Growth Barriers

Navigating Growth Transitions

Churches face growth barriers when attendance crosses a range of benchmark thresholds. These barriers come around 100, 200, 400, 1,000, 1,500 and 2,000 attenders as the scale, leadership structure, ministry strategy, budget and programs adjust to a new reality.

Some aspects of growth transitions are specific to the context and size barrier being crossed, while others are common themes running through almost all of them. Reference these growth barrier articles for a quick summary:

“7 Internal Barriers to Growth in a Church” by Thom Rainer
Lifeway Research (July 25, 2017)

Growth Barrier 1: Facility Barriers
Growth Barrier 2: Governance Barriers
Growth Barrier 3: Staffing Barriers
Growth Barrier 4: Cultural Barriers
Growth Barrier 5: Church Calendar
Growth Barrier 6: Worship Times
Growth Barrier 7: Website Barriers

“5 Barriers to Church Growth” by Nelson Searcy
Outreach Magazine (November 14, 2012)

Growth Barrier 1: Space
Growth Barrier 2: Self-Development
Growth Barrier 3: Sharing
Growth Barrier 4: Worship Service
Growth Barrier 5: Staff

“30 Barriers to Growth” by James Emery White
Church and Culture (April 15, 2013)

Growth Barrier 1: Teaching
Growth Barrier 2: Assimilation
Growth Barrier 3: Invitation
Growth Barrier 4: Evangelism
Growth Barrier 5: Structure
Growth Barrier 6: Location
Growth Barrier 7: Facility
Growth Barrier 8: Atmosphere
Growth Barrier 9: Worship/Music
Growth Barrier 10: Children’s Ministry
Growth Barrier 11: Student Ministry
Growth Barrier 12: Participation
Growth Barrier 13: Serving Recruitment
Growth Barrier 14: Internal Communication (among staff)
Growth Barrier 15: Communication to Church Members/Attenders
Growth Barrier 16: External Communication
Growth Barrier 17: Marketing
Growth Barrier 18: Discipleship
Growth Barrier 19: Next Steps
Growth Barrier 20: Vision
Growth Barrier 21: Mission
Growth Barrier 22: Internal Morale
Growth Barrier 23: Volunteers
Growth Barrier 24: Staff Morale
Growth Barrier 25: Staff Quality
Growth Barrier 26: Leadership
Growth Barrier 27: Volunteer Leadership
Growth Barrier 28: Macro-Thinking
Growth Barrier 29: The Relay Race
Growth Barrier 30: Prayer

“8 Reasons Most Churches Never Break the 200 Attendance Mark” by Carey Nieuwhof
Carey Nieuwhof (September 30, 2013)

Growth Barrier 1: The Pastor Is the Primary Caregiver
Growth Barrier 2: The Leaders Lack a Strategy
Growth Barrier 3: True Leaders Aren’t Leading
Growth Barrier 4: Volunteers Are Unempowered
Growth Barrier 5: The Governance Team Micromanages
Growth Barrier 6: Too Many Meetings
Growth Barrier 7: Too Many Events and Programs that Lead Nowhere
Growth Barrier 8: The Pastor Suffers from a Desire to Please Everybody

Growth Barriers Reading List

George, Carl F., and Warren Bird, How to Break Growth Barriers: Revise Your Role, Release Your People, and Capture Overlooked Opportunities for Your Church, rev. ed. (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 2017).

Growth Barriers

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