How Big Is Your Pot?

Over two years ago someone gave me a small potted pine tree for Christmas. It has stayed for almost thirty months on top of my filing cabinet in my office, in the small, plastic pot it came in. It stayed small, that is, until about three weeks ago when I put it in a larger pot...

In the past three weeks, this little pine tree has almost doubled in size! It is much sturdier, hardier, and healthier that it ever was in the smaller pot. It has new green growth on the branches, and I think I can tell that it is generally happier than ever. He is glad I put him in a larger pot. He is happy for his Miracle-Gro potting soil. He is now, finally, going to be a big boy!

You know where this is going, right? Other than I use personification when talking about my plant. It is a "he" you know. But, other than that, Jonny was in my office the other day and told me that plant was a great illustration of what we try to emphasize at 200churches. The smaller the pot, the smaller the plant will be, and growth will be necessarily limited. The larger the pot, the larger the plant can grow, and the potential for growth will increase.

So it is with our churches! How big is your town, your pot? If it were 750,000 or up, the potential for you to grow your church would be greater than if your town were only, say, 500-1,200. Then, you would by virtue of sheer numbers, have a smaller congregation. 

My 200church has 3.3% of my community in attendance. In comparison my friend's church of 2,500 has only .5% of his community attending. What does this teach us? One thing, respect your 200church and do not downplay the importance of your leadership in the Kingdom of God!!

As we look toward Wednesday and Episode 20 of The 200churches Podcast, I want to ask you to think about the demographics of your church. Do you have a lot of older people? A lot of younger people? A lot of middle age people? Isn't it true that many smaller churches suffer from a younger generation shortage?  

On this week's podcast we talk with a recent new attender to our church who is 28 years old. Our conversation revolves around what the church is doing that is not relevant to the current generation, the twenty and thirty-somethings. We hope you are able to listen, because all of us 200church pastors need to know the generation we are trying to reach. They are different. It is a great conversation that will get you thinking about your 200church.