Making disciples means more
than increasing numbers

Reflections on the chruch:
Disciple-making is a process

As Wesleyan Christians understand it, the making of disciples is a lifelong process.
I may come to initial faith in God through Jesus Christ, but that is not an end but a beginning. If I cooperate with God’s work in my life, I will continually be changing my mind and my ways.
The disciplines of corporate worship, prayer, study, self-discovery, works of justice and mercy—all of these will be expanding my horizons and deepening my relationship with God. The valleys that I walk through have the potential of drawing me closer to God and to the brothers and sisters who walk along with me.
If that is true about us Methodists, then the whole business of making disciples cannot be reduced to persuading people to make initial confessions of faith. Though these turning points are crucial, we remember what the Wesley brothers taught us: It is better not to evoke such conversion experiences if you have not already planned in advance how you are going to nurture new disciples over time.
So when we speak of making disciples, we are really talking about helping people move from where they are in their faith and life to the place God wills for them. It means helping people come into a living and vital relationship with God in Jesus Christ through the Holy Spirit. It means incorporating people into redemptive communities of faith. It means offering healing to the wounded.
It means calling disciples to give themselves wholeheartedly to the cross-bearing life into which Jesus calls each of us. It means challenging followers of Jesus Christ to the “joyful obedience” of being laborers in the kingdom.
I say these obvious things for a reason. I want you to know that when I talk of church growth, I am not simply referring to the business of adding numbers to our membership rolls.
If all we are about is making ourselves look successful by counting people, our souls are in great danger! Church growth in obedience to God is the sacred work of participating in God’s ministry of calling and preparing people for service in God’s transforming endeavors in the world.
So, these “numbers” that follow have names! Those whom God will add to your churches will have names, too.
In the last 10 years in the district:
> 27 local churches have experienced membership growth.
> 29 churches’ membership figures are basically the same.
> Eight churches have declined in membership.
At the end of 1995, the churches in the Austin District reported membership of 23,911. At the end of 2005, churches in the district reported a total membership of 28,618. That is an approximate 20 percent increase.
In the greater Austin metro area, between 1990 and 2004, population increased by 47.7 percent.
In attendance at worship:
> 24 churches have grown.
> 17 have remained essentially the same.
> 21 have declined.
In 1995, attendance at worship averaged 10,868 people per Sunday. By 2004, average attendance was 12,238, a 12.61 percent increase.
Most of the increases in membership and attendance have occurred in churches that are in the path of new population growth, but some older churches have increased, too.
What do you think are the reasons some churches grow in numbers and some do not? Is your church receiving new members each year?
What is God saying to you as you reflect on these numbers? What are the figures for your local area?
You may want to check the trend for your church over the past 20 years. How are you doing in making new disciples, in receiving Christians who seek a church home, in helping those who join to continue in their growth in the knowledge and love of God and neighbor?