Got to hear Church Growth & Revitalization guru Gary McIntosh share some wisdom at last week’s Louisiana Baptist Convention Evangelism Conference in Shreveport. Gary likened church to Newton’s first law of motion: A body at rest tends to stay at rest, unless… A body at motion, tends to stay in motion, unless… It’s a good challenge for churches to be intentional & here’s some things that Dr. McIntosh believes that growing churches intentionally do to get or stay moving toward growth:

7 Best Practices of Churches in Motion:

1. Put a greater emphasis on prayer.
2. Teach & preach the Bible with authority. Preach it & live it!
3. Define reality for the church & community.
4. Take responsibility for making disciples.
5. Make hard decisions. (i.e. Closing ineffective ministries, let staff go, realign finances, dealing w/sine, etc.)
6. Refocus ministry on the unchurched in the community.
7. Start new ministries.

Simple list of things that can be acted upon this week.

Check out some of Dr. McIntosh’s helpful books on Church Growth & Health & Revitalization here.