ChurchCentral.com
has recently featured an article by Tony Morgan, Pastor of
Administrative Services at Granger Community Church, that originally
was published in the Christian Management Report. This is an excerpt
from the article, "Build the Ark Before it Rains: Grow Ahead of
Growth." You may read the entire article at ChurchCentral.com.
Ministries
across the country are experiencing growth. In fact, church growth
expert John N. Vaughan reported that a new megachurch is born in the
United States every two or three weeks. Although that kind of growth is
exciting, it also presents a unique set of challenges that most have
not faced in the past.
Will these ministries just be a blip in
the continuum of time? Will they make a big impact today but fade in
their ability to maintain the pace of growth, or will they build the
types of ministries that will allow sustainable growth for years to
come?
The irony of ministries or businesses that experience
rapid growth after their launch is the strengths that led to initial
successes may actually be detrimental to ongoing growth in the long
run. In other words, it often takes a different set of talents and
systems to maintain growth for the long haul. The lesson businesses
have learned is that as an organization you have to grow ahead of
growth to maximize expansion efforts and ensure continued success and
profitability.
Dave Ferrari, the founder of Argus Management
Corporation, which specializes in turning around failing businesses,
explained what leads to most business failures:
"Ninety-five
percent of the failures are due to internal problems. I can't tell you
how many companies I've been to that have the fast-growing-company
plaque on the wall and are about to go under. They don't have the
systems and the people in place. Accounting is lagging. Purchasing is
not done in the most efficient manner. Inventory gets out of control.
All of a sudden, all these mistakes compound, and the least little burp
kills them." (Stephanie L. Gruner, "Death by Unnatural Causes"
available from Inc.com)You've probably seen examples of
this in ministry organizations as well. Everything is going strong for
a time -- people are meeting Jesus, lives are being transformed, and
then one of two things happens. Either the ministry plateaus and
paralysis sets in, or, in the worst-case scenario, the ministry
implodes. What went wrong?
One of the keys to sustaining growth
is growing ahead of growth. It's about recognizing what God has called
your ministry to accomplish and taking steps to lay the foundation for
future exponential growth.
Noah demonstrated it. He acted on
God's calling. When warned about the coming rains, he didn't wait for
the first drop of water. Instead, he took action "when warned about
things not yet seen" (Hebrews 11:7). Noah built the ark before it
rained.
That's the lesson for today's growing ministries. You
can't wait for growth to happen and then take action. If you know God's
vision for your ministry, you have to act on it today. You have to grow
ahead of growth. You have to build the ark before it rains. Because
when it rains and you haven't started building, it's too late.
The rest of the article is available at
ChurchCentral.com 
