Dunbar’s Number and Church Plant Success
church plant success Church Plant Success In the back of my mind I'm always wondering why some church plants take root and grow while others are forced to close their doors. Closed church plants impact lead planter families, community relationships, newly gathered congregants and supporting churches. Church plant success matters. I recently compared around 20 open and closed church plants, comparing size of congregation on launch Sunday and results of the lead planter's Ridley Assessment scores. (Ridley Assessment measures pastors ability on a 5 point scales for 13 identified abilities for successful church planting. I have not found where the ...
Dear Church Planter, Launch Size May Not Matter as Much as We Thought
DOES CHURCH LAUNCH SIZE MATTER? What we know: In 2014, Lifeway Research estimated 4,000 churches began. If the first year of a church plant costs around $150,000, then those new plants together cost $600,000,000. If this number rings true each year, then the American Church is investing over half-a-billion dollars in new church plants each year! But, the question is- what's working? There's surprisingly sparse research on what factors contribute to a successful plant. Ed Stetzer contributed to two great resources. Here's one from Lead.net, and here's a PDF to download of his initial research. Anyone involved with church planting will share time-tested factors contributing to ...
There’s No Such Thing as a “FAILED” Church Plant
Not My Jeans I was shopping with my wife a few months ago and as I passed through the men’s section I noticed my choice of jean style was “skinny” or “super skinny”. Now, I’m not sure I want to find out the difference because I would not describe myself as either. I thought about asking an employee to point me towards the plump and chubby section and anxiously await the Gap’s first dad-bod clothing line. But, calling a pair of jeans “skinny” affects the wearer’s perception of the jeans and possibly himself. How we speak about something affects our ...
An Equation to Determine Group Health
Below are some numbers you can use after people sign up for your group to determine if you have enough people. (You may not know the people who signed up for your group, but may be able to work with your group coach or staff to see if others may know them.) Here's an equation you can use to calculate your potential group health. (Include yourself) For each committed couple you have in your group give yourself: 3 points For each committed individual (not couple) you have in your group, give yourself: 2 points For each non-committed couple you have in your group ...
How Size Matters, Part 1: Group Size
Do Numbers Matter? Typically we say an ideal small group consists of 10-15 people. Less than that can sometimes feel awkward and more can feel overwhelming. But, what if the number doesn't matter at all? I believe there are two things that affect group health more than how many people attend on a weekly basis. Expectations I’ve had groups in the past where only a few people signed up and so had to help the group navigate through what to do. I realized what mattered most was people’s expectations of how many people “should” be in the group in order ...
7 Simple Questions to Begin a Small Group (with free download)
As we began our yearly preparations for small group to begin about a year ago, I began to feel bad about how many times I had to e-mail our leaders for their group info. It felt like I was bugging our leaders- which I never want to do. Finally, I decided to sit down and figure out all the info I needed so I could ask them in one easy step. After I received their info, I made a simple excel sheet to find out where there are holes and could easily follow up. As I'm working through this process ...