March 26, 2009
Make Room for Growth
You have heard of the 80 Percent Principle. The Principle teaches that when you are 80 percent full - then you are indeed full. Most make the naive mistake to simply apply that rule to the sanctuary attendance, not to the support facilities such as nursery, children’s services, etc. This fundamental mistake of ”despising small beginnings” secretly governs the increase of the church attendance. As I often say, ”Parents are funny, they won’t leave their infants and children at home to attend you church.”
I recently conducted a walk-through at a church where this principle needed to be applied in the youth ministry. Here is the email that I received:
Thank you for all of your help recently at Orchardville Church. Our youth group attendance had bounced around between 55-60 never going over 63 in the last two years. You suggested we add more chairs. We added chairs and I’m please to let you know our attendance has been 72 the last several services. We’ve also had 9 salvations in the last month.
If you have failed to see growth for a season of time, you may need to examine how you are making room for growth.