MultiSite expert Jim Tomberlin, and author and researcher Warren Bird, talk about their latest research on the future church including why attendance will be lower post-COVID, why and how church mergers will increase.
And they offer ideas on practical, hopeful steps you can take if you fear your church won’t make it or what to do if you’re growing and need more resources.
Welcome to Episode 367 of the podcast. Listen and access the show notes below or search for the Carey Nieuwhof Leadership Podcast on Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts and listen for free.
Plus, in this episode’s What I’m Thinking About segment, Carey talks about five traps local church leaders fall into.
Guest Links
Jim – Instagram | Twitter | Twitter | LinkedIn
Warren – Twitter | LinkedIn
Episode Links
Remodel Health
Are you tired of your expensive, outdated group plan?
The health insurance industry is hard enough to navigate as a leader, but annual rate increases can make it feel painful. What if your church could provide the same or even better coverage at a lower price for both you and your employees? I know this sounds too good to be true, but I promise you it isn’t.
Remodel Health is the health benefits software and consulting service that helps employers save money and care better for their teams. By switching organizations from traditional group insurance to individual plans for each employee, Remodel Health helps you and your team tap into significant savings on health insurance.
To date, Remodel Health has helped Carey Nieuwhof listeners save $1.5 million in the last year and a half! Imagine what your ministry could do with that extra money. Plus, as a Remodel Health customer, you gain access to industry experts and advisors to walk alongside you and your employees as you find a solution that saves money and meets your unique needs. I know right now is a very challenging time for churches, so why not take healthcare off your list of stressors? If you’re interested in learning more, Remodel Health’s benefits consultants can run a free analysis for your unique team to help you evaluate all of your options.
Visit remodelhealth.com/carey today to learn more and get access to their free Savings Calculator, Church Buyer’s Guide and brand new e-book!
Pro Media Fire
A multi-site church with 6 campuses ran into a huge problem recently. Each campus had a high demand for social media content and creative work in the new normal. The central team couldn’t handle the demand and it got worse, two key creatives overwhelmed resigned. The executive pastor’s dilemma was how do we staff up creatives for each campus to meet the demand, and be wise financially in this economy?
The answer was contact Pro MediaFire who provided a custom tailored church growth plan proposal to handle the creative demands of all 6 campuses. The CFO took a look at the proposal and realized Pro MediaFire was less than the cost of a staff hire at each campus. Are you facing the same dilemma?
Book your free strategy session today at promediafire.com/churchgrowth.
CONVERSATION LINKS
Better Together – Expanded Version by Jim Tomberlin and Warren Bird
Better Together by Jim Tomberlin and Warren Bird
The Unstuck Group MultiSite Solutions
CNLP 134: Carl George and Warren Bird on How to Break the 200, 600 and 1,000 Attendance Barriers
CNLP 028: How to Create High Performing Teams in Any Size Organization—an Interview with Warren Bird
The Church Health Trends You Need to Be Looking At by Carey Nieuwhof
Necessary Interruptions: Why Great Leaders Own It When They Get Stuck by Carey Nieuwhof
Text CAREY 33777 to join more than 70,000 subscribers to our leadership content
INSIGHTS FROM JIM AND WARREN
1. Your church can be dying with stable finances and volunteers (and many are right now)
According to recent research done by The Unstuck Group, there are thousands of churches that are financially stable, have plenty of volunteers, and are still dying. Churches like this are being propped up by older, wealthier attendees who have been committed for years to volunteer and give.
These life-long servers and donors give leadership false security that everything is okay, even though there is little to no new life inside their church. These churches should consider partnering with churches that are young, full of momentum and broke. They could learn from them on how to gain momentum while supporting them financially.
2. Pre-COVID church attendance isn’t coming back
Pre-COVID church attendance isn’t coming back for 2 major reasons:
- The frequency with which people have been attending church has been in decline for decades, and this crisis will only accelerate that trend. Pre-crisis, church attenders were attending 1.7 times a month on average. Jim and Warren predict that it could drop as low as one time per month after the crisis is over.
- The cultural expectation of going to church because “it’s the right thing to do” is gone. So, there will be no external pressure for people to attend church unless they genuinely want to. This might actually be a good thing. Guilt is a terrible reason for someone to attend any church.
3. Churches that are ready for a merger are Kingdom-minded
Jim and Warren have helped hundreds (potentially thousands) of churches successfully work through the church-merger process. There are a ton of questions that come with the process, but the most common question they receive is, “How can I initiate the church merger conversation with a dying church that we’d love to merge with?”
Jim and Warren’s answer is, “It’s all about relationships.” Churches that are Kingdom-minded, and are building relationships with other churches in their community, are much more likely to have a successful merger than churches who prioritize themselves over other churches.
Quotes from Episode 367
Buildings don't reach people. People reach people. @MultiSiteGuy Click To Tweet We've made Christianity a building-centric faith. @MultiSiteGuy Click To Tweet People who are anchored in a church are anchored because of relationships there. @warrenbird Click To Tweet One out of five church plants, new churches, acquire their facility through a merger. @warrenbird Click To Tweet Some of the healthiest-growing churches in America are short on finances. They have more vision than they have money. A lot of declining churches have more money than vision. @MultiSiteGuy Click To Tweet Those churches that were financially troubled going into the pandemic are the ones that are most likely not to make it once they come out of the pandemic. @warrenbird Click To Tweet 2% of churches close each year. @warrenbird Click To Tweet Stop trying to impress people you don't know. Start serving people you do know. @cnieuwhof Click To TweetRead or Download the Transcript for Episode 367
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Next Episode: Chris Hogan
Chris Hogan shares surprising data and insights from a 2017 study of 10,000 millionaires and the habits that made them wealthy. It’s not what you think. In fact, many never made a six figure salary. Ever. Chris contrasts broke money habits versus millionaire habits, and gives practical advice to young leaders about making progress even on a low salary, and to Boomers who haven’t (yet) saved enough to retire.
Subscribe for free now so you won’t miss Episode 368.
