Breakthrough the 110 and 250 Church Growth Barriers
"I will put together my church, a church so expansive with energy that not even the gates of hell will be able to keep it out." (Matthew 16:18 The Message)
“..the house that is to be built for the Lord must be exceedingly magnificent, of fame and glory throughout all lands. I will, therefore, make preparation for it…” (1Ch 22:5 Amplified)
The Breakthrough curriculum emerged out of my real-time church growth experience, as I sought to find ways to grow the small sea-side church (around 20 people initially) that I had been asked to pastor.
We got stuck at 80. (Later we got stuck at 150!) Key speakers at conferences that I attended who lectured on the subject often had ten times more staff than I had members, along with budgets that boggled the mind. So, after a near breakdown, I began my own journey of discovery with God and discovered by trial and error that even a small apparently insignificant rural church can grow into a dynamic people-loving, ministry raising, community changing world influencing church. I made many mistakes along the way, but by grace saw a church, expansive with energy, emerge.
As the church began to flourish, I knew that I had to step into the gap and pass on lessons learned (successes and failures) to others hungry to break through the barriers of growth. Each growth spurt bringing its own fresh barriers that needed to be negotiated. After much encouragement from Nigel Tween, the then Principal of Regents Bible College, Breakthrough was born.
When Breakthrough began in 2010, 90% of UK churches were less than 110 in size, and 73% of UK churches were less than 55 in size.
According to UK statistics, No 4: 2021 Edition, the average church size is 61
The conference is purposefully limited to 10 attendees maximum to promote good interaction. Sometimes it is presented to groups of pastors, on other occasions church teams. The goal is simple: to help church pastors develop an individual church strategy that helps their churches break through the barriers that have held them back. There is plenty of time for Q and A, and networking with other pastors is actively encouraged, with each leader creating an Action Plan that will help them to put theory into practice.
From time to time key speakers are invited to run mini-seminars on elements such as Social Media, transitioning Leadership etc.
Follow on post Breakthrough progress meetings can be arranged if required.
The main teaching covers:
- Degenerate - Getting to a point where going up is the only option.
- Investigate - Rediscovering your call to building the church.
- Extrapolate - Gaining the facts from which to build the plan.
- Formulate - Using those facts to discover your vision, mission, and strategy.
- Articulate - Communicate the vision so that you take the church with you.
- Demonstrate - Moving out of the safe place and doing it.
Workbooks are provided.