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    Learning the Power of Stickiness

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    Learning the Power of Stickiness

    In his new book, Sticky Church, Larry Osborne tells about the day that he killed his dream. Larry kept a journal that held all of his personal and life goals. One of his goals was to pastor a church of 1,000 people. After his first three years of pasturing a church of 150 people, the attendance of his church had grown to 151. Larry jokes that that was an increase of 1/3 person a year! He knew that at this pace we would never reach a church of 1,000. So… one day, he opened his goal journal and ripped out that page. He killed the dream.

    What surprised Larry was that freedom that ‘killing that dream’ gave him. Now, instead of looking only for people to come in the ‘front door’ of the church, he now took more time to minister to the people God had already given him. In fact, he found that doing so allowed him to effectively close the ‘back door’ of his church. More people were staying than leaving. He was able to build into the lay leaders he already had. And he began to see organic growth begin to happen.

    Larry says that closing the back door really brought about three big changes for him and his church...

    1. It changed the way he related to his lay leadership team.  Larry says, “When most of my focus was on getting more people through the front door, the inner workings and interpersonal relationships of the board seemed more like a nuisance than an important part of our ministry.

    2. It changed the way he taught and led his church.  According to Larry, “Focusing on the front door aimed everything at two kinds of people:  the not-yet Christian or the super saint who was ready to help me charge the hill.  There wasn’t much room for people who came to Christ but didn’t grow at a fast enough pace or carried lots of baggage.

    3. It caused Larry to start a small group ministry focused primarily on building significant relationships rather than growing the church.

    The end result:  “We became a noticeably stickier and healthier church.  The back door slammed shut, and to my surprise more people than ever began coming through the front door?

    What’s your ministry strategy?  Are you opening up your front door wide while allowing your back door to remain wide open?  You’ll find that by closing the back door, it will allow your front door to better reach and assimilate new people.  That’s what Sticky Church is all about.  I hope you’ll pick up a copy today… it’s a great read!

    For more on Sticky Church, check this out!

    Comments

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    1. CS on Tue, August 18, 2009

      I thought that this book looked familiar, so I looked back and saw this post.  I’ll echo my thought from there: the back door to churches should be left open so that we don’t hold back people who should be leaving.  The front door should also be harder to enter.

      —


      CS

       

    2. Peter Hamm on Tue, August 18, 2009

      I was kinda thinking the same thing, CS, there are some people who should NOT be discouraged from leaving… BUT… the back door should NOT be held open for people who really shouldn’t leave. I’d like to keep the “rotational” Christians in my church longer so they become people who DON’T switch churches every six months, until they become the kind of people who actively feed themselves and become learning disciples.

      But the idea that the front door should be hard to enter… sorry, I can’t disagree more strongly (in fact, I think I find the idea offensive). The Jesus who spoke to and healed the cast-offs of society and sought out the least of these would not want us to make our church life hard to enter… Not sure what you mean here, but it hardly seems defensible in any way I can imagine.

       

    3. Jan on Tue, August 18, 2009

      We were in a rather large church that had a really great front door.  They had wonderful and welcoming greeters, we were given a tour of the facilities on our first Sunday… we absolutely loved the place.

      BUT the back door was swinging wide open.  We were motivated serving type people, in transition from missions, coming into this church and eager willing and able to serve and connect with our own culture.  So, here I was a person who desperately wanted to connect.


      Everywhere you turned, once you got in the door, people just would not let you in.  I decided to attend a woman’s ministries seminar day, thinking that I would meet women.  Not one woman introduced herself or reached out in any way, etc.  I ate lunch alone.  Finally, toward the end of the day I went up and introduced myself to the head of the event and the women’s ministries and told her who I was etc.. her response “Oh.”

       

      My husband had similar experiences when he went to attend a Bible study group.  It was clear he was not welcome and even got funny looks for attending.  He never went back.


      We STILL stayed, I served where I could, taught Sunday School, ended up with keys to the building, served in worship and was a soloist, but I can’t honestly name one person that became a friend there.  We attended and served but we never connected.


      When we finally left, we visited another church and of the same size.  Within, one month we joined in membership, I was singing, they asked me to be the women’s ministries director, and my husband was asked to teach adult Sunday School. We were embraced warmly, included and put to work.

       

      Later we went to a fellowship event and I was sitting in someone’s living room with about 25 other people and we were talking about where we had come from.  3/4 of that room had attended the other church for about 2 years and finally gave up.


      Many people in this church had had the same experience and attended the other church first (because the front door was so attractive).


      They were sharp, tithing and serving people.


      I think having a front door that is excellent and open and outward is vital.  But I also believe we need to value the people we have and open up our circle, by taking a step backward and making it wider.

       

      This is working in our ministry now and is probably one of the most attractive things we have going to outsiders.

       

    4. Leonard on Tue, August 18, 2009

      This is some good stuff in this book.  Larry is trying to figure out how to make disciples.  I recommend taking some time to read the book.


      I think the front door should e as wide as God’s Spirit makes possible for your church.  It should be intentionally open and filled with excellence.  The back door should be left open but should not be huge.  Then we should go about the business of making disciples from the moment they enter.  (not just the building but the church)

    5. CS on Tue, August 18, 2009

      Peter:


      “But the idea that the front door should be hard to enter… sorry, I can’t disagree more strongly (in fact, I think I find the idea offensive). The Jesus who spoke to and healed the cast-offs of society and sought out the least of these would not want us to make our church life hard to enter… Not sure what you mean here, but it hardly seems defensible in any way I can imagine. “


      I could see the misunderstanding here.  I believe that all churches should be welcoming places, and that the door should not be shut on those who are interested.  What I mean is that the way in which we examine people who want to be a part of the church, in functions such as leading, serving, discipling, should be shored up and tightened down.  We should have more intense scrutiny in who are members of churches more than, “I’ll tithe, make a superficial profession of faith, and come here every Sunday.”  You want to be in church, that’s fine; you want to be in this church, let’s take a closer look at things.

      And remember, Jesus didn’t leave the, “front door,” wide open or the, “back door,” closed.  In John 6, tons of people wound up taking off.  He wouldn’t have said, “Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it,” otherwise (Matthew 7:14). 

       

      —


      CS

       

    6. Peter Hamm on Tue, August 18, 2009

      CS,


      That’s a very different statement.


      If you want to visit my church, you are welcome, and you will feel welcome. Promise!

      If you want to join my church, you can. You take a membership class and you sign a covenant (which says that you have professed faith in Christ, and you have been or will be baptized, and yes, anybody who has not made a decision to follow Christ who takes that class has an opportunity to, and not everybody signs the covenant, too…)


      If you want to serve in my church, you can. period. Some areas of service require membership, some do not. (You don’t have to be a member to bake cookies for the picnic, you do have to be a member AND have all the necessary clearances to serve our Children… stuff like that…)


      If you want to lead in my church, there’s a whole different standard. That’s clearly biblical. If you want to work here, there will be an even different standard.


      Your original statement had a different perceived “tone” to it.

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