Any discussion of numerical church growth requires such questioning. Numerical church growth â that is, the numerical growth of local congregations and the multiplication of local congregations â can be questioned as being theologically unnecessary, or even theologically suspect. Is the pursuit of numerical church growth âarrogantâ in a world of many faiths? Is the seeking of numerical church growth a dubious âproselytismâ which should be avoided? Is it Biblically justified, or is the pursuit of the âkingdomâ mainly about something else? Do the key doctrines of the Christian faith â such as the incarnation and the Trinity â primarily focus on things other than numerical growth? Looking across the key movements and figures within the Christian tradition, do they concentrate less on the numerical growth of the church than on other goals, such as societal justice, transcendent worship and mystical prayer?
Such questions have value. Growth in the Christian life is never just about âbums on seatsâ. The New Testament is about Godâs Kingly rule, into which church has to fit â and which is not coterminous with the church. The gospel is incarnate in the small and overlooked as much as in the large and spectacular. And âchurch growthâ is a wide concept. One influential definition sees growth in the Christian life as a three-fold balance, entailing growth in personal holiness, growth in societal transformation and the numerical growth of church congregations. 6
6 Address by the Most Revd Rowan Williams to General Synod, 23 November 2010, available at http://rowanwilliams.archbishopofcanterbury.org/articles.php/919/archbishops-presidential-address-general-synod-november-2010 accessed 30 October 2013. This volume assumes the validity of such a definition of church growth but focuses primarily on the issue of the numerical growth of local church congregations. Church growth is more than numerical growth. Hence questioning church growth is a necessary exercise. And the contributors to this volume ask hard questions of the pursuit of the numerical growth of the church. But that does not mean concern for numerical growth is per se illegitimate or unimportant.
Indeed, the phrase âquestioning church growthâ can be taken in a different sense. In a context where Christian faith has, in much of the west, been pushed to the margins of elite discourse, this volume argues that to speak of numerical church growth is an act of creative subversion. Talking of church growth creatively questions the priorities and practices of academia, government and media â and it also questions the priorities and practices of theologians, church leaders and congregations. Epistemologically, is the âtoleranceâ of the west as âtolerantâ as it assumes, or can it amount to a privileging of particular forms of late modern western rationality? Biblically, does the widespread assumption that âkingdomâ is largely distinct from and superior to âchurchâ fit the text of the New Testament? How important in the New Testament is the numerical growth of the church? Doctrinally, might seeking the numerical growth of the church chime with key doctrines such as the incarnation, eschatology and pneumatology much more than has been assumed? And might those doctrines be stunted when the numerical growth of the church is treated as unnecessary or even theologically disreputable? Historically, did many key figures in the Christian tradition â from the Celtic saints to St Francis, from Thomas Cranmer to the Wesleys â focus much more on the numerical growth of the church than is currently recognised? So, if we mute the desire of such figures to grow congregations, do we then fail to listen attentively to the Christian traditions these figures and movements embody, imposing on them an agenda of our own?
This volume views with suspicion the suspicion about numerical church growth that is exhibited by many theologians, church leaders and others. It argues that seeking to grow the church numerically, if done responsibly, is epistemologically justified, deeply rooted in the scriptures, a natural outworking of Christian doctrine, and that it is integral to fidelity to Christian tradition across much of church history. And critiquing church growth strategies as mere âproselytismâ ignores the deep incoherence of âproselytismâ as a concept. 7
7 âProselytismâ when referring to attempts to impose an ideology by force or deception is routinely rejected by people of all ideological positions. But the term âproselytismâ is commonly used to criticise the attempt, simpliciter, to persuade anyone to think differently. Such usage is hugely problematic â see: K. Rowe, World Upside Down; Reading Acts in the Graeco-Roman Age (Oxford: OUP, 2009): 171, 263â4. If the above is true, seeking the numerical growth of the church is intrinsic to being faithful to Christ. Far from being a theologically disreputable âbigging yourself upâ, working to grow the church numerically is good and godly. The numerical growth of local churches is not the only aspect of growth in the Christian life, but it is a central part of growth in the Christian life. Conversely, a theology which sidelines or critiques growing the church numerically needs scrutiny itself. Is such a theology genuinely rooted in Christian scriptures, doctrines and tradition as well as in wider rationality â or is it, in significant measure, conforming to the elite culture of the west which assumes that congregations âmustâ shrink in the face of âinevitableâ secularisation? Speaking of a theology of church growth has the corollary of raising the question of whether there has been a âtheology of declineâ which, explicitly and implicitly, runs through the discourse of many modern and late modern theologians, church leaders and congregations â a theology which needs to be questioned.
The word âtowardsâ in the title of this book needs to be stressed. This volume tries to point towards what a theology of church growth could look like. The volume seeks to take forward a theological conversation, not to be its last word. A fully-fledged theology of church growth needs much further work and some of the questions begged by this volume are sketched in its conclusion. But, since very little theological work has been done in this area (especially in the historic denominations), this volume hopes to provide theological âstrawâ to be used towards the wider task of building up church and kingdom.
There is a confessional aim to this volume. The authors come from a wide range of Christian traditions but share a desire to see the church grow â numerically and in other ways. Theology has a material effect, for good or for ill, on Christian churches at local levels. When theologians, church leaders and congregations have lacked a theology of church growth and have internalised a theology of decline, they thereby contributed to the shrinking of the local church. Conversely, if a worked-out theology of church growth can be built, that will significantly facilitate the numerical growth of local churches. Any growth worth having comes from God and is not the work of human hands. But to say that need not lead to a kind of missiological quietism, in which growing churches numerically is seen as an ineffable mystery, about which humans can do nothing. Numerical church growth is the work of God, but humans are meant to contribute to that work. And that contribution includes the work of theology.