Ed Young, Why Does Your Church Grow?
- Posted by: Todd
- Posted on: Mon, October 03, 2005
- Viewed 99
- (3) comments so far
To what do you attribute the growth of your church?
Well obviously, it?s the power of God, and then after that I would say leadership. God has assembled fantastic leaders here. And not only do we have strong leaders but we also have men and women of commitment. The bottom line is you have to have loyalty, trust, and compassion for your vision. I think those are the things that make great godly leaders in both small and big churches.
How many of these men and women of commitment serve The Fellowship Church?
We have a pretty small staff for a church our size. We have about 16,000 to 19,000 weekend attendants but only a 196-member staff. We believe in hiring leaders who are aggressive, self-starting, and can lead leaders. These men and women must have discernment and wisdom to pick the right leaders from the church.
What is so unique about your church that so many would be attracted to it?
Our church, like every church, is unique. In our case, 64 percent of our members are from Generation-X - the baby busters. The rest would be older or younger. Also, about 48 percent are single adults, but that?s not really unique because that reflects the demographics of the Dallas-Fort Worth area.
In what way does your church evangelize?
We have a lot of creative evangelism methods. And one of the things we did this weekend was about rescue. We had all these different videos about dramatic rescues, and we decorated our stage like a ship to talk about the tendency of the church to be like a cruise ship where we work-up our spiritual tan. We had this stuff on-stage, but people were drowning around us with the price of eternity. So we talked about throwing a life-saver tube out to them. We asked them who God placed in their life that are drowning, and we gave everybody a pack of lifesaver candy and told them not to eat it until they?ve brought that person to Christ.
Some critics say large churches attract their members by teaching only ?feel-good? messages. How often do you talk about message on sin, or the end-of-days, or of judgment?
I talk about sin all the time. I just did a whole series on that. We can?t teach about the gospel without speaking about the death, burial and resurrection, and about the repentance and the blood. Without this gospel, we?re toast, like having no octane to live on.
You hear people talking about positive stuff on television. Don?t get me wrong, gospel is good news. But before we can hear the good news, we have to hear the real news that I?m fallen and I need the good news. Without this, we?re just talking about humanism.
Another criticism of mega-churches is that they merely ?shift? Christians from one church to another. Do you think this is a fair criticism?
People are people, and they?re always going to come and go. I wish it weren?t true, but obviously, you?re going to have people moving to churches that are effective. In other words, effective churches will keep more people than the losers.
I like going to a growing or thriving church, because it gives you a wider relationship base of people you can meet, which makes it more of a true reflection of heaven. Also, there is a larger talent base for worship leaders, drummers speakers, and so forth. You can do bigger things, higher quality things if there are a lot of people, and it gives you a good place to hide if you just want to visit.
Some tips for aspiring mega-church pastors?
I don?t think you should aspire to be a mega-church pastor. Instead, I would say submit your life to God each and every day, and allow him to release the creativity in you. Those things are great. We need to dream big dreams and serve a big God. I would tell them to just follow the Lord, and also try to find a mentor. Ask the right people the right questions and you?ll get the right answers.
Any comments? You can read the whole article here...
Here are some excerpts of an interview with Pastor Ed Young, Jr. of Fellowship Church in Dallas that appeared recently in The Christian Post…
Comments
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Wayne Cook on Tue, October 04, 2005
I think Ed is right on…he hits the nails on the heads…Start with God’s power, continue with God’s leaders, tell people that sin is the problem and Jesus is the answer…I especially liked his comments aboout our own personal aspirations…seek to honor the Lord each day and allow God to place us where He wants us.
Allen Ballard on Tue, October 04, 2005
Oh my this is the message that God has laid on my heart for years. I am a new Pastor and we have a huge church, our church is world wide. When we think about the fact that the numbers determine how good a church is we must be happy and resolved to be God’s servant wherever He puts us. Let us all have a huge church that is world wide.
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