measuring the orchard pdf v2

7/28/2019 Measuring the Orchard PDF V2

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Measuring the Orchard: Changing the scorecard of church growth

Copyright 2012 by Geoff Surratt

Distributed by Exponential Resources

Exponential is a growing movement of leaders committed to the multiplication of healthy

new churches. Exponential Resources spotlights and spreads actionable principles, ideasand solutions for the accelerated multiplication of healthy, reproducing faith

communities. For more information, visit exponential.org.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any manner whatsoever

without prior written permission form the publisher, except where noted in the text and inthe case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

This book is manufactured in the United States.


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Chapter 1: Introduction

Yes, you have to read this chapter

The idea of this book started a couple of years ago when I was the Pastor of Church

Planting for Saddleback Church. We brought in a group of church planters from around

the country to help us write a curriculum to train future church planters, but the

discussion quickly evolved to intense fellowship around the definition of a church and

what success really looked like. Is the goal converts, baptisms, attendance, giving,

campuses, or more church plants? Before we could talk about training new church

planters we needed to begin with the end in mind. That discussion set me on a journey to

discover the true measure of a church. This eBook is not the end of that journey, but a

major stop along the way. I have drawn the concepts in this book on napkins,

whiteboards and notebook paper, speaking to groups from one to hundred across the

country. Every time I share my thoughts someone adds a new idea or asks a penetrating

question that sends me back to the drawing board (literally) to reshape and refine the

model. I fully expect you to contribute to the process. My goal is not that you read this

book and agree with my conclusions, but rather that you wrestle with the concepts and

add your voice to the conversation.

So consider this a rough draft. You will likely find mistakes, inconsistencies and

possibly outright lies along the way. I would ask that you do two things as you read:

Engage in the conversation. You can email me at [email protected] if youwant to talk privately, engage with me on Twitter (@geoffsurratt), or join the

Facebook group Measuring the Orchard where we can all chat together. Point

out mistakes, spelling errors, and heresy as we continue to build this model

together.

Remember how much you paid for the eBook. If you get your 2 cents worthyoull still be way ahead.


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There are some people who have contributed a great deal to the concepts in this book.

My beautiful wife Sherry who has refined these ideas over and over as I havepestered her for the past two years.

Ryan Meeks who told me that its ok for churches to die.John Worcester who introduced me to the concept of the Orchard, the Life Cycle

and the role of a Grandparent Church.

Kevin Penry who pointed me to some really good thinking on the life cycle ofcorporations. Some day Ill be as smart as Kevin and understand the material.

Dave Travis who pointed me to the work George Bullard has done on the lifecycle of churches. His book, Pursuing the Full Kingdom Potential of Your

Congregation is must reading if you want to dive deep into how life cycles work

for churches.

Leadership Network who has allowed me to refine these concepts with multiplecohorts of pastors. I highly recommend their Senior Pastor Forums, Leadership

Communities and Innovation Labs for leaders who want to learn from and

collaborate with other leaders.

Before you dive in I want to establish a few ground rules.

First, to quote my brother Greg, I reserve the right to be wrong. Please feel freeto disagree, slam the book shut (or however you close an eBook) or call me

names. My only request is that you think through the ultimate goal of your

ministry and your church.

Second, I love the churches I have served over the past 30 years. I have learnedand grown in every environment. First Assembly of God in Lakewood,

Colorado, Berea Temple in St Louis, Missouri, The Assembly of God

Tabernacle in Houston, Texas, Church on the Lake in Huffman, Texas,

Seacoast Church in Charleston, South Carolina and Saddleback Church in


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Orange County, California have all contributed immensely to the Kingdom.

None of them are doing it wrong and Im grateful for each of them.

Third, I have chosen to refer to pastors and leaders with masculine pronouns.That does not flow out of a theological stance on women or any particular bias.

Im just too lazy to go back and forth so I went with men.

Now that were all on the same ePage, lets dive in.


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Chapter 2

Riding the rollercoaster

I grew up in a relatively small Pentecostal church in Denver, Colorado. On a good

Easter we would have 300 attenders, and I think that included a few people who just

thought about coming. Though they never turned anyone away, growing a really big

church didnt seem to be the core mission of the church leaders. Its probably a good

thing because there tended to be a lot of shouting and running around in circles during

services, which can be quite off putting to the uninitiated. This church would never make

a Top 100 list in any category with one possible exception, the percentage of young

people who went on to be church leaders across the country. If you add up the number of

people impacted weekly by the leaders who grew up in that little church it is staggering.

Based on the standard measures of success in the American church my home church was

a failure; very little attendance growth, relatively few baptisms, no small groups and no

short-term mission trips. My father, who was the pastor, has never been invited to speak

on church growth at a national conference. But I wonder if there are other measures that

would more accurately reflect the Kingdom impact of his ministry?

From the little church I grew up in to the largest mega-churches in America I have had

a front row seat to every angle of American church growth. I pastored a church that grew

from 11 to 100, I worked on staff at a church that grew from 500 to 1000, and I was a

part of the team that saw Seacoast Church grow from 1000 to somewhere north of 10,000

attenders on a typical weekend. We added sites, and then states and then cyberspace.

Rapid growth had its challenges, but it was fun. We were adding services, sites and small

groups as fast as we could. We held baptisms in the Atlantic Ocean with 10 pastors

baptizing simultaneously to handle the crowds. Somewhere along the way, however, I

realized that while rapid growth was thrilling there seemed to be no destination. At the

top of every hill the goal was a bigger hill. I began to wonder what would happen if the

growth rollercoaster ever stopped.


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As I have worked with pastors of churches of every size over the past few years I have

seen the same thing again and again; pastors who strive for ever more growth while

secretly wondering if there is a landing zone, a destination. And right behind them are

scores of pastors trying to get to their level, secretly wondering if satisfaction is just

beyond the next growth barrier. It isnt just a mega-church phenomenon either. Most

church planters think that at 200 or 300 or 500 they will be at a place where they will find

contentment. I have yet to meet a pastor who said, Yeah, I think my church is about the

right size.

The idea of numerical growth being a major measure of success is deeply baked into

our culture. Outreach Magazines list of the 100 largest and fastest growing churches is

by far its biggest selling issue. Twitter lights up every Easter and Christmas as the semi-

lost return to the fold, and we report our new record attendance. We add measurement on

measurement to create the perfect metric. Its nickels and noses, its small group

attendance, its number of volunteers, its number of missional communities. We are

looking for the Nirvana of Numbers that will finally tell us that we are doing a good job,

or at least that were doing a better job than the guy down the street. The sad thing is that

there is no end to the race. A pastor of a church of 20,000 told me once that the real goal

is 30,000, once they arrive on that mountaintop they can turn their attention to planting

other churches.

Pastors, however, are not just in it for the numbers. The bottom-line for almost every

pastor I know is Kingdom impact. He isnt as concerned about making a Top 100 list (as

nice as that might be) as he is in knowing that he had made a difference. All of the

numbers are just a way to figure out if the blood, sweat and tears that he has sacrificed in

ministry have been worth it. The sad truth is that for many pastors entering their sixties

they dont know that it has. Their churches have stopped growing and may even be

beginning to decline. The thrill of the next goal, the next barrier is past and they are

asking, Is this all there is? Ive played the numbers game, now what?

I believe we need a major paradigm shift. If we continue to measure the same things,

to build our churches with the same goals, were going to continue to get the same


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disappointing results. We need to acknowledge that every church has a growth cycle of

increase and decline. There are seasons of growth, seasons of maturing, seasons of

reproduction and seasons of rest. We need to stop emphasizing the tree and begin looking

at the orchard. To borrow a phrase from Steven Covey we need to begin with the end in

mind.

The little church I grew up in barely exists anymore. They long ago changed the name

and moved further into the suburbs. A young pastor is trying to breathe life into the

church with the few souls that remain, but if there isnt a drastic change the writing is on

the wall. If that little church dies will it have been a failure? If we look at the attendance

roll, the giving record, and the missions trips the only conclusion we can reach is failure.

But if we look at lasting impact, at deployed leaders, at eternal value to the Kingdom

wed have to say that little Pentecostal church on the outskirts of Denver was a raging

success.

The goal of this book is to look at church through a new lens, a lens that recognizes

the value of individual church growth within an eye to the larger Kingdom context. Well

look at stages of growth most churches experience, the key activities and measures at

each stage and the type of leader needed to guide a church through its natural growth

cycle. Well explore how churches at each stage can be involved in multiplication and theimplications for your congregation and your ministry. The end result is a paradigm of

ministry that moves from Is this all there is? to I will run out of life before I run out of

fruitful ministry.

Lets begin the journey with the story of two farmers, a tree and an orchard.


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Chapter 3

Two men, a tree and an orchard

Stanley loved apples, he loved trees and he loved the outdoors. Stanley was born to

raise apples. After graduating from school he bought a little piece of land that was ideal

for planting an apple tree. Stanley didnt want to just grow apples; he wanted to become a

great apple farmer. He read every book he could find on apple growing, talked to every

apple grower he could meet and attended every apple growing conference he could get to.

(There werent a lot of conferences as apple growing wasnt really a trendy thing when

Stanley got into the game.)

Finally Stanley felt he was ready to plant his tree. He went to the market and selected

the biggest, shiniest Red Delicious he could find. After preparing the soil and digging the

ideal hole Stanley planted his apple tree. And then he waited.

A couple of miles away Stanleys friend Ted was also planting his first apple tree. He

had the same aspiration as Stanley, and had prepared in almost the same way. He read the

books, talked to other planters and attended the conferences. Ted felt as ready as possible

to enter the exciting world of apple farming. His little plot of ground had also been tilled,

the rocks removed and the weeds eradicated. Ted sowed his first apple seed, and he too

waited.

The waiting for Stanley and Ted was excruciating. Day after day, week after week it

seemed like nothing happened. But then a little sprout appeared, the spout became a twig

and soon the twig began to resemble a tiny apple tree. Each week Stanley and Ted

watered their little trees, fertilized the soil and measured the growth. Growth was slow,

but steady, and each week the little sprig looked more and more like a mature apple tree.

Months passed as their little trees continued to grow. When winter came Stanley and

Ted worried that their tender little trees wouldnt survive, but in the spring the barren

sticks began to bud. The trees were a year old and continuing to grow, though neither had


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continued to plant more and more trees year after year. Eventually Ted had an entire

orchard of apple trees producing hundreds of bushels of apples every year. Ted began

mentoring other young growers, helping them start their own orchards. Recently Ted

turned his orchard over to his son and now looked forward to spending the next few years

helping other apple growers full time.

After hearing Teds story Stanley asked about that original tree, the one Ted had

planted the same year Stanley had planted his.

The first tree? It stopped producing apples a few years ago. I finally cut it down to

make room for a new tree. I used the wood to build a rocking pony for my grandson.

Cut it down? Stanley was stunned. How could you cut it down? Remember allthe hard work you put into that tree? Remember waiting winter after winter for it to

produce its first apple? You poured your life into that tree and then you cut it down.

How could that happen?

Ted was puzzled by Stanleys reaction. We cut it down because we knew it was

going to die soon anyway. All apple trees die eventually. By cutting it down we were

able to turn it into something that will last far longer than that single tree. Besides

Stanley, it was never about the tree, it was always about the fruit.

Stanley realized that he had focused on the wrong thing. He spent his life growing a

great tree, but he never cultivated an orchard.


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Chapter 4

Defining an orchard

The parable of the apple tree is silly; no one would spend his life focusing on one

apple tree. Obviously to be a successful apple grower you have to have an orchard. The

irony that is exactly what we do as church leaders. We focus our whole ministry on

growing one church. Even if we move from church to church we still maintain a single

church focus. At best we give occasional thought to multiplying beyond our local

congregation. We join a church-planting network, or help plant a church in another

country or send out one of our younger staff members to plant a new congregation. These

are almost always sidelines, however, the main thing is the single local church. Our

overriding concern is how we can grow our people and our congregation.

In the end, however, focusing on a single church often leads to disappointment. No

matter how healthy a church is there comes a time of waning attendance and diminished

impact. Pastors change the music style, hire younger staff members, or build a new

building. The goal is to get the church growing again, but attendance remains flat or

declines. The pastor really has three choices at this point

He can ride the downward trend to the end, hanging on as long as the churchcan continue to support him,

He can leave for greener pastures and find another church to focus on He can turn his attention to the orchard he has been cultivating through the

years.

So what qualifies as an orchard? I like this definition from Dictionary.com:

An orchard is a piece of land planted with fruit trees.

From this definition we can define an orchard from three angles.


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A piece of land

An orchard is more than trees; it is the entire piece of land. There may only be fifty

trees, but the plot of land determines the size of the orchard. What are the boundaries of

your orchard? Your orchard may be the region, the city, or the people group God has

placed on your heart to reach with the Gospel. An orchard is bigger than a neighborhood

but smaller than the whole world. The Apostle Paul probably had the largest orchard; he

said his orchard was the Gentiles. Your orchard may be your city or your state. Your

orchard may include several small towns in your county. Your orchard may be a country

in Africa or a people group in India or the urban poor. If your church can reach your

orchard alone, however, then your vision is too small. How big would your orchard be if

God provided all the leaders and resources you need?

I love the Old Testament story of Jonathan and his armor bearer. The Philistines have

the Israelites pinned down. There are only two swords available to the entire army, and

their situation seems hopeless. Finally King Sauls son Jonathan has had enough. He

grabs one sword, gives the other to his armor bearer and they sneak out of camp to attack

the Philistines. On the way to the enemy camp the armor bearer asks how they plan to

take on thousands of Philistines all by themselves. Jonathans answer had to take him

back a little, Lets go over to the outpost of those uncircumcised fellows, perhaps theLord will act on our behalf. Nothing can hinder the Lord from saving, whether by many

or by few. The armor bearers response is amazing, Go ahead; I am with you heart and

soul. You know the rest of the story. God does act on their behalf and they single

handedly route the Philistines.

What would be the boundaries of your orchard if God were to act on your behalf?

What is your passion? What territory has he given into your hand?

Apieceoflandplanted

The second aspect of an orchard is that it is a piece of land that has been planted. An

orchard has been intentionally cultivated, fertilized and sown with seed. A farmer has

invested his skills and resources into turning a field into an orchard.


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Your orchard is not just a place youve been called to, but also a place where youve

planted. You have invested relational capital into that area. You have sent leaders,

expertise and resources to cultivate the field where you have been called. Cultivating an

orchard is more than sending money or releasing a leader, cultivating an orchard involves

a high level of personal investment.

Apieceoflandplantedwithfruittrees

Finally an orchard is a piece of land that has been planted with a very specific type of

tree; fruit trees. The orchard grower expects the land to produce abundant harvests of

good fruit, and he will accept nothing less. A farmer doesnt talk about the number of

trees he plants, how big the trees grow or how beautiful they are to look at; a farmers

only concern is the yield of the orchard. If the trees dont produce fruit then the farmer

will make a change.

I used to live down the road from an old plantation in Charleston, South Carolina. This

was still very much a working plantation. One year the owner decided to plant a peach

orchard in one of the fields. It took a lot of time, work and money to prepare the field,

install irrigation and plant the seedlings. We drove past that orchard every day for three

years before a single peach was produced. Once the trees matured and began producing

fruit we would often stop at the roadside stand and buy some of the fresh peaches. Then

one day the stand was closed. Soon the owner of the orchard tore out all of the trees and

let the land return to grass and weeds. The trees had begun producing bad fruit, and they

were no longer productive. The field wasnt an orchard because there was no longer any

fruit.

Theworkofafarmer

In an orchard the farmer isnt just scattering seed and hoping for the best. He is

working the soil, checking the moisture and cultivating the fruit. He is actively involved

in the process of producing an abundant harvest. That is an accurate picture of how a

pastor is involved in his orchard. He isnt just sending offerings and reading updates; he

is actively involved in ensuring the health of every tree he plants. An orchard pastor


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trains leaders, coaches other pastors, sends seed money and nurtures young church plants

and young church planters.

Many years ago Fred Richard decided that Charleston, South Carolina was his

orchard. He had moved to Charleston from Texas to pastor a struggling congregation

located on the north side of the city. Fred saw explosive growth as his congregation

doubled and then doubled again. The growth outstripped the little piece of property they

owned, so they began parking cars bumper to bumper in the little dirt parking lot.

Fred wasnt satisfied, however, with growing a big church. He had a vision to reach

every corner of his city, and he knew that even with the rapid growth his church was

experiencing they could never reach the city alone. His goal wasnt to become the biggest

church in the city; his goal was to see the city won for Christ. His orchard was the entire

region known as the Low Country.

Fred put up a map in his office of his orchard and plotted where to strategically plant

new churches to create the most abundant harvest possible. He hired young staff and

trained them as church planters. He sent leaders, church members and resources to plant a

church in West Ashley, and then to Mt Pleasant, Summerville, and eventually to Moncks

Corner. Each church plant became a vibrant congregation with some growing larger than

the original church. Today many thousands of people attend churches planted directly or

indirectly out of this church youve never heard of in North Charleston, South Carolina.

Freds orchard extends across the country and around the world. The original church that

Fred still pastors plateaued in growth several years ago, but the orchard will continue

long past the time Fred retires.

What is your orchard? What ground are you called to cultivate and plant? Here are

some clarifying questions in defining your personal orchard:

What territory, region or people group has God burned into my heart?Who else is at work in my orchard? How could I partner with what they are

already doing?


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What other orchard activities could I be involved in today?To effectively grow an orchard it is vital the farmer understands the growth cycle of a

single tree. The same is true of a church leader who wants to cultivate an orchard. In the

next few chapters well look at the natural growth cycle most churches experience.


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Chapter 5

Growth cycle of a church

We ended the last chapter with a crucial question, What orchard activity should I be

involved in right now? There is not a simple one-size fits all answer to this question.

While every church can be involved in orchard work not every church can or should be

planting churches. There is currently a push among young church planters to plant new

churches and open up new campuses as quickly as possible, to focus on the orchard from

the first day. While the motivation is good the outcome can be disastrous. At the other

end of the spectrum are the majority of American churches not directly involved in

planting new congregations. They will never grow an orchard. So what healthy orchard

activity should your church be involved in? To answer this question we need to narrow

our focus from the entire orchard to the natural growth cycle of a single church.

An assumption in the American church is that healthy churches always grow. If your

church isnt growing then there must be something wrong, some mistake, some hidden

flaw that is thwarting Gods will of eternal growth for your church. If your church isnt

growing then it is time to go to a conference, bring in a consultant or change a staff

member. To admit your church has stopped growing, or even declined in attendance, is

akin to confessing sin. The reality is that American churches tend to sustain steady

growth for about 15 years and then attendance either levels off or declines. This is true

for giga-churches, mega-churches and normal-churches. Often when growth stops a

pastor panics and hires new staff, changes the style of music, builds a new building,

changes the church name, drops the bulletin, starts a bulletin, gets a face lift; anything to

restart the growth engine. Sometimes it works and growth begins again, but most the time

it doesnt. After a 15 year rocket ride it feels like the party is over.

The reality is that no church grows forever; otherwise we would have churches with

millions of members. Every church the Apostle Paul planted eventually stopped growing

and entered a slow (or quick) period of decline. Either Paul wasnt good at planting and

growing churches or there is a natural law at work here. Maybe churches, like every


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living organism, follow a somewhat predictable growth cycle. My experience is that the

growth cycle of a church tends to mirror the normal human growth cycle.

We are born, we experience childhood, we become adults, we have kids, our kids have

kids, we join AARP, we start eating dinner at 4:00 p.m., and then we die. We can act like

a middle-schooler all of our life, we can have plastic surgery, we can marry a 25 year old

when were 75, but we cannot change the growth cycle. Although we may not go through

every stage, we are often in more than one stage at a time, and no two people progress

through the stages at the same rate; every human is born, grows, and eventually dies. That

is the way God designed life.

Churches go through the same predictable growth stages. A church is born, it goes

through a period of childhood and then adulthood. Some churches become parents, a few

become grandparents, and eventually most churches either die or are reborn. Not every

church goes through every stage and no two churches progress at the same rate, but there

are clearly identifiable stages in the growth and lifecycle of a church. One major

difference between churches and humans, however, is that churches sometimes do go

back through one or more of the stages. It is not common, but it does happen.

Lets dive into the natural stages of growth for a church. For each stage well look at a

definition, appropriate activity, the measurements of success and finally the type of

leadership needed along the way.

Stages and activity

Stage1:Birth

Church planting has exploded in America over the past few years. Planting a new

church is a chance to wipe the slate clean, start from scratch and create a unique

expression of the Kingdom of God. Creativity and optimism are rampant during the Birth

stage of a new church.

Whether a church launches large, forms from a small group or hives off from another

church, the beginning is crucial. This is where the DNA and future trajectory of the


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church are established. The main activity at the birth of a church is to establish the DNA

of a unique expression of the body of Christ. A great deal of thought goes into the name,

the location, and the style of the new congregation.

Key question: Who are we?

Goal: Identity

Stage2:Child

The first few months and years of a congregations existence shape the future of a new

church. During this stage almost everything the church does depends on the pastor and a

very small group of leaders. This is the make or break period for most churches and most

of the activity is focused on survival. The question every Monday morning is, Do we

have enough money to do this for another week?

An indicator of sustainability at this stage is to ask what would happen if the Senior

Pastor were suddenly removed from the scene. Would the young congregation be able to

support itself? Would they continue to make an impact in their community? Total

dependence on the direct activity of a senior leader is a clear sign that a church is still in

childhood. A large percentage of new church plants do not make it past the Child stage

and soon close their doors.

Key question: Is this sustainable?

Goal: Survival

Stage3:Adult

As the sustainability question is answered in a young church it transitions into the

Adult Stage. (Some have argued for an Adolescence stage when a church is somewhere

between a child and an adult. To simplify things a little I would consider that a part of the

Child stage. That is why some churches are ten years old and still not Adults.) In the

Adult stage the church has an identity and some stability. There is a core of people that

the leaders know they can count on, and there is a financial base so that every weeks


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offering isnt do or die. Ministry moves beyond a Sunday service into daily Kingdom

expressions and the congregation begins to reach out beyond its own neighborhood to

spread the Gospel message around the world. Unfortunately most churches never move

beyond the Adult Stage to become a Parent.

Key question: Are we making mature disciples?

Goal: Maturity

Step4:Parent

Just like all healthy mature organisms, healthy, mature churches reproduce.

Reproduction comes in many forms; some churches hive off part of the congregation and

form a new church, some churches train church planters and deploy them to other

communities to start churches, and some churches open new campuses in different parts

of their community. Regardless the form it is vital for the health of the church as a whole

that a mature congregation reproduce. When done well reproduction breathes new life

into a maturing congregation.

Key question: Are we preparing for healthy multiplication?

Goal: Reproduction

Step5:Grandparent

I love being a Grandfather. It is all the best parts of being a father with almost none of

the hassles. My number one question when I am with my granddaughter is, What does

the prettiest girl in the world want? When she was just a few months old I told my

daughter-in-law that someday I was going to buy Maggie a pony. She said that Maggie

didnt need a pony. I told her that it was cute that she thought that I cared that she didnt

think Maggie needed a pony. As a grandfather I get to spoil my granddaughter in

whatever way I deem necessary. Soon that necessity will include a pony.

There are a growing number of churches discovering the joys of being Grandparents.

They have expertise, leadership and resources that they can invest into other


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congregations. This grand parenting takes many forms; some pastors mentor other pastors

in their community, some churches lend leaders to new churches and many churches

sow resources into smaller and younger congregations. While they may not be at a place

or stage to actively plant new churches, these grandparent congregations are making

significant contributions to the overall health of the Kingdom of God. They are buying

ponies for their grandchildren.

Key question: How can we bless another church?

Goal: Mentoring

Stage7:SeniorCitizen

I am trying to avoid the Senior Citizen stage in my life as much as possible. I refuse to

accept an AARP card, although they keep sending them to me. I pretend that I the reason

I wear glasses is because they make me look smart. I shop for my clothes (actually my

wife shops for my clothes) in stores for the young and hip. I know, however, I can only

pretend for so long. Before I know it Ill be wearing white knee socks with my sandals

and lining up for the Blue Plate special at the local diner. The Senior Citizen stage of life

will catch me no matter how hard I try to run.

The Senior Citizen stage catches up with most churches as well. There comes a time

when they are no longer growing or reproducing. The congregation has aged, no new

young people are joining and attendance and money are dwindling.Atthispointthe

churchhastomakeadecision,Arewegoingtohangonaslongaswecantowhat

wehave,orarewegoingtofindawaytopassourlegacyontoanothergeneration?

HowtheyanswerthisquestiondeterminestheSeniorCitizenchurchslegacy.

Keyquestion:Howlongcanwesurvive?

Goal:Legacy


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Stage6:Deathorrebirth

Every day across America many churches cease to exist. The money runs out, the last

member dies, or the creditors take over. All that is left is the empty building where life

transformation used to happen. The sad truth is that churches are closing at such a rapidrate that new church plant openings cant even keep up with the current population

growth rate. Every year America has fewer churches per person than the year before.

There is an amazing trend, however, of churches recognizing they are at the end of

their lifecycle. Attendance is dwindling and the end is in sight; but rather than selling the

building or simply shutting their doors, churches are being reborn as entirely new

congregations. They are handing the keys over to an existing church or a new church

plant. They take a front row seat to the new thing God is doing in their community. They

literally experience the resurrection of a new body.

Growth Cycle Overview

We can illustrate the stages and goals in the growth cycle of church like this:

Unlike a human being, churches sometimes repeat one or more stages. A Grandparent

or Senior Citizen church may bring in a new leader with a new vision and restart the

growth cycle for that congregation. The growth cycle isnt a prescription of what a

church should do, but rather a description of what most churches experience.


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The big question now becomes, So what? Weve identified stages of church growth

and goals at each stage, but what does that mean? What should a pastor or a church do

with this information? In the next chapter well look at what leaders should be looking

for at each stage to determine if they are focused on the right things and if the church is

making progress toward health. Well also look at what types of leadership are necessary

to lead a healthy orchard church at every stage.


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Chapter 6

Measures and Leaders

We have identified five basic growth stages that most churches go through: child,

adult, parent, grandparent and senior citizen. Before we look at measures and leaders

there are a few of important qualifiers we need to understand.

First, many churches will be in more than one stage at the same time. Just as I am

currently an adult, a parent and a grandparent (as well as senior citizen according to

AARP), a church may well be a parent and a grandparent or an adult and parent at the

same time.

Second, not all churches go through every stage. The reality is that many churches

never make it past the child stage and very few churches ever parent another

congregation. It is quite possible for a church to go from adult straight to senior citizen

without reproducing or mentoring other leaders.

Third, as we mentioned in the last chapter, churches can go back through the stages.

An aging congregation can find new life and return to the adult stage or even, in someways, become a child again. Many very old churches are thriving who were once on the

edge of closing their doors. Remember, the growth cycle is not a prescription for death

but a description of life in a church.

Finally, this is not a definitive look at every stage a church could go through. Some

churches are stuck in adolescence, somewhere between a child and an adult. Some

churches are empty nesters where all the young leaders are gone but they have resources

to continue for many years before hitting the senior citizen stage. (Feel free to insert your

own stage here.) This list is simply a framework to understand church growth and

reproduction.

Now that weve defined the basic stages in the growth cycle of a church lets look at

what we measure to determine health at each stage.


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Measuring health

When our kids were young it was a regular ritual to line them up against the doorpost

in our laundry room and measure their height. Next to each mark we wrote the date and

celebrated how much theyd grown since the last time. When my son hit the teen years it

seemed like he grew six inches every time we measured. One of the hardest things to

leave when we moved out of that house was the measuring doorpost; it was a record of

the growth of our little family.

Imagine if we were still measuring the same thing now that my children are both in

their twenties. OK kids, its time to line up and see how much youve grown since your

21st

birthday. Who wants to go first? As our kids have matured what we measure has

changed.

Some churches, however, still use the same measuring stick for health as when they

were planted. They focus on the key indicators the attendance and giving of the original

church even though they are well into the adult stage of life. As a congregation matures

leaders need to change their measurements to determine if the church is healthy.

Stage:ChildandAdult

During the early life of a church, just like when my kids were young, our main

measure of health is growth. Regardless the model of a church plant two numbers are

always important, attendance and giving. As much as we want to say that nickels and

noses dont matter, they do. If we dont have any noses then we dont have a church. If

we dont have any nickels we wont have a church very long. Most church planters deal

with this reality every week. The first question they ask after Sunday is Do we have

enough money to do this again next week? A church that is growing in attendance and

growing in giving may be unhealthy in many ways, but it is likely to survive. A church

that is not growing may not last long enough to develop into a healthy congregation.

As a church matures the measures of growth expand. Are more and more people

becoming Christ followers? Do we see evidence of people becoming mature disciples?

Are attenders participating in a small group? Are they stepping into leadership roles? Are


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members giving away more of their time and their resources? Are they becoming

involved missionally across the street and around the world? Churches use a variety of

tools to measure growth in these areas, but growth indicates health.

Stage:Parent

As a parent my sense of well-being and accomplishment is intractably interwoven in

the success of my children. While I want to continue to grow as an adult, I am more

concerned with the health and growth of my children. When my kids are doing well Im

doing well. This is also true of a parent church. The measures of health that an adult

church uses are still important in the parent phase, but now leaders begin to measure fruit.

They celebrate the growth of their daughter churches as much as they celebrate baptisms

in their own congregation. Members give to projects that reach well beyond the walls of

their own building. The goal is no longer to see how large or influential the individual

church might become, but expands to growing fruit on other trees in other communities.


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Stage:GrandparentandSeniorCitizen

When I turned 50 this past year I realized unless I live past 100 I am well into the

second half of my life. How do I measure my life now? My kids are grown, so my job as

a parent is mostly done. I am still working, but Im not really driven by bigger and

better any more. The driving question for me now is what will be the impact of my life?

To paraphrase Steve Jobs, will I have made a dent in the universe? This cant be

measured by my bank account, the size of my house or the impressive names in my

contact list. The measure of my life is my orchard. What have I planted? What have I

sown into others? Have I given away my life in a way that there will be ripples for

generations to come?

This is the measure of churches as they move toward the twilight of the growth cycle.

If all of the emphasis has been on the local congregation then the answers might be

disappointing. Attendance eventually wanes in all churches and giving slides as well.

Fewer and fewer people are committing their lives to Christ and new disciples are harder

to find. By the old measures the church is failing. But the true story is in the orchard.

What other churches have been planted? What leaders have been sent out? What impact

has the church had across the city and across the ocean? A pastor who focuses on a single

congregation eventually runs out of meaningful ministry, but a pastor who cultivates a


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healthy orchard will always have more to do then than he can get to. The measure of a

maturing church is the size and health of the orchard.

Leadership through the stages

Just as the stages have different goals and different measurements, each stage also

requires different kinds of leadership. I have seen this illustrated throughout my ministry

life.

Stageone:Catalyst

In the early 1990s I became the pastor of a small church in the rural town outside

Houston,Texas. The church had been in existence for many years and had been through

some rough times. The pastor before my immediate predecessor managed to split the

church and drain the finances. His last act before resigning was to donate the churchs

John Deere tractor to his son-in-law. My predecessor felt his call was to simply care for

the few saints who remained for the 18 months he was pastored the church. When I

arrived there were eleven adults, a run down building and no tractor to mow the lawn.

Who could say no to an opportunity like that? Though the church was many years old it

was clearly in the child stage and survival was the rallying cry. The church needed a new

start and I had to be the Catalyst. I started things. I started childrens ministry, I started a


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New Believers class, I started a tradition of Big Days. The church looked to me for new

ideas and new initiatives.

Early in the life of a church (or the rebirth of a church) the church planter is the

Catalyst. He is the spark behind most of what happens. Even if he is not the one with the

vision behind the new initiative he is usually the one who provides the fuel. A young

churchs biggest need is this catalytic leader.

Stage: Childhood through early adult

Leadership role: Catalyst

Developer

When I joined the staff of Seacoast Church in 1996 the congregation was eight years

old and averaging about 1000 attenders each weekend. Seacoast was well beyond the

child stage and into adulthood. The main challenge was how to move from an

entrepreneurial, mom-and-pop mentality to a mature organization empowering leaders at

every level. My brother who planted the church is a talented Catalyst, but he needed help

developing the new systems neccesary to sustain and maintain the growth of the church.

The biggest leadership need at this point was a Developer.


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One of the biggest challenges for an entrepreneurial church planter (or re-planter) is to

make this shift from Catalyst to Developer. They often view their biggest strength as a

visionary and they love starting new things. As a church matures, however, there is a

need for a leader who can focus on the bigger picture. Similar to a real estate developer

who focuses on an entire sub-division rather than building a single house, an effective

pastor during this stage of the church is able to move beyond the nuts and bolts of daily

growth to develop a site map for reproduction.

Stage: Late Adult to Grandparent

Leadership role: Developer

Sage

After 30 years of ministry experience in congregations of every size I am discovering

that my biggest contribution now is less about what I can do and more about what I have

learned. Like most pastors who have been on the frontlines for many years I have a

wealth of experience dealing with challenging ministry opportunities. While Im not

quite ready for white socks with my sandals, I find that sharing my experiences, mistakes

and learnings with younger leaders is the most rewarding ministry I can do.


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I learned a great deal about the role of a Sage working with Pastor Rick Warren at

Saddleback Church. Pastor Rick has built an incredible ministry that has impacted

churches around the world. His book Purpose Driven Life has sold more copies than any

book other than the Bible, and men like Tony Blair, George W Bush and President

Obama have him on speed dial. Where Pastor Rick prefers to leverage his time, however,

is with young pastors. Pastor Rick is constantly making time in his schedule to pour into

the lives of younger leaders, teaching, modeling leadership, and praying for them. He has

embraced the role of Sage in what he has declared to be his last decade as the pastor of

Saddleback.

Stage: Grandparent to Senior Citizen

Leadership role: Sage

In the final chapter well look at assessing where your church is in the growth cycle

and the implications for future growth and multiplication, but lets take a quick personal

inventory.

Is the church you serve a Child, an Adult, a Parent, a Grandchild or a SeniorCitizen? (Force yourself to pick the primary stage for your church)


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What does your church measure to determine health? Are your measuresappropriate for the churchs current stage?

Are you most effective as a Catalyst, a Developer or a Sage? What makes youbelieve that is your most effective mode?

Does your most effective leadership mode match the stage your church is in? Ifnot what changes do you think should be made?

Well revisit these questions in the next chapter as we look at practical applications of

the growth cycle model to your orchard ministry.


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Chapter 7

Now what?

I think the best epitaph in the Bible is from the apostle Paul, For when David had

served Gods purpose in his own generation, he fell asleep The deep desire of every

Christian leader is to serve Gods purpose in his own generation. This is the drive behind

everything we do. Chasing any other goal is empty and meaningless. My life verse is

Ephesians 2:10, For we are Gods workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to good works

which God prepared in advance for us to do. Gods purpose in my life is to do the good

works he has prepared for me to do. These good works may include leading a mega-

church, pastoring a small congregation or leading a movement. Gods goal for me is not

fame, its faithfulness. I will have served Gods purpose for my generation if I am faithful

to who he created me to be, and finish the work that he gave me to do.

When I pastored a little church in rural Texas faithfulness was not my driving

ambition; my ambition was to grow a big church. I believed the bigger the church grew

the more I was doing what God wanted me to do. We celebrated busting the 50 barrier

with a cake. When we broke 100 for the first time we had a party. I knew that soon wed

be at 200, and then 500 and eventually 1000; and I was equally sure that each milestone

along the way would bring more satisfaction, more accolades and more rewards from

God. But a funny thing happened along the way. The church stopped growing. We did

mailers, we had big days, we did everything I could think of to move the needle, but

attendance had plateaued. I began to doubt my call to ministry. I couldnt imagine being

in the middle of Gods will if I wasnt seeing exponential growth. Not too long after the

growth curve flattened I resigned as pastor and left vocational ministry. It took years to

come to terms with the idea that Gods purpose in my life, and in my ministry, might not

be connected to a growth curve that is always up and to the right. I may serve Gods

purpose in my generation without hitting the goals on the normal scorecard for the

American church.


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Thats why I think it is time for a new scorecard for success. When we focus mostly

on attendance growth we are missing the mark in assessing faithfulness to the call and

purpose of God. When the pastors on conference stages and magazine covers are always

the ones with the biggest and fastest growing churches something is missing. We have

adopted a corporate model of measurement that translates poorly, at best, to Kingdom

reality. We are focusing on who can grow the biggest tree rather than pooling our

resources to cultivate a healthy Kingdom orchard.

When someone writes my epitaph I hope theyll be able to say that I served Gods

purpose in my generation, that I stayed faithful to the work God prepared for me, and that

I gave everything to cultivating Gods orchard.

Let me finish with four practical applications for cultivating a healthy orchard.

Four applications

Beginwiththeorchardinmind

If you are early on in ministry begin now to think about the orchard. Rather than

putting all your time and resources into a single church, plan how you can help grow

other healthy congregations. Warren Bird and Ed Stetzer in their book Viral Churches

talk about planting pregnant. They recommend that you launch your church with the next

church planter already on board. Wherever you are in ministry you can have a bi-focal

focus of tree and orchard.

Beyond just planning for new church plants think creatively how you can help other

churches even while you are in the early stages of establishing your church. Are there

events you can do together? Can you organize volunteers to help another church? Do you

have resources you can share? Imagine the power if churches in your area have an Acts 4mindset:

Acts 4:32 (NIV) All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that

any of his possessions was his own, but they shared everything they had.


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Actyourage

One of the healthiest things a congregation can to is to soberly assess what stage they

are in and then act appropriately. A church in the CHILD stage should be more focused

on health than reproduction. A 13-year-old girl has the ability to have a baby, but it isnever a good idea. She doesnt have the maturity to raise the child nor the finances to

support her baby. A church that reproduces too early often faces the same challenges.

An adult church should be focused on how to build mature disciples and plan for

multiplication. Rather than stressing attendance and giving, a healthy ADULT church

stresses reproducing disciples and leaders in preparation for sending out missionaries to

establish new congregations.

At each stage a healthy church becomes more and more outwardly focused. The vision

is less about the local tree and more about the orchard. The leader of a healthy PARENT

church is as concerned about the maturity and growth of daughter churches as he is about

the growth of the congregation he pastors. The pastor of a GRANDPARENT church is

looking for ways to bless other congregations with resources, education and volunteers.

In the SENIOR CITIZEN stage leaders are looking for the most effective way to leverage

the resources they have left to help a next generation church.

Thinkmultiplicationateverystage

An orchard-focused leader is thinking about multiplication at every stage of growth.

During the CHILD stage he has apprentice leaders around him who he is grooming to

lead future congregations. ADULT churches are preparing leaders and workers to either

plant new congregations or assist CHILD churches in the early years. PARENT churches

are launching sustainable new congregations and helping them survive to maturity.

Pastors in GRANDPARENT churches are partnering with PARENT churches as mentors

to younger leaders. SENIOR CITIZEN churches are on the hunt to either share their

building or donate their assets to the right congregation.


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Assessyourorchardleadership

Different stages of the growth cycle call for different leadership styles. We see this

reflected in story of Israel leaving Egypt and occupying Canaan. Shepherding millions of

people through a desert for 40 years takes a very different type of leader than conqueringa land filled with giants. Moses was the ideal leader for the exodus, but Joshua was better

equipped for the conquest.

Lets spend a few more minutes with some of the questions we asked in the last

chapter:

What stage is my church in?

Are we a new church plant struggling to survive? Are we a maturing congregation

ready to reproduce? Are we an aging congregation preparing the path for the next

generation? Each of these stages requires a different type of leadership.

What style best describes my leadership?

Am I a catalytic entrepreneur? Am I always looking for the next thing, catching the

next wave? Do I love strategy and developing a plan? Do I prefer teaching and

mentoring? We all have to function as CATALYST, DEVELOPER or SAGE at different

times in ministry, but where are we most effective?

Is my leadership style the best fit for my churchs stage?

Are you a CATALYST leading a GRANDPARENT church, or a SAGE leading a

church in the CHILD stage? If your style doesnt fit it doesnt mean you need to leave the

church. The goal is to accurately identify your style, add the missing style through

another leader, and focus your energy leading in the way you are most effective. ACATALYST in a PARENT church will spend a lot time actually launching new

congregations, a SAGE in the same church will focus more on training leaders who will

launch the new church.

A new scorecard for success


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I spent time recently with Steve Stroope, the pastor of Lake Pointe Church in

Rockwall, Texas. Steve has seen Lake Pointe grow from a few families to an amazing

multi-site church ministering to thousands of people around the Dallas Metroplex every

week. After 30 plus years leading Lake Pointe Steve is beginning to think about what the

next chapter will be for him, and he couldnt be more excited. He spent many years

cultivating the orchard including a fast growing church Lake Pointe helped plant in the

Silicon Valley a few years ago. Now that church is beginning to help church plants across

San Francisco and Lake Pointe continues to plant churches in other underserved

communities up and down the West Coast. Steve may never be as well-known as some of

his contemporaries, but his contribution to the orchard is almost immeasurable.

The Kingdom needs more leaders like Steve Stroope and Fred Richard (who we met in

the third chapter). Leaders laser focused on maturing the local congregation entrusted to

them AND committed to cultivating an orchard of growing churches and congregations.

We need pastors who are as committed to deploying leaders to other communities and

churches as they are to covering the needs of their home church. We need churches who

are willing to act their age and continue to find creative ways to multiply regardless of

what stage they are in. We need a new scorecard in the American church that celebrates

orchards more than trees.


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About the Author

In addition to being the Managing Director of Exponential (www.exponential.org) Geoff

Surratt also helps churches across the country in strategic planning, teaching and staff

development. Geoff previously led the church planting and multisite ministry of

Saddleback Church and served as Executive Pastor of Seacoast Church, overseeing their

15 campuses. He has over 30 years of ministry experience in a variety of roles in local

churches, and is the author of several books including The Multisite Church Revolution,

The Multisite Church Roadtrip and 10 Stupid Things that Keep Churches from Growing.

Geoff lives in Denver, Colorado with his wife Sherry who is the President and CEO of

Mothers of Preschoolers International (MOPS). They have two children and one

granddaughter with another on the way.

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