On Your Mark, Get Set, Grow!

Church growth? What does it mean to you? Does it mean more people paying dues to the local parish? More communicants at Liturgy? Greater number of mission parishes? Larger church facilities? More programs? More money? More converts? And who needs it anywaysounds like more work for sure!
"Church growth" is a term which is threatening to some, interesting to others, and downright exciting to a few. One reason for these different reactions is that it can be interpreted in many different ways. How do you define it? How do others in your parish see it? Wouldn't it be important to have a common understanding in order to set goals that are shared by everyone and not just a few? Maybe you can use the materials presented below for an adult study group in your parish to try to get everyone thinking along the same lines.
On Your Mark...
The growth of a church-whether it be the local parish or the Orthodox Church in America as an autocephalous Church-is really no different than the maturing of a human being through various stages of the life cycle. As a child matures into young adulthood, he becomes more responsible for his own life, his growth and development. He sets goals, determines priorities, and these affect the course and quality of his life. Indeed, he becomes responsible before God to develop his talents, to recognize that he is a steward of God's grace and that he will be called to account for how he has managed God's household and helped it to grow.
This is the Christian attitude toward growth, and anything less "misses the mark." So, let's examine some of the attitudes we may have about church growth and which are incompatible with how the Gospel presents it to us.

"Churches grow naturally...." This phrase bespeaks the attitude of complacency which responds to the idea of church growth with "what's the big deal?" It's almost like a parent saying, "kids grow themselves up if you just give them the basic necessities and let them be." But is that really growth? Isn't your child's growth and development to some degree contingent upon your investment of time, attention, prayer, figuring out how your child will grow up into a capable, loving person and then following through by designing opportunities for growth and helping the child to learn from life experiences, not just have them? Just as with children, the passage of time doesn't indicate that growth is taking place in a parish; it merely means it's getting older unless there is a conscious and conscientious effort to plan for how your church will grow and then following through with your chosen strategy and learning from your experiences.
"I like our church the way it is...." Growth means change, and because that is always a risk, many people would rather not grow and risk losing something they perceive to be adequately meeting their needs. The word "needs" is key here because the argument is based on regarding the church much like another organization one might belong to. According to this logic, you are, in effect, the consumer and the church is a product or service for which you are paying in the form of dues or pledges. It gives you the right to complain, to expect certain privileges and to protect your interests. Taken to its logical conclusion, this means that the church becomes a closed "club" of sorts which we support to satisfy our "religious" needs. We would only want the church to "grow" to better serve us; conversely, if we are basically happy with the way it is we wouldn't be interested in growth. This is an attitude which affects us more than we realize, and under-standably so, because we live in a consumeroriented society.
"The priest is responsible...." This phrase does not indicate complacency but certainly indicates a passive attitude toward church growth and can easily join up with the consumerist mentality to come out sounding something like "that's what we're paying the priest for!" Our unrealistic expectations of the priest is a result of a serious misunderstanding and underevaluation of the role of the laity in the Church. If anything, it is lay men and women who have access to potential members through their extended families, friends, neighbors and colleagues. It is also they who have the personal relationship upon which virtually all initial contact depends and which determines whether new members will feel fully integrated into the life of the parish. Some of us defer to the priest because we feel inadequate in explaining our faith. Sadly, it would not ever occur to others to invite "outsiders" to the church because....
"....Everyone has their own church." If, since you were young, you heard the phrase, "the Russian Church," or "the Greek Church," it would be natural to think that the only people who would go to the "Russian" church would be Russians. Americans would go to the "American" church" which, presumably, means a Protestant church. Any American coming to the "Russian" church would be questioned-it's simply illogical-they have their own church! The fundamental beliefs at the root of this attitude are that (a) Orthodox Christianity is for Orthodox Christians, and (b) the only thing that matters is that you go to church, any church. These beliefs are supported by the American attitude toward religion, namely, it builds character and preserves the moral order. To be overly concerned about differences in dogma, tradition or spirituality is seen as being in poor taste and lacking in moderation. Of course, to proclaim or promote Orthodoxy is to proclaim these very things-dogma, tradition and spirituality-and to challenge the dogma of religious pluralism, which is one of the pillars of American society. If we choose not to challenge this status quo, we will then suspect anyone who comes knocking at our door. The way it feels to be an outsider visiting the church when this is the prevailing attitude would not make anyone want to join the Orthodox Church.

There are other attitudes and beliefs which get in the way of church growth and "miss the mark," but these four alone will kill a parish, either spiritually or literally, in just a couple of generations, let alone enable growth to take place! Where do we start to correct this situation?
Get Set...
Well, let's begin by taking a personal inventory.

Is your parish growing?
Are you personally contributing to it?
Are you helping those who try to promote it?
What problems or conditions now exist in your parish that prevent the spiritual goals of the church from being reached? What can be done to correct these conditions?
Is there
- a plan for how your church will overcome obstacles to growth;
- an organization of people to carry out the plan;
- support (financial and moral) for those implementing the plan;
- the willingness to continually evaluate the success of your efforts and the flexibility to adapt the plan to changing parish circumstances?

As part of your "getting set," maybe now is a good time to meet together with others in your parish and with your priest to see how they responded to the inventory.
Now, what are you going to do about it?
... Grow!...
Following some of the steps present below might help you on your way. We've divided up the process into four distinct stages to be sure that the program of parish growth is well-conceived, well-planned, well-executed, and well-accepted by the parish.
Stage 1: STUDY
Form an ad hoc group with the cooperation of the priest for anyone who is interested enough in church growth to study the problem.
Study the "Church Growth Papers" prepared for the Seventh All-American Council of the Orthodox Church in America. These papers cover the following key areas and include a study guide which can be particularly useful: spiritual growth as the basis for church growth; the theology of church growth; the parish as a Christian community; the role of the laity. Study the history of your parish (see page 54). Study the present circumstances, attitudes, resources within the parish (see pages 68-71).
Stage 2: PLAN

Set goals which are specific, realistic, sequential and measurable (see pages 55-56).
Formulate a clear idea of the kinds of people you are trying to reach (see pages 43-49).
Formulate a program of action which proceeds logically from your study and stated goals.

Stage 3: ORGANIZE

Establish (seek out) a core group of dedicated, imaginative and responsible lay persons who can carry out the plan.
Widen your base of support by talking to others about your plan.
Expand your organization to accommodate more people, building lines of leadership and communication.
Implement your plan.
Avoid "burnout" by establishing clear time frames, manageable objectives, social support and recognition, and regular opportunities for meeting to discuss progress and problems.
Involve each member of your group in a task for which he or she has a gift (see page 60). • Provide opportunities for training and practice to those who are involved in evangelistic outreach.
Invest parish resources (time, money, talent).
Be willing to adjust your plan of action to respond to the new circumstances which are crucial to the success of your plan.

Of course, following these steps faithfully does not ensure that your parish will grow because growth is, in every real sense, up to God whose wisdom is past understanding. What appears to be a "sliding backwards" may be an important lesson that will be a building block for a more solid foundation. On the other hand, what appears to be progress, such as great numbers of converts or doubling the parish budget for outreach, may simply be a sign that your program is working but not necessarily that the parish is growing in spiritual maturity. We might ask if those new converts are being assimilated in the parish or if the priorities of the parish community have changed to maintain the momentum for continued growth. Above all, we must be diligent in questioning our motivations so they are not selfserving, in making prayer the foundation of our effort, and, if these efforts are successful, in giving the glory to God.