How to Grow your Church (Reloaded)

Did you know that sudies in psychology indicate that the mind retains only 11% of information received for the first time? No wonder "...faith comes by hearing and hearing...". In other words, the highest chance for retention and proper implementation of knowledge gained is through repetitious hearing/reading/watching.

Day 4 of the 40-Day prayer and fasting joint Services was another wonderful time in the presence of the Lord as our man of God, Bishop Matthew Addae-Mensah, gave a recap of previous day’s message by Bishop Nterful. The first point he made was in reference to this quote;

“You cannot glorify God with small churches” - Bishop Nterful

Bishop Matthew Addae Mensah explained that one cannot glorify God with a church of just 10-20 members. He mentioned that some pastors wonder why small churches are being planted. Others prefer small churches because of problems associated with church. He stated that sometimes your view or mind is different from the Mind of God. Bishop then gave an example by saying that he knew some people he started the church with when it was small who later left because it was growing big. He claims such  people are selfish. Other people also want a pastor who is only for them and some pastors have availed themselves.

Bishop then told the story of how he preached to a pastor one time who couldn’t tolerate mistakes in his church and would tell you to go to other churches. He further mentioned that if you want to glorify God then you must bear much fruit (John 15:8).

When God’s glory comes on the church some will fall on us (members) (see Proverbs 14:28).

He then adumbrated the points stated by Bishop Nterful in his previous message on Church Growth.

1. Pastors must have a burning vision to have big churches.

Don’t give excuses concerning geographical location or anything but rather believe. Don’t follow traditions and perceptions of where you are. Some people will tell you churches don’t thrive in a certain location. e.g. Nungua branch.

You have to declare that you’re different. Church growth starts from the heart of the pastor. Church does not grow accidentally and it’s not only by prayer but rather it takes so many factors. The pastor must decide to grow his church and the elders must understand. It must be his desire. Sometimes church members sabotage the growth of a church by failing to come for meetings.

2. Every pastor must know the three stages of members

I. Deer Members
These ones are not stable. They usually stand outside during Church services and after church they’re gone. You see them once in a while. They are in the church but they are not part of it. They don’t join any groups. We must have patience for them. With patience, you can turn them into sheep.

II. Goat members
They are stubborn. They don’t take instructions. One day Bishop said that one of the young men was fooling around and he warned him to be careful or else he’ll be suspended. The man went around telling others that he will never leave. Such members don’t pay tithes and also fail to participate in church activities. They also need patience in order to be guided to become sheep.

III. Sheep Members
They are the best. Loyal and faithful. Always supportive. Participate in church activities. We must all be like this group.

3. Let your church be X person oriented.
An X person oriented church is a church that is interested in new converts and visitors. Sometimes we don’t create room for new converts. One elder said the first time he came to church it was an usher who nearly discouraged him from coming to church. Sometimes, existing members ignore new members of a church. When you see a new face in the church, try to behave nicely.

4. Do Altar Calls at every service.

 

Invite visitors. Set up a team to welcome new converts and members. Treat them like VIPs. Be nice to them. Set up a new convert school that will run for 6 weeks. Visit them between 24 and 48 hours.

5. Care for Type A and Type B members.

Type A members are very active members. They come to Church regularly and live righteously. They also pay tithes regularly. Type B members are inactive. They live anyhow. They do not pay tithe and do not belong to any group. They are work-in-progress, so they need patience.

6. Use the secret of industrialization to win souls.

 

Create soul winning activities in church. e.g. Gospel rock shows, street evangelism, open air crusades, special conference and seminars, breakfast meetings and special group meetings. Let’s create avenues for soul winning.

7. Organize outreach for the youth.

We need to create room for the young ones. e.g. dance groups, drama groups, music group, fashion groups, etc. 

8. Create home cell systems in the church.

 

You can use your home for home cells.

9. Create powerful prayer systems in the church.

 

Organize prayer meetings

10. Allow the Holy Spirit to help you.

Without the Holy Spirit the above cannot be achieved.

'Twas indeed a powerful Service!

Compiled by Stephanie Adu-Botchway

How to Grow your Church

The third day of the 40-day fasting and prayer came with another dimension of anointing as Bishop Emmanuel Nterful shared his message entitled 'How to grow your church'.

Reading from John 15:8, the man of God began his message by saying that one of the things that should be most important to us is that the church of Jesus Christ should grow. He announced if we don't grow the church other religions will take over like what's happening in other countries. He continued, "When your church is growing it shows that you are bearing fruit and it brings glory to God."

He went on to explain ways we can grow our churches:

1. Have a burning vision for your church to grow

The man of God made it known to the congregation that they can never achieve anything great in their lives without a vision. He stated that we must be consumed with the burning vision for a large church.
He told the congregation that the heart of God is to see many people coming into the Kingdom of God.

2. Know that church growth starts in the heart of the pastor

Reading from Proverbs 4:23 Bishop Nterful explained that for you to see expansion in your ministry your heart needs to be filled with the vision for church growth.

3. Know that in your church you have three stages of members and care for all of them.

He mentioned that there are three types of members based on their level of spirituality

•Deer stage members

•Goat stage members

•Sheep stage members

The man of God said God wants all members to be sheep. He illustrated that the deer is a very fast animal; thus deer members are members you see once in a while and as such they are very unstable. He cautioned that pastors must be patient with the deer stage members and pray for them to be sheep members.

Typifying how goats are always in house, he explained that goat members are the members who find themselves in church but are very stubborn and cannot be controlled. He stated that they are in church but do what they want to do. He admonished pastors to be patient with goat members and teach and love them.

The final stage which is the sheep stage members are those that follow and obey the voice of the shepherd. They play roles in church and obey the word of God.

He stated that if you sack the deer and goat stage members you can never grow your church. Instead, we must care for them till they become sheep members.

4. Let your church be a Person X oriented church

A Person X oriented church is a church interested in new converts and visitors. He declared that your church will not grow if we don't take special interest in new converts and visitors. 

He listed what we must do with our converts viz.:

# Do an altar call after every service

# Set up a team to welcome your new converts properly. Treat them as VIPs and don't allow inexperienced people to handle converts. Your senior pastors must handle the converts.

# Take a good detailed information on the convert so you can follow up. Take their names, common names, nicknames, and their specific locations.

# Visit them within 24-48 hours. A pastor who does not visit their members is not worth being called a pastor.

# Set up a good new converts school and take them through the basics of Christianity for up to 6 weeks.

5. Care for Type A and Type B members

Type A members are the active members. We need to pray for more Type A members. Type B members however are the inactive ones. They don't often come to church, they don't pay their tithes or belong to any department. Because of the behavior of Type B members, you can easily disregard them but be patient and care for both Types A and B members.

6.Use the secret of industrialization

Bishop Nterful explained that this is when you create soul winning activities in your church. Some of which include street evangelism,  gospel rock shows, open air crusades, conferences, breakfast meetings among others. He hinted that the church must be an industry that produces souls.

7. Organize outreaches for young people

He made known that a church that does not have young people is a dying church. He encouraged the congregants to design special programs that bring in young people. Form Dance, choreography, drama,music etc groups for the young ones to be active in church in order to attract the unbelieving youth to church.

8. Create the cell system in your church

You can't grow your church without a cell. A cell is a small fellowship that meets to pray and encourage each other. He explained that the largest church in the world is thriving as a result of the robust cell system in place. Cells evangelize and bring their converts to church to increase membership  of the church. As the cell grows to 15 it is broken down into 2 and starts to grow again.

9. Create a powerful prayer system in your church

Church growth is orchestrated through an engine of prayer. For your church to grow, create a powerful consistent prayer team. Also pray yourself. A pastor should pray at least 3hours a day and encourage their members to pray at least an hour a day. The secret of Jesus' ministry was prayer. Quoting Jeremiah 10:21, he said a pastor who does not seek the Lord will scatter his/her sheep.

10. Allow the Holy Spirit to help you

Jesus said in Matthew 9:38 that the Holy Spirit is the Lord of the Harvest. He described how the disciples won multitudes of souls after the Holy Spirit had come upon them in the book of Acts.

The room was filled strongly with the Holy Spirit as the man of God laid hands on all apostles, church workers and the youth for a mega Souls Harvest.

Compiled by Minister Alice Ofosu Adarkwa

The Art of Follow-up

"Follow-up is a spiritual and physical exercise," Bishop Ishmael Sam began during the afternoon session of the second day of the Art of Shepherding Conference.

He taught on "The Art of Follow-up" from the chapter on Retention Evangelism in Bishop Dag's book "Mega Church".

He outlined the three core aspects of follow-up namely:

# Prayer

# Visitation

# Teaching

On prayer, he taught participants to bind the strong man and to travail in birth, like Paul did (Galatians 4:19). He challenged pastors to pray that Christ will be formed in the sheep. Adding, he challenged participants to pray Ephesians 1:15-20 and Colossians 1:9 for the sheep.

He said, "What God alone can do, we need to let him do through prayer. Your follow-up ministry should have a prayer wing. You must pray that the members will be stable."

On visiting, he indicated that we need to visit them to know their needs. He expounded that if we visit we will know what to preach to the Church. Visitation should never stop.

The man of God recounted many experiences of how visits turned out to stabilize members. He cautioned that every visit must be spiritual.

He charged shepherds and pastors present to concentrate on retaining the sheep and to teach them to be devoted to the teaching.

He said, "Teach them to feel that the pastor's teaching is the best. Sheep must be led so teach them to be devoted to one and another and you must also be devoted to them."

He instructed that the sheep be led to find a ministry to join.

He said, "A permanent member is unmovable, stable and dependable throughout the years."

He said, "As much as lies in your power, make sure no one leaves. What makes you a shepherd is the sheep."

In order to be made into a retainer of souls, you need the grace of God (Zechariah 4:6). For every ministry to be successful, you need to be anointed. You need to humble yourself to know something that you don't know. 

Bishop Sam indicated, "When you have a desire, it will lead you on a journey...the more you associate with somebody, the more the person rubs on you."

He charged participants to obtain the Makarios, which is a library of 40 books on the work of ministry, by Bishop Dag Heward-Mills and the Makarios 60, which has an additional 20 books. This collection of books will elevate your ministry to a whole new level as you read them.

He further urged participants to also get the messages to listen to.

Practical Tips for Managing Tasks

The evening session of the 2018 Pastors' Conclave saw Rev. Emmanuel Ansah sharing on "Practical Tips for managing Tasks".

Bishop Matthew Addae-Mansah, founder and Presiding Bishop of Gospel Light International Church began, "We cannot afford to do things the same way we did in previous years; every year comes with its own challenges. You can't put new wine into old wine bottles. Jesus came to transform everything but it was still the same old power and anointing. The problem with many of us is that we are still putting new wine into old wine bottles."

He welcomed Rev. Emmanuel Ansah, who did justice to the topic at hand.

Rev. Ansah noted that God expects us to do the work of ministry with fervour (Deuteronomy 28:47). He challenged that the work must be done in an exciting, joyful, and excellent manner (Colossians 3:17,23). God hates eye-service.

There is no point in doing the work without God's approval (2 Timothy 2:15). The ultimate is to gain God's approval. We aim to please God but He sets men over us to endorse us (Romans 16:10). 

We must maintain the balance between the power and wisdom of God. The Church is built on glory and virtue.

The man of God hinted that from Ephesians 4, Paul talks about unity in the Body, gifts and instructions. He poignantly posited that when God gives gifts, He also gives instructions.

He warned that the five-fold ministry gifts cannot function in a chaotic environment. The context for the gifts to function is that there must be harmony, the manifestation of the Spirit and the working of the fruit of the Spirit.

Rev. Ansah defined roles as duties, tasks and responsibilities associated with a position. He further noted that duties and tasks help fulfil the mission.

The man of God taught that our roles determine our tasks. An apostle hears from Jesus to fulfil the mandate of Jesus (see Acts 26:19). A pastor is a sub-shepherd of Christ. He feeds the sheep by being fed himself. He elucidated that a pastor is a guardian against false teaching who protects, feeds and guides the flock. The pastor's task is to protect, feed, guide, visit, and guard the sheep, not because of compulsion but because of affection, looking forward to Jesus' approval.

Rev. Ansah posited that any business that does not have people taking ownership will collapse; we are all stakeholders and therefore must take ownership. We must manage relationships and be strategic thinkers. We must stretch our imagination and take initiative.

He admonished the clergy to set long-term, medium-term, short-term, zonal and regional plans. Adding, he taught that we must institutionalize and structure things, with flexibility.

Pastors can be seen as battle-leaders who resist heresy and earnestly contend for the faith (Jude 1:3-4).

He urged the pastors to have care for the people and to build bonds with them (Galatians 4:19).

The man of God intimated that a minister is driven by his/her personal mission working within the framework of the ministry's mission. He enjoined, "Curtail your mission to operate within the supramission." He explained that if one senses that their vision is growing too large, they can negotiate and move out, without disrupting the work of ministry and stealing sheep.

Rev. Ansah continued his discourse by affirming some guiding principles to steer by including the following:

# Self-discipline

He touched on being disciplined in areas such as sleep, devotional life, eating habits, hygiene, time management, and exercise.

# Delegation

He admonished the clergy to raise men and women who are willing to be sent.

# Accountabilty

# Versatility

He extensively taught on this principle, urging the clergy to try out new things. He pointed out that if we are afraid to fail, we can't be versatile. Rev. Ansah disclosed that ministry is about versatility. Citing an example of using the Internet to reach many more people, he urged the clergy to be willing to adapt.

# Diligence

Quoting 2 Peter 1:5-9, the man of God taught that one cannot promote a Church of virtue without diligence.

He also quoted Proverbs 27:23, which teaches us to be diligent to know the state of our flocks. He challenged the clergy to be diligent in monitoring tithing and attendance.

Rev. Emmanuel Ansah zoomed into some practical tips for managing tasks viz.:

# Have a daily, weekly or monthly routine. Record the plans. If you want to have a voice in the nations, you must write. Document things. Make stories out of your reports.

# Use electronic aids, notepads, phones and diaries.

# Schedule and prioritize. Know what is urgent and what is important. Have a picture of what you have to do. You can use calendars and alarms to help you.

# Learn.

Build capacity. Study. Familiarize yourself with the culture of the people. He cautioned that ignorance can cost us our ministry. Don't limit yourself to the Bible only. Understand the ways of the world, too.

#The power of team.

Remember that God called you alone but He called you to work with others.

Rev. Ansah indicated that we can measure results quantitatively and qualitatively. Quantitative measurements deal with figures. On the other hand, qualitative measurement deals with checking motives, timelines, efficiency of resources, methods, spirituality, teamwork, confidentiality and passion and commitment.

Finally, Rev. Ansah warned the clergy about these dangerous pitfalls to avoid:

# Excuses 

# Procrastination

# Rationalization

# Blame Game

# Time-suckers such as movies, series, radio, social media, etc.

Bishop Mrs. Naana Addae-Mensah led the clergy to pray concerning the Word they had received and sheets were passed round for each member of the clergy present to write down their ministry goals for the year. Reading from Ezekiel 21:9, Bishop Addae-Mensah noted that the things you write down become prophetic, saying that we must sharpen our sword with prophecy.

'Twas a night of enlightenment!

Seven Reasons why you must be a Faithful Steward

"Now, a person who is put in charge as a manager must be faithful."

(1 Corinthians 4:2, NLT)

A South African pastor took a three-week trip on vacation with his wife and committed his 3,000-member congregation to the trust of his associate. When he returned, the 3,000 members had reduced to 15 members. The associate had stolen the hearts of the members while the senior pastor was away. He had been disloyal and made away with over 99% of the congregation. Three months afterwards, the assistant pastor died. How sad! Disloyalty always breeds terrible consequences for the disloyal!

Bishop Eddy Addy, senior pastor of Lighthouse Chapel, Airport, taught extensively on why you must be a faithful steward on day 3 of a Mega Church Conference dubbed "From Smaller Church into Mega Church" which was organized by the Presiding Bishop of Gospel Light International Church, Bishop Matthew Addae-Mensah.

He emphasized that a person who is put in charge as a manager should be faithful (1 Corinthians 4:2, NLT). He noted that the Lord wants the Church to branch out into different locations. He further stated that the Church is not just a place to enjoy ourselves; God has sent us out to the corners of the earth. 

He pointed out, "No Church is called to be in just one location. We must keep moving. The Church that is alive is the Church that is moving."

Reading from Acts 6:1, he shared that when people are not sent out, there are lots of wranglings in the Church. 

In Acts 1:8, Jesus assured His disciples of the descent of the Holy Spirit and His enduement with power, which would make them witnesses of the Gospel in Jerusalem, Judaea, Samaria and the uttermost parts of the earth. However, after receiving the Holy Spirit, they were still resident in Jerusalem. In Acts 8:1, it took a strong wave of persecution to scatter them abroad in order for them to fulfil what Jesus had said to them in Acts 1:8.

The man of God charged the congregation not to wait till persecution arose before going forth to preach the Gospel and plant Churches. He exhorted, "Do it by obedience not by persecution."

Bishop Eddy explained that when Churches are planted, our members who prosper will stay in the Church, and the prosperity will stay in the Church. He alluded that even if the individual were to travel to Sowutuom, because there would be a branch of Gospel Light there, he or she would simply join that branch and not think of joining another Church in their vicinity. He announced, "No matter how anointed a man of God is, there comes a time that distance becomes an inhibition."

He also hinted that staying in the Church for a long time is not helpful. We must not go out there by persecution or force but by obedience.

Zooming into the crux of his message, Bishop Eddy stated the first reason why you must be faithful as a steward: above every other quality that you need as a minister of God, you need faithfulness. John Wesley said, "Anybody who builds a Church and does not defend it is like somebody who has built a nice farm and left it for wild animals."

Bishop Eddy explained that when you are faithful, you are dedicated and constant. If something changes in the future, you don't change. Faithfulness is the one quality that every Christian, shepherd or leader needs.

He emphasized, "If you say you love me when I am with you and then you say other things behind me, then you are not loyal, or faithful or consistent."

He introduced the congregation to a bestselling book entitled "Loyalty & Disloyalty" by Bishop Dag Heward-Mills and recommended it as a must-read for every pastor or leader.

He urged the congregation to enjoy Bishop Matthew Addae-Mensah's messages and to have them as their favourite.

Reading from John 15:1-4, the man of God indicated that most branches do not work because the associates do not stay connected to the man of God; they do not preach his messages. He said, "You must be well-connected to your pastor in order to bring forth fruit...you must be well-grafted to the stem in order to be connected to the anointing and the grace on the man of God."

Those who have companied with us are the most valuable assets (Acts 1:22). Choose those who have companied with you since the beginning. Sometimes, such people are deceived into being disloyal.

Bishop Eddy admonished choristers to graduate from merely singing to preaching, growing spiritually and caring for souls. He cautioned sternly, "Gift without faithfulness is a fiasco."

Moving on to the second reason why you must be a faithful steward, Bishop Eddy stated that it is to fight the enemy within the Church that destroys the Church. He said, "It is better to have 5 faithful people than 2,000 complaining 'orangus'."

The man of God disclosed that the power of the Church is in its oneness (Genesis 11:3-8). Lack of understanding of one another is the basis for destruction. We must speak one language.

Murmurers, complainers, slanderers and underminers of authority are all disloyal people. The devil is no match for the Church BUT he uses the disloyal sheep as his weapon to fight the Church.

He encouraged attendees to give "home support" in the form of clapping, shouting and standing during the sermon to encourage the man of God as he preaches.

He urged attendees to put their hearts into being planted in Gospel Light International Church. He also pointed out that being critical is a sign of disloyalty.

The third reason why you should be a faithful steward is so that the love of God will fill the Church (John 13:35).

Fourthly, when you are a faithful steward, we can build a large and successful ministerial team. He exclaimed, "Why be the head of an ant when you can be the toe of an elephant!?" You require consistency of pastoral care and feeding.

Another reason to be a faithful steward is so that we can build a mega Church.

We must be faithful stewards so that we can build long-lasting ministries. The ministry must outlast us.

Finally, we must be faithful stewards so that we can reap our full reward. He concluded that those who benefit from the success of a ministry are those who are faithful and loyal.

Bishop Eddy Addy concluded by saying, "Your faithfulness to God is determined by your faithfulness to His servants given to you."

'Twas a glorious night of insight! Join us tonight at the Phenomenal Faith Cathedral of Gospel Light International Church, Kwame Nkrumah Interchange, at 6 pm, for yet another intensely aromatic time in the Word of God!

Turn your faith loose at www.gospellightint.org/nu