I am going to assume you all want your churches to grow. No matter how long you’ve been a pastor or how short. No matter where you’re ministering, whether in a big city, sleepy suburbs or rolling rural pasturelands. There’s one thing all influential leaders have in common: We all want to see growth.

Growth is not a selfish ambition, though it can be for some. We want to see our churches grow not to grow our own name and reputation, but to make God’s name great. Anyone working for Kingdom purposes will want to see the Kingdom grow. Over and over in the Gospels, Jesus told stories about the kingdom of God, parables about the future of the Church. In nearly every story, Jesus incorporated the principle of growth — such as a small mustard seed growing into a large plant or a small investment reaping a huge windfall.

In nearly every story, Jesus incorporated the principle of growth.

There is no magic bullet when it comes to church growth. But over and over, I’ve seen these principles promoting Kingdom growth. These are by no means exhaustive, but they are from my own experience. Here are seven principles of a growing church.

1. Growing Churches Expand the Possibilities for Participation

Many churches seem to make it hard to participate. They set up hoops to jump through or make the on-ramp narrow. Growing churches, on the other hand, make it easy.

How can you expand the possibility for participation? First, allow people to belong before they believe. View anyone who comes to your church as part of the family. I don’t mean you should lower the standard for salvation. But you should lower the barrier for entry.

Make it a part of discipleship. Instead of limiting all volunteer areas to those who have made a commitment to follow Christ, open some areas to anyone who wants to serve, including nonbelievers who want to be a part of your church. That means they can serve before they’re saved.

Staff Exercise: List all the ways that your church creates barriers for participation. Then brainstorm clear next steps for people to participate — the easier, the better.

2. Growing Churches Create a System for Reproducing Leaders

Don’t let perfection paralyze you. Instead, create a pathway. View each member of a volunteer team as a possible leader. Invest time and energy in your top recruits, and then let them invest back into the team.

This is something you can model with your staff. Find the eagles on your team, those who are most likely to soar above their expectations and yours. Then let them fly. Identify a need, and watch them make a difference. Maybe it’s time to add another service, do a big event or launch a new campus. Rather than taking on all the major responsibility yourself, enlist your eagles, and release them to do more.

Staff Exercise: Write down the names of five people you can invest in. Then find ways over the next four weeks to make a unique investment.

3. Growing Churches Make Hospitality a Priority

Take an honest evaluation of your church service. Why would people come back? Remember, 43 percent of people in your community are unchurched. Try to see the church service through their lens.

If there’s one company in America that has made hospitality a priority, it’s Wal-Mart. One of Sam Walton’s 10 rules of business was to exceed the customer’s expectations. How do they do this year after year? They use the 10-foot rule. Whenever you’re within 10 feet of someone, smile, look that person in the eye, and ask, “How can I help you?” Simple things can make a huge difference!

Staff Exercise: What do you want people to know, feel and do each week when they leave your service? How are you making sure each person who visits understands these things and knows you care?

4. Growing Churches Are Comfortable in Chaos

Here’s one hard truth: If you’re not changing, you’re not leading! Growth brings change, and change is hard. If you really want to see growth, you must be willing to change.

Of course, every change brings the chance of chaos. You will run up against hard circumstances and potential problems. Guard your heart, not your circumstances. You can’t control all the reactions to change, but you can control how you respond.

Staff Exercise: What will growth mean for your ministry area? What changes will you have to implement? What is the potential chaos from those changes?

5. Growing Churches See Opportunities Where Others See Problems

One of the greatest lessons I learned in our first year at New Community Church in Mesquite, Texas, was to turn losses into wins. We faced many challenges and problems. And to be honest, finding solutions wasn’t always easy. But when we shifted the viewpoint from loss to win, a problem became a potential.

For example, a problem with a fire escape eventually evolved into a renovation campaign. Encountering issues with students in the community led us to launch a Fam Fest neighborhood event. Over and over, our problems turned into potential for improving, branching out and meeting needs in the community.

Staff Exercise: What’s an unmet need in your community? How can you view this problem as an opportunity for church growth?

6. Growing Churches Solve Problems Quickly

Leadership credibility goes up when you solve problems. If you want more influence, close the gap between problem and solution. Create expectation on your team, and recruit the best problem solvers on your staff. Build a culture where you don’t let problems fester, but you solve them in a timely manner.

What’s your limiting factor? Each team will have one or two. Find out the bottlenecks that keep you from solving problems, and address them one at a time.

Staff Exercise: Find a problem that the whole team can solve. During a staff meeting, bring up the problem, and have each member of the team offer suggestions.

7. Growing Churches Cultivate a Culture for Growth

Culture is more important than vision. Organizations are only as effective as their environments allow them to be. No matter how clear you are about your vision and how passionate you are about fulfilling it, if you don’t have a culture that allows growth, you may never see it to fruition.

Clarity is the key to creating a culture that makes vision possible. Communicate your values effectively and continually. Model it in ways that are consistent with your vision. Take any and every opportunity to tie your actions, events and messages to the vision of your church. Then, celebrate this regularly.

Staff Exercise: Do a culture audit. What’s the state of the staff? Now, create culture statements that reflect the vision and values you want to create, while keeping in mind the culture you hope to create.

You may be in a rut, and I understand that. I’ve been there, too. But I want you to know that these seven characteristics are not only effective, but realistic. And any church can do these things! You don’t have to wait; you can start now and see growth as you focus your energies on God’s kingdom.