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Every church leader wants to know the secret to making their church grow. Many churches put their efforts into finding a quotable preacher or investing thousands into the production quality of their services. Other churches start new ministries or expand their social media presence in hopes of reaching a new demographic.
Today’s guest, Peter Haas, is here to challenge the typical model of church leadership.
“Pastors spend all their energy on the wrong things.” - Peter Haas
In this episode, we will hear how Peter’s leadership model changed once he realized that there was more to church leadership than a fancy service production and preaching an awesome message on Sunday mornings.
Through a personal discipleship experience and reading several studies, Pastor Haas learned that the true key to getting people and keeping people in the church is friendship. A sermon can only go so far, and strobe lights and fog machines only last for the one hour a week people are behind church doors. But mid-week discipleship helps churches to actually make and keep disciples.
“10% of the population will jump into deeper circles of commitment on their own. But the other 90% are invited into maturity.” - Peter
Pastor Haas and the leadership team at Substance Church in Minneapolis, Minnesota have seen how this practice works firsthand. Through their own study, they have come up with three avenues that they believe have revolutionized the growth and connectedness of their church.
- Help people make 5-7 friends within the church community
Making real friends feels like such a huge accomplishment these days. With people attached to their phones and virtual reality more than ever, personal connections can be hard to come by. But the truth is, we’re all human. And face-to-face connection is vital to our physical, mental, and spiritual health.
Pastor Haas says that the best way to help people make friends is to equip your small group leaders. If every small group leader in the church has the mentality of true connection and friendship, the growth and discipleship possibilities in your church can be endless.
To ensure their small group leaders feel equipped to make connections within the church, Substance Church holds training 30-40 times a year so that their leaders can constantly be fueled by the mission of the church.
- Give people access to ministry opportunities
Opportunities for your church members to get involved in your church–like serving on the Welcome team or the production team–creates buy-in to the mission and gospel of Jesus.
Studies have shown that inviting someone to participate in a ministry or church commitment is 90% more effective than having someone volunteer on their own. When people have access to ministry opportunities, there is significant growth in not only the number of people who attend church, but in the number of people who truly follow Christ.
- Put people in close proximity to a leader who can disciple them
Pastor Haas shares how his personal testimony was completely transformed by one-on-one discipleship. He explains how being invited to read the bible and having accountability in his walk with the Lord exponentially grew his faith and ultimately shaped the way he viewed church leadership.
Another important factor that Substance Church incorporates in its discipleship tracks is the confession of sins. Pastor Haas talks about how being vulnerable with your sin builds connectedness and strength in your Christian friendships. People want to be real, and it’s important that the church allows room for that while pointing and teaching them to form holy, transformational habits.
“I thought it was all about my message or all about the worship experience or the service production, but when I read these studies, it broke my model. I started thinking, churching them in a church service is not the same as transforming them.” - Peter
As church leaders, it is important to strive for excellence in all that we do, but we must be careful to not get lost in our performance as speakers or the production of our Sunday services. We must get back to the basics of discipleship and Spiritual Habit Formation in order to see true transformation in people.
By the end of this episode, you will learn:
✅ Peter’s 6 Levels of Objective Discipleship Metrics
✅ How to invite church-goers into discipleship
✅ How to train your small group leaders to build relationships
✅ How to make friends in church
Resources Mentioned:
Listen to episodes of Modern Church Leader: Modern Church Leader
Follow Tithe.ly on Instagram: tithe.ly
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Like Tithe.ly on Facebook: @tithelyapp
Check out more from Peter Haas: www.peterhaas.org
Find Substance Church: www.substancechurch.com
Other Episodes You May be Interested In:
Hiring A Lead Pastor: A Step-by-Step Guide to Finding the Perfect Candidate
Why Christian Leadership Matters
Effectively Encourage Giving & Boost Engagement
7 Ways to Boost Engagement in Your Small Group
Here’s a glance at this episode…
2:28 - Intro to Peter Haas
6:26 - Intro to Substance Church
9:00 - Church Entrepreneurship
11:12 - Spiritual Habit Formation
14:00 - How do you invite people into discipleship
16:50 - Teaching your small group leaders about giving
20:00 - How do you get someone 4-7 close friends in church
26:23 - Peter’s 6 Levels of Objective Discipleship Metrics
28:24 - How to train your small group leaders to build relationships
33:28 - Where people can find Peter Haas’s Resources
36:30 - A pastor that Peter looks up to
37:46 - Peter’s favorite book
38:38 - Peter’s favorite podcast
40:00 Where people can find Substance Church
