So your church is growing or wants to grow. But what do you do when churched people show up?
I recently wrote about the challenges and opportunities you face when unchurched people arrive. But what about transfer growth?
That’s a whole other category.
Transfer growth has several challenges that, unattended, can wreak havoc in your church.
Not all transfer growth is bad. But you have to be careful.
And transfer growth is inevitable. As much as you shoot for 100% of your growth to be from the unchurched, if you’ve got a great ministry, transfer growth will happen.
But it does come with challenges.
Here are 5 challenges most leaders face with transfer growth.
1. The Discontent That Drove Them from the Last Church Often Drives Them From Yours
I personally think everyone has one life-time church change freebie within a local community. Maybe two. But some people change churches as often as they change shirts. This is almost never good. Some people are just unhappy. And if they complain about how awful their last church was, beware. If that issue remains unaddressed or unengaged, that may become your church within a few months or years.
What to do about it: Beware. And in the process of connecting people, let them know that moving from church to church isn’t healthy for anyone – especially them.
2. Over-Enthusiasm Initially Often Becomes Anger Eventually
You’ve seen it. I’ve seen it. People arrive and tell you that your ministry is ‘the best ministry ever’. They want to get involved and appear to be hyper-engaged. But for a reason I can’t quite figure out, that initial over-the-top enthusiasm often becomes disillusionment or even anger against you. I don’t know how you can go from hero to zero that quickly, but it happens with this personality type. I always say to our team: Never believe your press. You’re not that good, and you’re not that bad.
What to do about it: Bench the over-enthusiastic person for 6 months; don’t let them get involved. It will help them see what you’re really like and help them learn that the world does not revolve around their opinions. If they can’t handle it and leave, you haven’t lost much. Nor have they.
3. They Compare Your Church To the Last Church They…Left
This one always gets me. Often you hear from recent transfers that “our last church had X program…how come yours doesn’t”? I always want to say “Well isn’t that the church you just left?” I’ll usually find some polite way of pointing that out and then explain our strategy. But it baffles me that people who left one church now want your church to be more like one they didn’t like.
What to do about it: Be honest but respectful. Point out the inconsistency and then explain why you do what you do. Often that turns the dynamic around.
4. A Consumer Mindset Can Leave Good People in the Bleachers
Not all church transfer growth is bad. Because the majority of our growth at Connexus where I serve is from unchurched people, we’re always on the look out for mature Christians who can disciple and work alongside people on the front side of faith and new believers. We are always looking for great small group leaders. Our team has to work hard to look for ‘the good ones’ that are hanging out somewhere, often undetected. Often we don’t like to put people in leadership immediately, but after 6 months to a year (after their acclimatized) we’ll get them serving and fully engaged. We don’t have room for Christians who want to sit in the back and not contribute. We need those seats for unchurched people or Christians who will serve.
What to do about it: Find the new people who can help you advance your mission and get them working.
5. Understand That Alignment Around Your Strategy Will Be The Biggest Issue for Transfer Growth
Most people who show up on your doorstep from another church will be instantly aligned with your mission and vision (they’re Christians and so are you). The disconnect and tension always happens around the strategy. Things like music, preaching style and programs are all strategy choices you’ve made that will be different from what they’ve experienced. This is where feelings get hurt on both sides. The clearer you can be on what you do and why you do it, the better it is for everyone. Even if they don’t like it, they will leave early and on good terms. If they resonate with your approach, they will jump in faster.
What to do about it: At every step (including lobby conversations), talk about what you do and why you do it. Clarity eliminates confusion and fuels alignment.
These are five challenges I see with handling transfer growth well.
How about you? What are you learning? Leave a comment!
PS. If you want to see the process of how we determine whether someone is churched or unchurched, I’m sharing the Welcome Card we use at Connexus to help us figure that out to everyone on my email list later this week. Just subscribe and it will arrive in your inbox Friday.
