The following is one of a series of posts by Gary Rohmayer providing ideas that will help you, your team and your church in developing a plan for increasing your spiritual conversations: (RMF)

First you need to own it as the leader, second you need to expand the effectiveness of your staff, third you need to continually call your leaders into the mission and fourth you need to provide training opportunities for your church.

Create Missional Immersion Experiences.

Two weeks after I received Christ I was invited by my new Christians friends to attend a Saturday seminar on evangelism.  To be honest, at that time, I didn’t even know what evangelism was or even meant.  I was just excited to be with my new friends.  By the end of the day I discovered that evangelism was just sharing what Jesus has done for me with the people who come into my life.

At the end of that training the leaders gave us an opportunity to practice what we had just learned.  My friends asked me if I wanted to go with them to a local college campus and live out the principles we all discovered that day.  I did not knowing what I was getting myself into…that next Saturday I was engaging spiritual conversations with college students!  The leader and myself would walk up to a group of college students, he would initiate the conversation and at some point he would say, “Gary, tell them what Jesus has done for you.”  Continue Reading…

At Grace Hills, we will do whatever it takes, short of sin, to find people far from God and lead them to life in Jesus. That’s one of our core values, and it’s the one that probably creates the most tension for Christians. It’s a value that is drawn straight from Scripture:

I have become all things to all people so that by all possible means I might save some. I do this all for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings.

- 1 Corinthians 9:22-23 (NIV)

Paul was writing about his willingness to adapt his personal communication style to that of his hearer, whether Jew or Gentile. Whenever I hear someone say, “we shouldn’t try to be like the world just to reach the world,” I realize I’m probably up against someone who doesn’t like the pain of change or the awkwardness of adapting to the culture. It’s not that I disagree. We really shouldn’t have a theology or philosophy of life like those who haven’t submitted themselves to the God of the Bible. But usually when Christians talk about being “like the world,” they’re talking about non-biblical issues like the way we dress, our style of music, and whether we have tattoos or not. Continue Reading…

I speak with churches everyday who want to grow again, but nothing they do seems to work. Many say it’s a vision problem, but I disagree. The church may not be living it, but we have the clearest, best defined vision of anyone. (We are to make disciples.) The obvious problem to me of these church is they aren’t really doing anything new. They do the same things they’ve always done, maybe tweaking some minor aspect, but for all practical purposes, it’s the same.

But, honestly, that’s not the primary reason for a lack of growth, in my opinion. I have learned that if you want to have an culture susceptible and open to growth, there are some common paradigms necessary. You have to think certain ways. In most every situation, an absence of certain actions or mindsets on the part of leaders keeps the church from moving forward.

What are some of those paradigms?

Here are 7 paradigms needed for church growth:

Lead with leaders – Of course you need followers too, but most people are looking for leadership, especially about things about which they don’t know. In any group you’ll have a few who are ready to move forward with the changes needed and a few who are opposed to any change you bring. The rest of the people are looking for leadership. Lead with those who are ready to move in a positive direction. Continue Reading…