Church growth? ‘That’s putting the cart before the horse’

en Reviews Editor John Woods talks to David Brown, an experienced church ‘revitaliser’ in France.

en: Thank you for speaking to us and thank you for writing Re-Connect Your Church: a practical handbook for church revitalisation. One of the words you use a lot in your book is ‘healthy’. What do you mean by healthy, and why is that such an important term for you as you think of the church?

DB: A lot of church thinking has been about church growth, but I think that this is putting the cart before the horse. For me the most important thing is that a church should be healthy, which is the main accent put into it by the New Testament. I would hope that a healthy church would grow by attracting others, but first of all a healthy church will glorify God.

1. The church should be centred on the gospel.

2. Disciples should learn to love God with heart, soul, mind and strength.

3. To love others.

4. And to do so in their own cultural context.

I don’t want to say to churches: ‘You have a difficult path to go down to revitalise.’ Let’s keep things very simple. I am not telling churches what they are doing wrong, but how they can do things better. Twice recently I have preached in churches in France, in different denominations, where, apart from the sermon, Jesus was never mentioned.

en: What are the major factors that threaten church health?

DB: The first is probably tradition. We go on doing the same things. If you go to evangelical churches around the world, they are often singing the same songs and doing the same things. Whereas if they were contextualising, they should be singing different kinds of songs.

Secondly, legalism. Thirdly, becoming inward looking. When churches start, they are outward looking but, little by little as they grow and develop, they become consumer orientated toward the Christians. When that happens, non-Christians might not want to come.

Fourthly, the church is not plausible. People see what we are doing and don’t connect with it at all. That is why we called the book Re-Connect Your Church rather than Revitalise Your Church.

en: You speak about churches developing an amnesia concerning the gospel; why does that happen and how can it be remedied?

DB: One of the reasons for this is that when a church is first planted, the first generation are very clear on the gospel. Maybe they don’t communicate that as clearly to the next generation. They have to sign up to what the church believes, but it is not quite so central because other things become as important. The third generation doesn’t even see the importance at all. At first the actual gospel is forgotten, and then the actual need to share it is forgotten.

en: Another key word you use in the book is ‘connected’. How and why do churches get disconnected?

DB: Cultures change, but the churches don’t. I have been working in France now for over 40 years; we have planted three churches and revitalised one. Things that we did 40 years ago we might not do now. We did a lot of door-to-door work, selling Bibles, etc. But we were not the only ones; people went door-to-door selling brushes and encyclopaedias, then but no-one does that now. Where I live in Paris you can’t get anywhere near a door, with all the entry codes.

We don’t seem to know how to connect with where people are today. Which is why I say we are not plausible.

en: Why do you think some churches are reluctant to take a long look at themselves?

DB: Because no one does. There is a fear of what they might lose if they change. In a study on Loss Aversion, they did an experiment: ‘Heads you give me 100 euros, tails I give you 150.’ No one takes it on because they are more afraid of losing 100 than gaining 150.

In one sense we don’t like change and we feel that society is changing, so let’s hang on to what we have got. If we are not changing in some ways, we are not teaching about the society we are in, and younger people are not going to flourish.

en: Your little scenarios set in Manchester, France and Romania were helpful in providing windows and mirrors that help us to see what is going on in church life. Why is it valuable to view common challenges to the church through multiple lenses?

DB: We are trapped sometimes in what we think a church should be doing. We should be looking at our intention. In the story of the couple in France, their church decided to have an evening service where they only sang once a month. It was called the Vintage Service because the young non-Christians were very embarrassed as they were not sure whether they should stand or sing. Do we have to sing at all of our meetings? In that context it was the right thing to do. When churches meet, they concentrate on teaching and praise, but should we also concentrate more on issues that people face today. Non-Christians are excited to hear that we are thinking about the world we are in.

If change is articulated effectively, people are willing to change. Often leaders are more fearful of change than the people they are leading.

en: You speak about the importance of social, societal and spiritual transformation. Why is it important to develop a church in all three of these areas?

DB: The spiritual is obvious, I hope. This is what people used to call revival; but revival is not enough, because it can often relate to the individual primarily. The emphasis was on the spiritual life of the individual. When we come to the social, we are much more into the emphasis of the New Testament. For example, the many uses of the phrase ‘each other’ or ‘one another’.

In today’s postmodern world, the main way we relate to people is to love those in our network. The societal side reckons on the fact that society is changing, so if we do not know how to cope with society around us, two things will happen: the Christians will not flourish because they are going to be hiding from society; and they will not be able to communicate with non-Christians. The church needs to be asking what can we be saying from God’s word on the issues facing people today? We are not merely those who know what we believe, we need to find ways to communicate what we believe so that non-Christians, even if they disagree with us, see that we are speaking with integrity and sensitivity.

In France the euthanasia commission came up with the statement: ‘Actively helping people to die.’ The Catholic Church responded with the words: ‘We want to actively help people to live.’

We do need to have a relationship with Jesus through the gospel so that we are motivated to speak, but we also need to be equipped to speak the gospel in such a way that it connects with our society.

en: One key takeaway for me from this book is the importance for church leaders of being intentional in listening carefully to Scripture, the church and our society. How do church leaders learn to listen carefully?

DB: They must come to the conclusion that something has to change. We are not seeing many people from a totally non-Christian background coming to Christ. I surveyed 100 new Christians who had been converted from a non-Christian background; most said it was through someone they had got to know, and people talking in a way they understood.

en: Your book seems to assume a fairly cultured group of Christians – how might some of what you have written be adjusted to locations that were more low-brow and working class?

DB: France is a fairly intellectual sort of place. Perhaps this is a very UK problem because the working class have separated themselves from the church for a lot longer than most of Europe. The profile of the average church in the UK would be pretty middle class compared to France.

en: Your book outlines a demanding process of reflection and willingness to experiment and change? Some church leaders might be overwhelmed by this: Where should they start? How do we learn to take small steps and value short-term gains?

DB: To take a close look at your church. Get someone from outside the area to go to a petrol station and ask: ‘I am looking for this church; can you tell me where it is?’

We need to develop the church as a learning community trying to find a way of thinking about how to proceed together. How can we improve things about our testimony as a church? Can you think of someone in the next month we could invite to our home for a meal? How can we make the gospel central in the songs that we sing on Sunday? You cannot do everything all at once, and when you have finished the process, you need to begin all over again because society is constantly changing.

en: You speak of the importance of discernment, wisdom and creativity in the process of developing ongoing change – how do we develop the instinct that enables us to fine-tune our church culture?

DB: I like to think I know what is going on. Every day I look at two or three news outlets.

I enjoy reading. Since the beginning of my ministry, I have had the objective of reading a book a week. These books are of all sorts, a novel, biography, or theology. I want to see outside the box by seeing what is happening in the outside world.

en: Thank you, David, for speaking to en.

DB: Thanks for being the Books Editor of en. I have been a subscriber to en ever since it started. The book reviews are really important.

David Brown is a British church planter, who has spent most of his ministry in France. He has developed many of the ideas in this book in partnership with groups attached to the European Leadership Forum. There is great value in the international flavour of those discussions; they enrich this book in ways that would be absent if the author had focused on only one geographical location or demographic group.

Two extracts from the book follow:

Leaders should have a clear-sighted and realistic view of the present condition of the church and a clear picture of a desirable future situation.

They should be capable of defining that reality in a way that others accept and of offering a map of how to reach this projected outcome. Someone once said to me: ‘If you want to know if you’re a leader, look over your shoulder.’ In other words, is anyone following your lead? In revitalisation, as in other fields, the objective of leadership is to achieve something by inspiring other people to participate actively. In short, this will happen when a leadership team with different skills forges an exciting vision in the minds of the congregation and then encourages and reassures people that it will come into being: ‘Yes, we can get there together!’

For the revitalisation process to be successful, leaders need to develop a set of skills. First, you must learn how humans function. The Bible contains more than just doctrine. It also gives valuable insights into human nature through wisdom literature (such as Proverbs) and a wealth of stories in both the Old Testament and the New Testament. We learn about people primarily by being involved with them, sharing life together and observing how they react in different circumstances, but an academic or psychological approach can also be useful. Some people have learned a lot about themselves and others by using diagnostic tools such as the Myers Briggs Type Indicator to gain insight into their personality traits and working styles (personally, I have found this very useful). Others learn by watching films or reading fiction. As a graduate of literature, this is often my first port of call. Second, it is important to understand your own culture. This can sometimes be difficult because you are immersed in it. As the saying goes: ‘We don’t know who first discovered water, but we’re pretty sure it wasn’t a fish.’

Third, you must try to understand the decision-making processes in your church. Where, when and how are decisions made? The processes may need to be changed as the revitalisation process moves forward but, in the first instance, you have to use what is there. You must be aware that the formal decision-making process in the church may not be the way in which things are truly decided. This needs real discernment. This informal authority is relational, rather than something officially recognized, and it can be used positively or negatively. Some people see themselves as ‘gatekeepers’ and find ways to prevent suggestions (or even decisions) about change that they dislike. Sometimes they have no formal authority (for example, they are not members of the church council) but they try to maintain a quiet influence among members when it comes to voting for change. They may be involved in the practical organisation of certain aspects of church life and hang on to their influence in these areas. Leaders need to identify the gatekeepers and make sure that their influence does not override the formal authority and decision-making processes in the church. Informal authority can also be used in healthy ways, increasing trust among the members and within the revitalisation team. Through building positive relation- ships, you can win people round and accelerate change. Still, you should bear in mind that informal authority can be less visible and less accountable, which brings dangers, and it is important to resist the temptation to bend the rules or manipulate people to drive through change.

Fourth, you should prepare your written documents with care. Ask other people to look at them carefully before communicating them to the church as a whole. Are they clear? Does the main argument hold together coherently? Is there any vocabulary that could hurt or offend someone? Finally, however many people have their say in a church meeting, ask God to give you the gift of synthesizing ideas, summarizing and suggesting creative compromises so that you reach some concrete conclusions at the end of each meeting (pp.181–183).

Lasting change needs commitment and tenacity at the same time as loving care for the church members.

Being a pastoral leader in a church going through a period of revitalisation calls for particular skills and the desire to go on learning for your whole life. It may mean dialogue with a health professional, a banker or an IT worker in order to draw good applications from the Bible texts that you are about to preach from. It may mean having lunch with church members in or close to their workplace to get to know them better in their daily life. It may mean seeking out organizations who may be able to help a church member who has a difficult personal problem. But it will never mean losing the priority of ‘prayer and the ministry of the word’ (Acts 6:4). In today’s world, lasting change always means putting good leadership and decision-making systems in place. According to your church history and the culture that you are in, there has to be a good balance between power and authority in the church. Power is situated within the legal and structural framework of the church. It implies the duty of abiding by the rules that society has decreed for all citizens (for instance, safety in the church building and transparency in financial matters) and is generally ensured by an elected church council or board that can be monitored by the members. Authority concerns the pastoral team who are recognized by the congregation in order to teach, guide and pray for the life of the believers. In some countries, according to their national laws or cultural expectations, such pastoral work may be subject to the same rules of confidentiality as those that apply to lawyers or doctors, so information gleaned in pastoral counselling should not be shared with the elected church council or the pastor’s spouse. It is important to be sensitive to your cultural context and to make sure that there are healthy standards, shared expectations and clear teaching around power, authority, confidentiality and related issues. Collegial leadership is both Biblical and effective, but two requirements are necessary for a team to achieve a common goal and ensure lasting change:

• clear decision-making processes in the church (more churches are divided over this than I dare to think about)

• good processes of delegation including choosing the right people, communicating clearly what is expected of them and mentoring them appropriately (pp.187–188).

Re-Connect Your Church:
A Practical Handbook for Church Revitalisation
By David Brown IVP. 205 pages. £14.99
ISBN 978 1 789 744 583