Not all growing churches are spiritually healthy, and spiritually healthy churches don t always grow. Though churches should be administrated in a business-like manner, they shouldn t be run like a business. The same pastor or staff team that guides a smaller church through major growth might not be ideally suited to lead the larger congregation. Just as a company s founding entrepreneur may have to turn the reins over to professional managers when the business goes public, some successful pastors may eventually have to transplant themselves to a less complex church where their gifts and vision are appropriately fitted. Staff members can t be all things to all churches.
Church growth is both a blessing and a curse.
New members place new demands on ministries and additional responsibilities on burnout-prone leaders. Growth always comes at a cost. Ironically, churches are most vulnerable to conflict and contention precisely when they are grown fastest. The better things are going in a successful, dynamic church, the greater the expectations of its staff and members to the extent these expectations are realistic, tensions rise. In mushrooming churches, Job-like patience is often in short supply.