How Should Churches Invest Their Money?

There was a day when churches that wanted to grow would build a new building. It almost seemed that growth came automatically with a building expansion. The “secret” to church growth could have been borrowed from a movie, which was “if you build it, they will come.”

While new buildings still attract a lot of attention, they no longer automatically produce church growth. In a recent survey I conducted on my blog not a single respondent indicated that they felt that churches should invest more money in bigger or better buildings.

What do people think churches should invest their money in?

• 11% percent thought churches should invest money in paying a more professional staff
• 22% percent thought the church should invest more money in programs that would help members be better Christians
• 66% thought the church should invest more money in helping the needy

How a church invests the money available to them may not always equal church growth, but if they want the church members to be excited about the church’s activities, then it might be prudent to think about the results of such polls.

Perhaps the wave of the future for churches that want to grow is helping those in the community in need. What a novel idea! Sure sounds like the New Testament church described in Acts 4:34-35 “For there was not a needy person among them, because all those who owned lands or houses sold them, brought the proceeds of the things that were sold, and laid them at the apostles' feet. This was then distributed to each person as anyone had a need.”

If our churches want to grow, it is time to get off the latest church growth fad and just start doing what God told us to do in the Bible to begin with. It does actually work!



Dr. Terry W. Dorsett is a church planter in New England. He also writes books and leads seminars on how to help churches be more effective in their ministries. Check out his resources at:
http://www.amazon.com/Dr.-Terry-W.-Dorsett/e/B00405U4NY/