Seeking true gospel growth

"It is exciting to be part of a growing church and somewhat discouraging if numbers are barely holding steady. But neither scenario tells us nearly enough about true gospel growth, which is what mission areas are all about.

It may be that the growing church is contacting unbelievers and connecting them to Jesus Christ but it may be that all of its new members are believers on the move from other churches (for both good and bad reasons). The church with little growth may be inwardly focused and not mission-minded, or it may have sent its best into Bible college and the mission field, or it may be in an area where people move out of as soon as they get their lives in order. So, one church’s loss is another’s gain (transfers).

However, mission areas step back and ask if there has been overall growth and souls being added to the kingdom. Or to put it another way, are we reaching a greater percentage of the Sydney Diocese?

The role of the senior minister is critical and so, in the past year since mission area leaders have been appointed, the priority has been building partnership and trust between rectors. This was always going to be a huge challenge because of many factors, including our system of parish rights (a very good thing but it can lead to isolationism), Western individualism and the normal human tendency towards competition." To read more, click here.

A number of the concerns expressed in this article relate to the North American mission field and other parts of the world as well as Sydney.