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The Church Growth Movement is a movement within
evangelical Christianity Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide Interdenominationalism, interdenominational movement within Protestantism, Protestant Christianity that affirms the centrality of being "bor ...
which aims to grow churches based on research, sociology, analysis, etc. The Church Growth Movement started with a passion for the Great Commission, and seeing people come to the knowledge of Christ.
Donald McGavran Donald Anderson McGavran (December 15, 1897 – July 10, 1990) was a missiologist and founding Dean of the School of World Mission at Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, California, and is known for his work related to evangelism and religious ...
, a seminal figure in this movement asserted that "It is God's will that women and men become disciples of Jesus Christ and responsible members of Christ's church".


History

The church growth movement began with the publication of
Donald McGavran Donald Anderson McGavran (December 15, 1897 – July 10, 1990) was a missiologist and founding Dean of the School of World Mission at Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, California, and is known for his work related to evangelism and religious ...
's book ''The Bridges of God''. McGavran was a third-generation
Christian missionary A Christian mission is an organized effort for the propagation of the Christian faith. Missions involve sending individuals and groups across boundaries, most commonly geographical boundaries, to carry on evangelism or other activities, such as ...
to
India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
, where his observations of ''How Churches Grow'' (the title of another of his books) went beyond typical theological discussion to discern sociological factors that affected receptivity to the Christian Gospel among non-Christian peoples. In 1965, he organized the School of World Mission at
Fuller Theological Seminary Fuller Theological Seminary is an interdenominational Evangelical Christian seminary in Pasadena, California, with regional campuses in the western United States. It is egalitarian in nature. Fuller consistently has a student body that compri ...
in
Pasadena, California Pasadena ( ) is a city in Los Angeles County, California, northeast of downtown Los Angeles. It is the most populous city and the primary cultural center of the San Gabriel Valley. Old Pasadena is the city's original commercial district. I ...
, which was the institutional homebase for Church Growth studies until after his death. It has been the training ground for tens of thousands of pastors and missionaries of one hundred mainly evangelical denominations. McGavran used statistical research to show that the typical missiological strategy of the time, mission stations, was largely ineffective in reaching people for Christ, as well as ineffective in discipleship. The original goal of the Church Growth Movement was to answer the question, "How do we reach peoples (as opposed to a few random individuals) with the gospel in the U.S.?". The goal was to understand how to share Christianity in a culturally appropriate way, given the changing climate in the United States. Just as Donald McGavran stated that we must understand the culture of the people we are trying to reach; we cannot simply enter a completely different culture on the other side of the world, we must seek to understand that culture, and present the gospel in a culturally relevant way. Paul's missionary journeys, it was argued, used the same cultural relevance, which eventually led to the council at Jerusalem (Acts 15) which determined whether Gentile converts must adopt Jewish culture in order to become Christian. Stetzer states that the Church Growth Movement went astray when it became overly simplified into a series of formulas for church growth, and ultimately led to the very thing McGavran sought to avoid, namely a new kind of mission station. Stetzer states too many of the churches following the emerging formulas became a socially engineered mission station, which drew people out of their own cultures, into Christian warehouses and away from their neighborhoods and communities where they lived.


Methods

Two key attributes of Church Growth are a passion for the "
Great Commission In Christianity, the Great Commission is the instruction of the resurrected Jesus Christ to his disciples to spread the gospel to all the nations of the world. The Great Commission is outlined in Matthew 28:16– 20, where on a mountain i ...
" and a willingness to apply research to attracting members, including
quantitative methods Quantitative research is a research strategy that focuses on quantifying the collection and analysis of data. It is formed from a deductive approach where emphasis is placed on the testing of theory, shaped by empiricist and positivist philosop ...
. Scholars and leaders from many denominations continue to meet annually to discuss the implications of these insights as the
American Society for Church Growth The American Society for Church Growth (ASCG) is an international organization which provides a professional network for those individuals or organizations associated with the Church Growth Movement. The society was founded in 1986 by Donald McGav ...
. The "seeker sensitive" label is associated with some
megachurch A megachurch is a church with an unusually large membership that also offers a variety of educational and social activities, usually Protestant or Evangelical. The Hartford Institute for Religion Research defines a megachurch as any Protestant C ...
es in the
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
where Christian messages are often imparted by means of elaborate creative elements emphasizing
secular Secularity, also the secular or secularness (from Latin ''saeculum'', "worldly" or "of a generation"), is the state of being unrelated or neutral in regards to religion. Anything that does not have an explicit reference to religion, either negativ ...
popular culture Popular culture (also called mass culture or pop culture) is generally recognized by members of a society as a set of practices, beliefs, artistic output (also known as, popular art or mass art) and objects that are dominant or prevalent in a ...
, such as
popular music Popular music is music with wide appeal that is typically distributed to large audiences through the music industry. These forms and styles can be enjoyed and performed by people with little or no musical training.Popular Music. (2015). ''Fun ...
styles. Such churches often also develop a wide range of activities to draw in families at different stages in their lives. Four key approaches include: * The "Attractive Church Model", which was set forth by
Rick Warren Richard Duane Warren (born January 28, 1954) is an American Southern Baptist evangelical Christian pastor and author. He is the founder of Saddleback Church, an evangelical megachurch affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention in Lake Fore ...
's book, "The Purpose-Driven Church". In this model, programs (such as daycare, sports programs, classes, and contemporary music and worship) are created which attract people from the community to the church. * The "Missional Church Model", which was set forth by Michael Slaughter of Ginghamsburg UMC. In this model, missional activities are developed to which people are drawn to participate. As they participate, they gradually become involved in the life of the church. * The "Preach God to Friends and Neighbors Model", set forth by Brian L. Boley's book, "How to Share the Gospel: A Proven Approach for Ordinary People". In this model, members of the congregation begin to preach God to friends and neighbors. As they preach God, they are eventually seen as "God-experts", and people begin to inquire of them about spiritual issues. * The "Soul Winning Model" (see the Book of Acts) has always been trumpeted by Bible-believing Christians, but heavily more recently with the announcement of a National Church Growth Conference being held at Clays Mill Road Baptist Church in Lexington, Kentucky. Host Pastor Jeff Fugate is a keynote speaker in Independent Baptist circles and is well known for his old fashioned stand and his zeal for the bus ministry.


Criticism and praise

Critics from other Christian groups suggest the movement is "only about numbers" and "success" oriented.
Willow Creek Community Church Willow Creek Community Church is an Evangelical non-denominational, multi-site megachurch. Its largest campus is located in the northwestern Chicago suburb of South Barrington, Illinois. It was founded on October 12, 1975 by Dave Holmbo and Bill H ...
recently conducted a major survey that revealed that heavy involvement into programs and activities did not necessarily translate into discipleship unless the church had a clear path for believers' development. In response, Chuck Colson stated, "I am cheering Willow Creek on. Think what could happen if, instead of tickling ears, all the churches gave the people real meat." Colson does not outright praise or condemn the church growth movement, instead, he states, "During the Reformation, the reformers had a phrase for this spirit. It was called semper reformandi, or always reforming. The more we continue to understand that we have not arrived, and the more willing we are to adopt the humble approach that we and our churches are in need of continual reformation, the more our churches and lives will come to reflect the God we preach."


References


Literature

* * .


External links

* . * http://www.nationalchurchgrowth.com * {{Citation , url = http://www.churchleadership.org/pages.asp?pageid=66935 , title = Church Growth , publisher = The Francis A. Schaeffer Institute of Church Leadership Development. Evangelical ecclesiology Practical theology