7 Way Churches Limit Transfer Growth into Their Congregations

If you haven’t heard the term, “transfer growth” occurs when church members move their membership from one church to another. Of course, there are times when this kind of growth is legitimate growth. At the same time, though, transfer growth can be problematic (see “10 Reasons Transfer Growth Can Be a Problem”). Given these potential issues, here are some ways I’ve seen churches limit transfer growth into their congregation. Read through them, and let us know your thoughts. Read More

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Church growth methodology in a number of ways is analogous to farming. Some farming methods may result in a bumber crop; other methods may result in a poor crop or no crop at all. But farming methods alone do not determine the end result - the quality of the seed, the quality of the soil, the amount of rain fall, the amount of sunshine, and other factors and ultimately God determine whether the harvest will be a bountiful one.

Some folks dismiss the church growth movement on the grounds that it gives too much credit to human effort for the growth of a church and does not give any credit to God for a church's growth and promotes the idea that pastors can duplicate the results that other pastors have seen, simply by adopting their methods. I agree to a large extent with this criticism but believe that they also throw the baby out with the bath water. I see God as operative behind our efforts. I also see the methods that we adopt to be like farming methods. We chose them based upon our knowledge of the soil, the crop, the climate, and so on and pick those that are most likely to work, using our God-given reason and the Holy Spirit's guidance to make the right choices. We select the field, till the soil, plant the seed, tend the young plants but it is God who makes the seeds germinate and the young plants grow. The yield is also in his hands.