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Two things have struck me about churches in New Zealand. Firstly, a huge level of churches are imploding. A major factor in many is that the leadership is controlling, rather than empowering.

Second is the mystery of glass ceilings. Why do churches grow to a certain point and then stop for no apparent reason? Although I don't think the ultimate goal should be numerical growth, but to be effective agents for the Kingdom. If we do this, churches will grow.

There seem to be four principal ingredients driving growth in a church:

1. Preaching. I don't think preaching is valued in our culture. In many churches I have visited, the senior pastor was not doing the preaching. I don't think you will find a thriving church where preaching is not valued. It's through preaching that vision gets communicated. If you don't have vision, you get frenzy.
2. A sense of belonging. There needs to be an adequate small group ministry to connect people.
3. A commitment to mission. Without mission, you are just spinning the wheels.
4. Structure.

Structure - the way the church is organised - is a problem in many places. The structure may be adequate at first, but as the place grows, the structure does not change, which can inhibit growth. As a rule of thumb, every time a church doubles in size, the structure needs to change.

New Zealand is a land of small churches. Most congregations have fewer than 200 people. 70% of Baptist churches have fewer than 200, 90% of Presbyterians, and even 90% of Vineyard churches.

People in small churches stress the importance of relationships, simplicity, informality and stability, but it's actually hard for a newcomer to break into a small church. Little churches love being little, and have mechanisms that exclude newcomers.

So if you want to grow, you have two choices:
1. If you value small churches, plant small congregations.
2. Or put in place structures for growth.

One of the problems is that most pastors are pastors, and 200 people is about the limit to what one person can pastor. This means you need to grow a team. In a small church, most of the pastor's work is pastoring, with a lesser amount of leading. As the church grows, the proportions will change round.

For the pastor, that involves big change. Most of their training has been to lead churches of this size, and they have to unlearn what they have learned. Unfortunately, mostly the pastor will keep on leading in the same way, which means the team will get frustrated.

Once a church doubles from 200 to 400, everything changes again, as the leadership faces a whole lot of new issues. Governance and management become critical.

A bigger church needs a governance group with an overview of the whole place, keeping the place on track with the vision. The group should not be beholden to any one person or faction in the congregation, although they are answerable to the congregation as a whole.

Other factors at this level are the size of the church buildings, the need to provide multiple options for services, and the longevity of the pastor.

The traditional model, in which the pastor moves on after only a few years, will not grow sustainable churches. You have to have a long-term commitment to the people and the vision.

The 800 barrier is a big one in New Zealand. Only three Baptist churches, no Presbyterian and one Vineyard church are larger than 800. But you need critical mass to provide the resources for community ministries.

Another change is required at the leadership level. Each member of the team ministry now needs the same qualities as the pastor of a church of 400. Once again it means the senior pastor has to unlearn everything he has known up to now. Because of the difficulties, there is a real temptation to walk away and go somewhere else.

Something also has to happen among the congregation - the church has to change from building relationships to doing mission. Mission is what will hold the church together.

At this level, simplicity gives way to complexity, informality has to give way to intentionality, and stability gives way to change. The role of the senior leader is now to preach, and lead the senior team, to be a visionary, committed to looking after the morale of the crew.

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