Real growth is represented by multiplication rather than addition. In the early chapters of Acts we watch the church grow in leaps and bounds, starting with 120 in an upper room to 3,000 added that day and then 5,000 a few days later! Eventually, the writer of Acts goes from using the word “added” to using the word “multiplied” (Acts 5:14; 6:7) to describe this incredible growth.

How do we go from addition to multiplication? Let me explain by borrowing an example from the business world. Startups used to be a novel idea. One after another, companies would open up shop, grab a web domain, and start doing business. But when the bottom fell out, they started closing their doors.  

The Startup Model
Startups represent simple addition, but companies focused on their future multiply. Statistics tell us that each month 500,000 new businesses open up. Of those, nearly 90 percent will fail within the first year. Business analysts give us one overriding reason for this: lack of scalability. That’s the ability of an organization to continue to grow regardless of circumstances around them and the resources on hand. In short, scalability means you’re ready for the long haul by developing systems that can be scaled for expected future growth. You’re taking steps to ensure that your model and mission can translate to 100, 500, 1000 or even 10,000 people.

Startups are great! Planting a new church is challenging and exciting. Many times, right out of the gate, that excitement spreads and grabs the attention of the community. But without scalability, that early growth may not transfer into long-term commitments. Moving from a start-up mentality to a scale-up mentality gets your church ready for the next twelve years, not just the next twelve months.

The Scale-Up Mentality
To be ready for growth, you need to answer a few questions, and keep answering them along the way. How many guests come to your church on a regular Sunday morning? How many of those guests do you keep? How many disciples are you truly making each year? How many churches are you involved in planting? What’s your sending capacity? And most importantly, how do you know the answers to these questions? Without proper metrics, you’ll never be able to track the growth of your church. It’s like taking a road trip with a faulty gas gauge.  

Scaling up means building systems for the growth you anticipate six months, a year, five years or ten years down the road. In this model, your systems will be agile and easily adaptable. For instance, how do you contact your first time guests? If you have one or two per week, a personal phone call from the senior pastor may work great. When that number rises above ten, it can become a challenge to check that task off the list each week. Now, what if you have 200 first time guests one Sunday? Starting with a system that is scalable, such as an automated email or mailer, can handle as many contacts as the Lord sends you.

Without proper metrics, you’ll never be able to track the growth of your church. It’s like taking a road trip with a faulty gas gauge.

Your building can be your greatest asset as a church, but it can also become a liability. If the majority of your ministries are dependent on your current building configuration, what happens when you scale up to a larger location with different amenities? A decentralized model of discipleship will scale your ministries independent of specific physical layouts preparing you for greater growth and health.

Another important area to consider is how you manage your staff and volunteers. From the beginning, it will be helpful to design an org chart that addresses all the needs you think your church will have over the next ten years. Consider how you want your staff to look if you had ten times the number of attendees that you currently have. It’s okay that most of the slots are left empty for now — this is about scaling up. This approach will help you define the next greatest need for your staffing and zero in on the best possible candidates.

When it comes to volunteers, consider shaping your ministry descriptions independent of your current need. For instance, instead of asking, “How many greeters do we need next weekend?” ask, “How many greeters will we need at each entrance?” For elementary and student areas, decide on how many volunteers you’ll need per child and then develop a flow chart that includes the direct reports and responsibilities. This type of scaling keeps the flow of growth going.

What is standing in the way of you reaching next level growth? Your barrier may be that you haven’t scaled up once you started up.

What is standing in the way of you reaching next level growth? Your barrier may be that you haven’t scaled up once you started up. Think of ways to reshape your current systems, discipleship model, staffing chart, or physical layout to address those barriers. Scaling for the growth you want will often times create a break through on its own. A shifting of roles and responsibilities for key volunteers or staff members may be what your church needs to get past your growth barriers.

Churches that scale up are ready to become a culture of doing. They are equipping everybody to be empowered everywhere. They generally focus on the unchurched rather than the already saved. They see opportunity in the community rather than complain about opposition. They break down walls between the sacred and the secular, allowing the living Spirit of God to inhabit every area of people’s lives. They create a culture of more!

How we prepare determines our ability to handle the miracle. Preparing to scale perfectly positions us for the amazing things God wants to do and the multiplication He wants to bring. Remember, lots of people start well, but scaling for growth will determine the long-term impact of your ministry.