Growing a Church: Keep It Simple!

When it comes to bringing vision to the church, at King’s we try to present it in a creative way and engage people to step in. This might be at a meeting with lots of people being baptised or one of our regular ‘ministry fairs’ on a Sunday as serving is a very real way in which people can engage with the vision. On that Sunday all the ministry teams set up a stall and there will be a high level of ownership as they look to recruit more volunteers to help within their sphere. I’ve noticed that cakes seem to feature strongly on some stalls…! So, with Vision Sunday, a baptism and a ministry fair, the fourth Sunday of that particular month might feature a guest speaker.


One January we went through a highly recommended series – based on the book Just Walk Across the Room by Bill Hybels. We took four Sundays to cover it and I began the series on our Vision Sunday talking about one of our goals - to reach people. We integrated our mid-week group programme during that month with the topic – preaching through the series, followed by discussion in our mid-week groups, supplemented by having the book for individuals to read – these three approaches really saturated the church culture.

Some people ask me, ‘What have you done that’s different to other churches?’ or even questions like, ‘What’s the secret of your success?’ The strange thing is that we haven’t really come up with a new idea because I’m not that creative. I’ve met pastors who are very creative but don’t do what’s really simple and what works. They have to reinvent the wheel and as a result make it hard for themselves; that creative element can really complicate their lives! I like to keep things really simple and so practically all the things we’ve done have been taken from the tried and tested experience of other leaders and churches - and we’re very happy for others to take them from us as well if it helps!