Typically when you think of growing your church you think of new people visiting your church but perhaps equal thought should be given to not losing people as well. There’s no doubt a percentage of people will always leave your church, and let’s be honest it is a good thing that some of them leave. But wisdom tells us we have a lot to learn when common trends form from the people through your “back door.” Tony Morgan has an excellent article which helps us shed light on whether or not we have a problem with our “back door.” Here’s one of his insights:
You can’t solve the back door problem until you really know who’s using it.
Focus groups are my personal favorite way to gather feedback from your congregation. Start by listing the demographic groups in your congregation. Here a few to start your thinking:
People exploring faith (do you have an Alpha type class?)
New members (specifically those who have joined in the past year)
College age
Members of 5 years or more
Young parents
Strong financial contributors
Check out the rest of the article HERE.
