CCLP 016: Graham Singh on What to Do With Empty Church Buildings in Canada, Church Planting Trends and More
A growing challenge for denominations and municipalities is empty churches. What do you do with them?
How can congregations survive and even thrive. Graham Singh outlines a new approach and talks about what it takes to plant churches in Canada today.
Welcome to Episode 016 of the podcast, which you can access on iTunes or wherever you get your podcasts.
Guest Links
Graham on Facebook | Twitter | grahamsingh.org | stjax.org
Links Mentioned
Canadian Church Leaders Conference
A Mission Partner
Fredy, Carey & Merly – Guatemala 2017
Looking for a mission partner? Compassion Canada helps release children from poverty around the world, and they do it through the local church.
They can help you develop a mission strategy for your church that can change the world, whether your church is large or small.
For a free consult, contact them at church@compassion.ca.
Want to Reach More People?
How different is ministry in Canada?
Join us June 14-16, 2018 in Barrie, Ontario for the Canadian Church Leaders Conference, a conference designed to help Canadian Church Leaders reach people. Intimate, interactive and featuring all new talks. This years speakers include Laurel Buckingham (Moncton Wesleyan), Shaila Visser (Alpha Canada), Jon Thompson (C4 Church), Jeff Brodie (Connexus) and Carey Nieuwhof.
Registration is officially open. Secure your spot now before tickets sell out!
3 Insights from This Episode
1. Make the most of the space your church has to offer
Are you fully utilizing the square footage within the walls of your church? Could rooms currently collecting dust be repurposed and provide opportunities for greater missional contact with people who don’t know Jesus?
Consider opening your doors to organizations and even other churches who want to make a positive impact, but lack the space to fully serve. Supporting them with a place to gather can improve relationships and unify a diverse community while creating opportunities for your church to grow its reach and share the gospel.
2. The church cannot remain solely suburban in a multi-cultural, urban movement
Society is trending towards an urban way of living, while the bulk of church energy remains on suburban ground. To hold a place of influence and have opportunity to shift a growing culture, more churches need to be established inside urban society.
Once there, a church cannot limit itself by being uni-cultural. Canada has missional impetus from all around the world and the church must learn how to respond by understanding different cultures and hearing each others languages.
3. Church planters must recognize the challenges that come with being a minority culture
Christians are the minority and have lost influence in today’s culture. Because of that, church planters must be ready for the challenges by transitioning from traditional pastoral roles into true missionaries.
A church planter has to have full trust in the movement, a willingness to collaborate and share resources with others outside of the church – for the greater good of the community – and focus the ministry on the needs of the unchurched and people who have been hurt by the church.
There is a great opportunity to be a part of a huge awakening for those willing to get out of their comfort zone and put in the work to see a new community created in Canada.
Quotes from This Episode
Does Church in Canada Have to Stay Small?
So you would love to reach more people, but how? Your church just can’t seem to sustainably grow past the 200 barrier.
You’re reaching new families every month, but it’s like pouring water into a leaking bucket: you just can’t grow past your current plateau. What gives?
Breaking 200 Without Breaking You can help you and your team break through the barrier 85% of churches never move past: the 200 attendance barrier.
So many leaders who try to break it either get stuck at 50, 100 or 200 in attendance or burned out in the process of trying.
It doesn’t have to be that way.
Believe it or not, the reasons most churches never break 200 aren’t spiritual reasons, they’re practical reasons. Strategic reasons.
The course tackles eight key issues that keep churches from passing the 200 barrier and beyond. It includes:
- 8 videos designed to guide you and your leadership team through all the key growth barriers smaller churches face.
- 150 page downloadable workbook for you and your team.
- 12 licenses, so you can take your entire team through it—board, staff, key volunteers—whoever you want (that’s about $20 a person).
- A bonus cheat sheet with access to 20 free resources designed to take you further.
- A private Breaking 200 Facebook Group access exclusive to the first 1000 purchasers.
So whether your church is 50, 150 or 250 in attendance, the principles will help you gain the insight you need to break the barrier more than 85% of churches can’t break.
Click here to get instant access!
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Next Episode: Peter Roebellen
Peter Roebellen is the president of The Charis Foundation and has been in ministry for over 30 years. We discuss his newly released book, Mercy: Life in the Season of Dying, and much more.
Subscribe for free now and you won’t miss Episode 017.