Interview by Kendra Granger, Executive Assistant || The Point Church
I have the privilege to work with Chris and experience firsthand the work that God is doing in our church community. Each fall, Outreach Magazine releases a special edition listing the top 100 fastest growing churches in America. For the second year in a row, The Point Church is #37 on the list!
- To see the 2018 list, click here.
- To see the 2017 list, click here.
- Visit the Point Church’s profile page here.
Last week, I took a moment to talk to Chris about the importance of this list for both The Point Church and the church in America.
37: The story behind the number.
Kendra: How does Outreach Magazine determine the list?
Chris: Outreach magazine reaches out to every church in America they have contact information for and partners with Lifeway Research to not only find the 100 fastest growing and largest churches, but also to identify trends in church growth in America to gain valuable kingdom information to help churches be more effective.
Outreach Magazine explains their methodology to determine the top 100 fastest growing churches this way: “The 2018 Fastest-Growing list includes surveyed churches with attendance greater than 1,010, a numerical gain of 127 or more and a percentage gain of at least 5 percent.”
Kendra: Why does The Point Church participate?
Chris: As the Point Church got started we were able to gain so much wisdom and understanding from many of the churches on this list! Our hope is that other churches in turn will be able to learn from what God is doing at The Point Church and for them to be encouraged to apply some of the things God is doing here in their own context.
Also, I believe the list is beneficial to our own church. Being a part of the list of the 100 fastest growing churches in America for two years in a row helps our church to realize that what God is doing at The Point Church is unique and special, and we should not take it for granted. Ultimately, our prayer is that when people in our church realize just how amazing what God is doing at our church is, it will lead to them praise God for how He is working in the Triangle.
Kendra: Is this list just a celebration of numbers?
Chris: For me this list represents one thing… “Life Change.” Over the past year, it’s been so amazing to see more lives transformed by the power of Jesus than ever before in the history of The Point Church. What I am most excited about is that not only did we grow in the number of people attending our church, but we had a record number of people who followed Jesus in baptism. That represents not only bodies in seats, but lives and families transformed for eternity.
Kendra: What would you say is the key to the rapid growth at The Point Church?
Chris: We have found that new churches reach new people. On average, new churches reach three times as many people as established churches. We have seen that when a new church sends out a church planting team, two things happen. First, the people they send are quickly replaced at the sending church by new people God brings. Secondly, we have seen that God consistently doubles the number of people sent to help start the new church once it launches. When you take these two factors into consideration, the majority of our growth as a church has not come through simply growing in one location. The majority of our growth has come through the growth of new Point Churches and God continuing to refill the our sending churches with new followers of Jesus from that community.
Kendra: What does this list say about the health of the church in America?
Chris: I believe this list of fast growing churches gives us reason for hope. At a time when church attendance in America is in steep decline, we can know that Jesus is still able to build His church. There are churches on this list from every region in America. There are churches on this list from urban, suburban, and rural communities. There are churches on this list from multiple denomination and theological backgrounds. I believe this list shows us that no community is too unreached and no context is too difficult for Jesus to build His church in. Maybe, what we need is not a different culture in America, but a stronger faith in the power of Jesus to change lives. This list shows that it’s possible for Jesus to grow His church in any part of America and in any context. I believe this list shows us that now is not the time to retreat and build fortresses, but to advance and plant new outposts of the Gospel in every community in America!
Read Chris’s post, “Why Every Town in America Needs a New Church?”