Look, I’m calling this “Church Growth That Works—But You Won’t Like It” for a reason. Because what I’m about to share flies in the face of everything you’ve been taught at conferences, read in the latest leadership books, or picked up from that megachurch you’re trying to emulate.
You know the playbook by now. Excellent kids’ ministry. Great coffee. Relevant preaching. Invite culture. Lower the barriers. Make it easy.
Here’s the problem:
Everyone’s running the same play, and most churches are still stuck.
Meanwhile, some of the fastest-growing, most impactful churches I’m working with are doing things that would get them laughed out of most church growth seminars. Things that sound crazy. Things that seem backwards.
But they’re working.
So if you’re ready to challenge everything you think you know about church growth, keep reading. If you’re looking for safe, conventional wisdom that makes you feel better about staying the same, close this tab now.
1. Stop Trying to Grow and Start Trying to Multiply
Here’s what’s killing most churches: you’re trying to build ONE big church instead of a church that plants churches.
I know a church that hit 800 people, and instead of celebrating, the pastor said, “We’re planting five churches in the next two years, and we’re sending our best 400 people to do it.”
Everyone thought he was crazy. The board pushed back. The staff freaked out.
Two years later, those five churches totaled 1,200 people. The sending church was back to 600. Within four years, they had 3,000 people across multiple campuses and plants—more than they would have had if they’d just focused on growing the one location.
Stop building your kingdom. Start multiplying God’s kingdom. It’s terrifying, it’ll cost you, and it’s the most biblical thing you can do.
2. Kick People Out of Your Church (On Purpose)
Stay with me here.
Most churches are filled with people who’ve been there for 5+ years and still aren’t serving, still aren’t giving, still aren’t growing. They’re consumers, not disciples. And you know what? It’s our fault for letting them stay that way.
One church I work with implemented a radical policy: if you’ve been attending for 18 months and you’re not serving somewhere, a pastor sits down with you and says, “We love you, but we’re not helping you by letting you consume. You need to either step up or find a church where you can stay comfortable.”
Guess what happened? Some people left. And the church got healthier, more engaged, and started growing faster because the culture shifted from “sit and soak” to “everyone contributes.”
Your church will never grow past the percentage of people who are all in. Sometimes, addition by subtraction is the most loving thing you can do.
3. Make Your Membership Process Harder, Not Easier
Every church growth expert tells you to lower the bar for entry. Make it easy to join. Remove barriers.
They’re wrong.
The churches I’m seeing explode are doing the opposite. They’re raising the bar with membership classes that last 8 weeks, not 2 hours. Financial commitments are required. Service agreements are mandatory. You have to prove you’re serious before you can join.
And you know what’s happening? They’re getting fewer members but more disciples. And those disciples are inviting people like crazy because they’re actually transformed, not just informed.
Jesus didn’t lower the bar. He said, “Count the cost.” The rich young ruler walked away. Crowds left when they didn’t like His teaching.
Stop trying to make it easy. Make it costly. Because what costs nothing is worth nothing.
4. Cancel Your “Successful” Programs
This one’s going to hurt.
You have programs in your church right now that are “working.” Good attendance. People like them. They’ve been around for years.
And they’re killing your church.
Because they’re keeping people busy without making them disciples. Resources are being consumed without producing fruit. Your calendar is full without fulfilling your mission.
I watched a church cancel their Wednesday night program that had 150 people attending. Everyone lost their minds. “You’re going to kill the church!”
Instead, they launched neighborhood-based small groups. Attendance dropped to 90 people initially. But within 18 months, they had 200 people in small groups, and those groups were evangelistic instead of inward-focused. The church doubled in size.
Sometimes you have to kill the good to get to the great. What program do you need to cancel?
Read my previous article here: Most Church Programs Should Die – ChurchPlanting.com
5. Preach Longer and Harder, Not Shorter and Softer
I can hear the TED Talk pastors screaming at me right now.
But here’s what I’m seeing: churches that preach 45-60 minute messages on difficult topics are growing faster than churches doing 25-minute inspirational talks.
Why? Because people are starving for substance. Motivational fluff is available everywhere. Instagram is drowning them in positive vibes. What they can’t get is someone who will open the Bible and tell them the truth—even when it’s uncomfortable.
One of the fastest-growing church plants I know does 50-minute expository sermons on books of the Bible. No sermon series with cute titles. No relevance-driven topics. Just “We’re in Romans, and we’re going verse by verse until we’re done.”
People drive an hour to get there.
Stop dumbing it down. Your people are smarter than you think, and they’re hungry for more than spiritual cotton candy.
6. Stop Advertising and Start Discipling
Here’s a stat that should terrify you: churches spend millions on marketing every year, but most couldn’t tell you their discipleship pathway if their life depended on it.
We’ve got the priorities backwards.
The churches growing organically aren’t the ones with the biggest Facebook ad budgets. They’re the ones where every single member can articulate how the church is helping them become more like Jesus—and they’re bringing friends because they’re being genuinely transformed.
What if you took your entire marketing budget and invested it in discipleship instead? Better curriculum. Leadership development. Intensive mentoring. Spiritual formation.
I know a church that cut all advertising and put that money toward leadership coaching for every small group leader. Growth slowed for six months. Then it exploded because those leaders were making disciples who made disciples.
Word of mouth from transformed lives beats advertising every single time.
7. Charge Money for Things That Matter
Free concerts. Conferences at no charge. Free classes. Everything’s free.
And we wonder why people don’t value what we’re offering.
I’m watching churches start charging for discipleship classes, leadership training, and intensive programs—not to make money, but to raise commitment. When someone pays $200 for a 10-week class, their completion rate goes from 40% to 95%.
Money reveals priority. If someone won’t invest financially in their spiritual growth, they probably won’t invest at all.
Obviously, the gospel is free. So is salvation. Sunday services shouldn’t cost anything. But discipleship? Leadership development? Advanced training? Maybe it’s time to stop giving it all away as if it’s worthless.
8. Intentionally Stay Small in Big Ways
This sounds crazy, but hear me out.
What if instead of trying to be a church of 2,000, you planted 20 churches of 100? Perhaps consider planting 10 churches of 200 people, or even 8 churches of 250 people. (I knew these math skills would come in handy)
What if instead of building a bigger building, you stayed in the smaller space and started more services—then used the tension to push people to plant?
Instead of adding campuses under your brand, imagine sending teams to plant autonomous churches that multiply.
The megachurch model is broken. It’s expensive, difficult to sustain, and creates celebrity pastors instead of movement makers. A better future for church growth isn’t bigger churches—it’s more churches.
Some of the most influential pastors I know lead churches of 300 people. But they’ve planted 50 churches. Over 200 planters have been trained through their ministry. Tens of thousands of lives have been impacted.
Stop measuring your success by weekend attendance. Start measuring it by kingdom multiplication.
The Truth Nobody Wants to Hear
These strategies work, but they require something most pastors aren’t willing to give: courage.
Courage to make decisions that hurt in the short term for gains in the long term.
The courage to lose people who aren’t really with you anyway.
Pastors and church leaders need to have boldness to defy conventional wisdom and trust biblical wisdom.
Courage to build something that outlasts you instead of something that revolves around you.
The question isn’t whether these strategies will work. It’s whether you’re brave enough to try them.
Most aren’t. Which is exactly why they work for those who are.
Read more blog posts by Jeff Hoglen, CEO of churchplanting.com
Read more on the topic of church growth here: Church Growth Archives
