30 PRACTICES THAT WILL HELP IN THE

GROWTH OF OUR CHURCHES

30 PRACTICES THAT WILL HELP IN THE GROWTH OF OUR CHURCHES
Dr. John Akpami

We know that increase comes from God. Ultimately, He is the One who gives increase to our
churches. However, the growth of our churches should not be left to God alone. The Pastor and
the members have a vital role to play in the sustained growth of our churches.
A growing and maturing leadership will lead the church to growth. Pastors who are ever-increasing
in their leadership capacity will pastor growing churches. The church won’t grow if the pastor is
not growing. God won’t give him more if he can’t handle more.
Enlarge the prayer base of the church. The enlargement of God’s kingdom is primarily a conflict
with satan’s kingdom. It is the god of this world that is holding people in captivity. We must
contend against the god of this world. We must win over demonic opposition. Just as the
foundation determines the kind of building you raise, the prayer base will determine the capacity of
growth that your church will take.
The pulpit ministry. You know a good restaurant not by the beauty of the building, but by the
quality of the meals served. The pulpit to a large extent determines the health of the church
members. Our teachings must have depth. They must be practical and applicable. They must be
systematic and balanced. Preach in a way people can use your messages to solve the problems
they face in life.
Proper organization. Build the church around relationships and small groups. The church should
be large enough to contain everybody, yet small enough to know and care for everyone. Make
belonging to house cells and small groups a condition for church membership. Care for people
through these small groups.
Communicate beyond the pulpit. Aim to be a five-star church.
Touch your immediate community through community services.
Your worship service should be engaging. The worship leader should know how to carry
worshippers along.
Spend money on quality equipment. Excellence attracts people.
Be active on social media. Have an active website. In advanced countries, people visit your
website before they visit your church.
Hold programs that will meet needs. The more regular, the better. People should know that events
are taking place in your church regularly.
Pray for the sick and expect the gifts of the Holy Spirit to manifest. Create an opportunity for
testimonies. One powerful testimony may be worth many dry sermons.
Preserve the health of the church. Deal aggressively with strife amongst the church workers. Deal
with the sin of immorality, gossip, and discord. Crush rebellion wherever you notice it in the
church.
Encourage and spearhead evangelism. Your members should go to the highways and hedges and
compel people to come to the church. A going church is a growing church.
Encourage personal invitations by members. 75% of people who come to church do so because
members invite them personally.
The church environment should communicate excellence. Most churches decorate only the inside
of the church while the outside is left dirty. New timers see the outside of the church first and first
impressions matter.
Respect people’s time. In today’s world, serious-minded people value their time. When your church
has an opening time but nobody knows the closing time, it drives away well-rehearsed.
The church service should be orderly and well-rehearsed.
Prompt follow-up of first-timers. Treat them as VIPS. Give them gifts. Send them a thank you text
before Wednesday. Remind them of Sunday service by Saturday. Follow-up should be aggressive.
Your signboard must be catchy. Visitors see it before they see the altar decorations. Remember,
everything about your church preaches, and the sermons can be more powerful than the pastor’s
sermon.
Your children’s church must be well organized and portray excellence. That is what will make
some families decide to be your members.
Train and retrain your workers- ushers, protocol, security men, car park attendants, etc. Their
attitude can help to retain visitors or drive them away.
Prayerfully set yearly growth goals. Have something you are pursuing. Avoid being over-ambitious.
25% growth per year is modest enough. Without goals, your faith may not have something to work
on.
Once in a while, celebrate soul winners. (Celebrate whatever you want to see more of). Recognize
them and give them gifts.
Establish a purse(like Dorcas purse) and set aside about 5% of your income to meet the needs of
the brethren. These needs should be met through the house cells.
Connect with grace coming from the Hq. Remember, a branch that disconnects will dry up. Every
ministry has only one pulpit that is replicated in other branches.
Review your church services from time to time to avoid repeating mistakes. If people leave your
church, try and find out why and make appropriate changes where possible.
Remember people’s birthday and wedding anniversaries. Make your members have a sense of
importance for being a part of your church family.
Take caring of members seriously. One reason people leave the church is when they feel unloved
and uncared for: they were sick and nobody visited them; they were bereaved and no one called
etc.
Have worker's meetings where you can strategize and plan for growth and evangelism.
If your church is under 200, the pastor should not just sit in his office every working day. He should
go to the marketplace and pray over members' businesses, anointing their shops and prophesying
increase. He should go to their homes and serve communion.

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