Learn to create new faith communities that speak to the new people groups who come into their cities and towns. An exciting trend in The United Methodist Church in the last decade has been a renewed emphasis on starting new churches. Annual conferences focused on starting new churches have turned their membership decline around. For example, the North Alabama Annual Conference, through their Academy of Congregational Development, has trained a pool of potential new church starters and has started 19 new churches. These new churches have brought in so many new people that the membership of the entire annual conference is now on an upswing.
Leadership is key .
Invest in leadership training and development, rather than property and buildings. Existing congregations benefit from new church starts in their area. New church development is the research and development wing of the annual conference. By blazing new trails and having the freedom to experiment, new churches can teach existing churches how to reach new people groups. Build the discipleship system first, then invite people to worship.