A TRUE STORY
A church declined from 200 to 80 over ten years. Two pastors came and went. The current pastor wanted to quit. Nothing was working. He felt called to this church, but felt powerless to stem the downward spiral.
Then he enrolled with 360 Pastor. He learned new ways to think (mindsets) and more effective ways to lead (habits). He transformed his leadership. His elders joined him. They made changes.
Within two years, new people started giving their lives to Christ and choosing baptism. Sunday attendance rebounded to 160. The church got out of crisis mode and became healthy and fruitful. The people are excited to be part of a dynamic work of God.
If you invest in 360 Pastor, you can be the catalyst for more stories like this.
A DETAILED CASE FOR INVESTING IN 360 PASTOR
Why do churches need to turn around?
Our world is in chaos. We think that’s undeniable. We believe only the church can right the ship. Politics, academia, media, business, none of these will do the trick. God’s Plan A to change our world is the church. Sadly, most churches are asleep at the switch. This needs to change.
Imagine a hypothetical church, Central Church. Say Central has 500 people, 6 pastors, and a $500,000 budget. It has a great building, a good location, and a sterling reputation in its community. Central has potential for impact!
But if Central is like 90% of American churches, it spends 100% of its resources on current members. Its programs, staff time, and budget (not counting foreign missions) serve the already converted. Central is ingrown. It touches ZERO people outside its walls with the Gospel. It has drifted far from the God-given mission of “making disciples.” It feels lifeless.
Central talks about making an impact in its city, but never gets around to it. The church never sees conversions and just keeps doing the same old things. Churches like this become stale. Young people leave.
What’s causes churches like this to decline?
The most basic problem is Central’s ingrown culture. Because it’s a country club for insiders, not a lighthouse to the world.
Ingrown churches decline. Church plants grow at first. After twenty years, they often peak, turn downward, and begin a slow, sometimes very long, march toward death. Legacy churches may survive, but they rarely thrive. Many are a shadow of their former selves. Finally, the church gets old, and without new blood, it dies.
Can this change?
Yes! We’ve seen churches turn around. Here’s how:
Central’s pastor commits to obeying the command in Mt 28:19-20 to reach others for Christ. He gathers the elders, staff, and volunteers, and he leads them to transform from ingrown to outgrown.
As Central reorganizes around the mission to reach people for Christ, they start seeing conversions and baptisms.
As new believers join the church and contribute to its mission, Central starts growing in size and godly influence.
At first, some members complain, “Why aren’t you serving me?” But when they see alcoholics healed, families reunited, and skeptics saved, they start to get excited about their church.
Some members express concern about deep discipleship. But they soon realize that serving the mission of Christ actually deepens their faith, much more than typical church activities.
When a church gets on mission, two things happen: (1) It reaches people for Christ and watches lives change for the better. (2) Christians who see people come to Christ get excited about their church. This new energy flows throughout the church, eventually replacing stagnation with spiritual vitality. The whole church becomes a Gospel Lighthouse in its city.
What does it take to transform a church?
Effective spiritual leadership, which is exactly what 360 Pastor provides. We teach spiritual leadership in training seminars and then meet with pastors one-on-one for coaching. In our experience, this strategy has effectively transformed hundreds of churches.
What about the cost?
Declining churches cannot pay for this learning. So we help churches go from vulnerable to fruitful at no financial cost to them. We count on our financial partners to bridge the gap. Our experience-based budgeting allows us to provide our program very economically:
WHAT IS THE COST TO HELP A CHURCH FOR ONE YEAR?
$3000
CONSIDER RETURN ON INVESTMENT:
We invest $3000 per church per year.
What spiritual ROI could that investment produce?
Think back to Central Church. The two-year cost for Central is $6000. Now what if:
Central dedicates just 5% of its budget ($30,000) to evangelism?
That’s a 500% ROI in year 1!Central reaches 5% of its congregation (25 people) for Christ in that first year?
With growth, that means 500 new believers, over a decade, loving God, serving the world, and going to heaven!
