The 3 Cultures Necessary For a Church to Grow

I'm reviewing the book 27 Tough Questions Pastors Ask by Dick Hardy. For those of you that are in church work or considering work, you should buy this book. It is filled with practical insights from a pastoral perspective. Here are some of my favorite quotes from chapter 3.

The 3 Cultures Necessary For a Church to Grow

These three cultures do not develop on short notices and they certainly do not do so by osmosis...Further, the three cultures are not a magic wand to grow the church you serve numerically or spiritually. (p.34)

Prayer

Start teaching, cultivating, encouraging, and leading the charge to possess a culture of prayer. (p. 35).

How? A little help here? Anyone?

Change

How can you possibly stay the same and grow? Impossible. (p. 35).

So the only thing constant is change. Got it.

The Bible never changes. The manner in which the Bible message is communicated changes all the time. (p. 35).

Your role as pastor is to help coach and teach the Body and other church leaders about the role of change in the life of the church. ...the only thing constant around there is change. (p. 35)

Ok. How?

Ministry to Young Families

Which demographic of people is most likely to make decisions for Christ? Any idea? Children. The younger the person the more likely it is that they will make a decision of this magnitude. The older the person the less likely it is that they will make this decision. (p. 36).