What does a church make?

Here are some more thoughts from "Behold, I Do a New Thing: Transforming Communities of Faith" by C. Kirk Hadaway.

"If Disney makes people happy, what does the church make?  The goal of more people is similar to the corporate goal of more money- a goal that inevitably leads to corporate failure.  So if we are failing at our ancillary goal of growth, we should look first to what we are making.  If we adapt the Merck mission and say, "Churches are for the transformation; not for the growth, the growth follows," then the lack of growth implies that people are not being changed."

"A good set of programs does not necessarily add up to a good church, and setting goals is not the way to revitalize a church that is foundering.  The church is a system that works within a structure.  Changing, elaborating, or adding to the structure may not affect the system very much; it may only change the channels through which the same system flows.  The results may not change at all, because every system is designed for the results it is getting.  If you want different results you have to redesign the system."

"If we want different results, we must redesign the system so that declining membership is not what we produce.  This does not mean that our focus should be on membership growth, of course.  Growth is a by-product of institutional health and not our primary objective.

"Once a church begins to concentrate on its primary business rather than on attracting an audience, working a program, or satisfying its members, the decisions required for continued improvement should be obvious."