"Hidden Factor that Slows Conversion Growth"

Below is a somewhat long article, in net thinking, that I've been given to ponder over in regards to church. I'll edit this post to reflect my thoughts in time but till then I welcome your comments.

Hidden Factor that Slows Conversion Growth

What makes it hard for committed Christian churches, ministries and groups to grow by high percentage of adult conversions? There are several contributing factors, but this one may surprise you.

It is the ratio factor. The ratio of committed Christian worker to pre-disciple needs to be low. In other words you want to have a lower percentage of dedicated long-term Christians in a group than pre-disciples or brand new Christians.

A pre-disicple is anyone who has not been genuinely converted, or has been away from God and/or the church for a significant amount of time. Sometimes they are church-goers, but for some reason have not understood the gospel and God has not transformed their lives from the inside out. They are what you might call “non-transfer” people; they are not functioning disciples that are transferring from one good church to another. Up to a point the higher the percent of pre-disciples that form a group the better chance the group has of being able to reach and include adult converts.

If this sounds weird to you do not stop reading now. Keep reading! Stay open! You are about to understand a principle that could revolutionize your ministry. You are about to explore a new paradigm that maximizes the chance of a group growing adult conversions.

This is the reason why new churches or groups that start from scratch by targeting the unsaved and unchurched often grow by 50-70% non-transfer growth. We have experienced this repeatedly in our church plants, and we have witnessed it as being a key factor in the evangelistic effectiveness of many churches. Think about it, Jesus had to start this way. Everyone in his group started as pre-disciple. Paul started churches with a small team of dedicated workers, but he quickly created crowds of pre-disciples that overwhelmed them and got their ratios right.

Conventional thinking would say the larger the group of strong Christians you have to start with the more people you will be able to reach. You may have heard of cases of large groups of Christians coming together and still were able to reach lots of non-believers. This happens, but I do not believe it is the norm. Take the time to see what type of growth is occurring, my guess is that it is mainly transfer growth. When analyzed you find out that most of the growth is from people who have just moved to an area and are actively looking for a church of their brand and style.

I hope you are asking the question “why?” at this point. The answer may have more to do with sociology or anthropology then theology. When a pre-disciple visits a group of 80-90% longtime, committed Christians they simply do not feel comfortable. They feel way behind. They feel ignorant. They feel like they could never become a significant leader in the group. They fear they may not be accepted. They doubt if they could ever live up to the high spiritual standards of the group. This is probably especially for upper middle class and upper class people are not used to feeling like the low man in a group.

I believe they feel these uncomfortable feelings even if the Christians are really friendly, healthy, and accepting people. They sense how different they are even if the Christians are trained not to flaunt their knowledge and to be careful about not speaking “Christianize”.

OK, I am convinced, but what do I do. I am in a group of nearly all longtime Christians; good, sincere people who love the Lord, but we are not growing by conversion growth. We want to grow. We are trying to reach people, but when we do get pre-disciples to visit they do not stay. They say they like the church, but they still do not keep coming back. They seem to bounce right off us. We just can’t seem to get any momentum in conversion growth. To say the least we are frustrated.

You have a couple of options. Both are good ones, it all depends on your gifts and resources. First, if you have enough money and a really good marketing strategy you may be able to overwhelm current growth with a flood of new pre-disciples all at once. Have a big day, use your current group as a launch team and create a crowd of new people. Design your service to be seeker friendly, and work hard on creating an environment where new people are encouraged to meet each other. Utilize things like refreshments after the service, and nametags. New people will feel more comfortable when they meet lots of other new people. when they meet people of on the simple spiritual level. You can find out more about how to create a crowd and develop them into a core in my material on how to plant a Purpose Driven Church.

The second alternative is decentralize your troops. Equip and encourage them to start their own personal evangelistic ministries. Get them befriending their neighbors and coworkers, loving on them, and starting small groups tailored to their needs. If a strong Christian get one pre-disciple to meet with them and they have a reasonable ratio (50-50). This mustard seed size group is able to include pre-disciples and grow than a group of many Christians. If the pre-disciple bring one friend to the group you now have a 1 to 3 ratio which makes it even easier for new those underdeveloped spiritually to fit in.

When you get enough of your strong Christians out developing their personal ministries they will be starting to see converts, and they will have many new friends to invite to church. After a period of this personal work going on, plan a big day. A day when those who are building friendships, starting small groups and sharing Christ can bring those they have been working with together. The best thing may be to invite them all on the same day so you overwhelm your Christian core and change your ratios. Once the ratio of pre-disciple and new converts is at least as equal to the number of longtime Christians you have a fighting chance to see your church continue to grow by conversion growth.

What your ratio! Start new groups a small as you need to have the right ratios, and grow them as large as possible as long as your ratios stay right. New converts converted in your group do not mess up your ratios, at least for a while. After a new convert has been a believer for long enough if they do not learn to reach out and bring their pre-disciple friends the ratios of the group naturally become more weighted toward the Christian end. At this point your need to change the dynamics of the group by changing it into a discipleship group that equips and encourages members to go out and start their own personal ministries and new groups with the right ratios.

Groups started with the right ratios go through two stages. The first stage is the growth stage. New pre-disciples are included quite easily into a group during this stage. It may grow from 2 to 10 in just a few months. But then most groups come to a mature size for the group and it stops growing. You lose growth momentum and your ratios make it harder and harder to grow by conversion growth. Now shift the group into it multiplication stage. As the leader focus the energies of the group towards helping the members of the group start their own personal evangelistic ministries and their own groups with the right ratios. Picture a wheat plant growing rapidly to its mature size then focusing on producing its head of seeds so that it can reproduce itself many times over.

Many churches that are thinking this way around the world are experience explosive conversion growth. Part of their secret formula has to do with ratios.

These options are not easy, but for many churches it may be your only way out to break through to the type of ministry that bears much fruit, and allows you to experience the fullness of joy, John 15:8.11. Are you willing to pay the price to start bearing fruit?

“Truly, Truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.” John 12:24.

Lent

Tonight, I'm pondering weighty issues of tradition, repentance and community. I come from a tradition that has long avoided any semblance of the Catholic church, following the Anabaptist tradition. It was thought that man's law was intertwined with God's grace in my limited understanding of the history involved.

Looking back today, many who have come from this Anabaptist line have pondered again why their ancestors made those choices and if they were right. I truly can't say. It would seem likely that some tradition is corrupt and should not be followed but other may prove beneficial. In a world of human imperfection and with an understanding that the apostolic line had an end, tradition is not something to be fully trusted.

I sometimes wonder who I am to ponder such matters and decide them. Some may say I do not have the right, even some who I respect as friends. Tonight though, I wonder. How can one obey Jesus who Matthew tells us in chapter six says not to fast in some broad public way and still observe a holiday like Lent? For me, now, it is a matter of heart. I believe that if I fast I do not want to proclaim it through an outer mark or symbol that but instead seek God quietly and humbly. I can easily become prideful about my actions and I think that I can best avoid that by not participating in this holiday as many in my congregation will. Perhaps next year, my repentance can be manifested in this way with proper preparation.

reflections on Cold Dawn at the Shelter by Mark Noll

Mark Noll is a professor at Wheaton College, contributor to First Things magazine and respected evangelical thinker. I'm still learning more about him but this poem seemed a good introduction to the man. If nothing else, I think it reflects a serious thinker who is willing to speak artfully.

Cold Dawn at the Shelter
(For Alva Steffler)

Last Christmastide the angel came at six
fifteen. While volunteers began to poke
the guests awake, collect the mats, and fix
the coffee for the breakfast line, the smoke
rose from first cigarettes, and one large man
groaned off the floor, breath harsh, a map of beet-
red lines high on his cheeks—he strains but can
not bend enough to reach his feet.

The angel teaches art design, his hair
is gray, he’s fifty odd. Straightway he goes
down on his knees, does not recoil from hot
dry skin, begins to tug one of a pair
of stained white socks around those death-puffed toes
and nonchalantly smiles and says "fear not."

---Mark A. Noll
as appearing in First Things

I assumed on first reading that the "angel" was a women and that I was confused in my reading of the poem, somehow assigning the homeless man his characteristics. I realize that in part this is because I have accepted two popular mythologies about angels on a subconcious level. I have seen only femenine angels in so many representations that I assume they retain that quality. I am quick to forget the fierce nature of some angels that the Bible records. Perhaps though this poem reflects the true ferocity of angels. It is not that they are so masculine to induce fear. It could be that they are so other, so transcendant, that one cannot really think of how to respond.

I wonder if Noll doesn't bring an important point here. In some small way, our actions as followers of Christ are supposed to be so noticably different that we stand out in the places that we live and work. Am I that different? Am I pursuing a level of excellence that reflects my Father? Am I serving in such unexpected ways that people stop and wonder?