.

You created your strategic plan because you care about your church’s future. But to implement it well, you have to have the hard conversations and wrestle with difficult questions like:

What ministries are a priority for growth?
What ministries should we bury?
Where are the best places to direct our funds?

It’s important to navigate this topic well with your team so that you can begin to align your budget with your strategy to fully fund your vision.

That’s why we’ve created a new eBook at The Unstuck Group called Funding Your Strategic Plan. It equips church leaders with the tools they need to:

Critically assess their church’s budget and expenses.
Develop a vision-minded budget around core growth engines.
Change how you and your staff spend your money.

You’ll learn how to dissect the types of expenses in your plan, pinpoint missing links and hidden dollars, and identify wise and foolish budgeting. We’ll show you how to leverage your existing assets to generate extra income for your church and get started with a capital campaign. Plus, you’ll learn how to talk about money to your congregation–and inspire generosity in the process.

The future of your church is greatly influenced by how you direct your resources. Follow this link to get your copy and help lead your church to financial health.

Posted in Leadership

How to Fund the Strategic Plan at your Church

Tuesday, July 11, 2017

Talking with the leadership team at your church about money can be tough. Changing the way you spend it is even harder.

If you have a strategic plan you’re working with your leadership team to implement, it’s important to start a healthy conversation about finances to effectively navigate this touchy subject together.

Every day, you and your team make decisions about how to allocate your funds. You decide which aspects of your ministry are critical to your growth, and which can be cut. Your church’s future–and the fate of your strategic plan–will be greatly influenced by how you direct your resources.

It isn’t unusual for a church to create a strategic plan, then fall short of actually funding it. The leadership team might work together beautifully to create a strong plan and commit to working it, but too often, they find themselves locked into ineffective or foolish budgeting patterns. Eventually, they might find that their vision is only partially funded…or they might set it aside altogether.

That’s why at the Unstuck Group we’ve created Funding Your Strategic Plan, a practical guide full of insights and conversations that will help you and your team assess your church’s budget with a critical eye, develop an effective, vision-minded budget around your growth engines, and change the way you and your staff direct your available resources.

Funding Your Strategic Plan will help you dissect the types of expenses in your plan, identify missing links and hidden dollars, and learn the difference between wise and foolish budgeting. We’ll teach you the ropes of Zero-Based Budgeting and show you how to utilize your existing assets to generate extra income for your church. You’ll also learn how to talk about money to your congregation, increase their generosity, and get started with a capital campaign.

Ready to dig in? You can get a copy of Funding Your Strategic Plan in the TonyMorganLive.com store,

Posted in Leadership

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