In his blog post “Going Electric,” CERG Regional Growth Development Consultant Mark Bernstein writes about the findings of the Cooperative Congregational Studies partnership about congregational growth. His conclusion: “If congregations can change, they can grow.” Among the findings in the survey of 11,000 congregations are that growth is more likely among: younger congregations, those that use multiple methods to follow up with visitors, and those that think of themselves as different from other congregations in their area. [That’d be us.]

Bernstein quotes the Rev. Dan Dick, director of Connectional Ministries for the Wisconsin Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church:

Turnaround churches almost all agree: They knew what they needed to do before they did it. For every declining church you can name, there is a growing one just like it in most ways. The key difference? Declining churches expect their answer to come from the outside; growing churches take responsibility for their own solutions.

About the Author

Don Skinner

Don Skinner is editor of InterConnections and a member of the Shawnee Mission UU Church in Lenexa, Kansas.

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