How to Double your Church in One Year.

According to Schaeffer Institute, half of all churches didn't add a single member in the last two years.  Pathetic.

My mind has been consumed with a phrase I heard several months ago:

This generation of Christians is responsible for reaching this generation of lost people.

Many people have tried to figure out a strategy for church growth, and they are all too complicated.  But General Patton said this:

A  good plan perfectly executed today is better than a perfect plan tomorrow. 

I believe I have found a good plan.   And the greatest part about this plan is that it is simple.  Here it is -

EACH ONE, REACH ONE.™

What do you mean by that you ask?  Each year, every person focuses on reaching one person with the gospel.  It is pretty challenging if you tell a student or a church member that we are going to reach the whole city.  But if you tell them, I just want you to reach one friend this year, they are able to focus their efforts like a laser.

The are 3 fundamental parts to the EACH ONE, REACH ONE.™

1. Each person prays for the person they are trying to reach daily
2. Each person invites the person they are trying to reach weekly
3. When the person they are trying to reach accepts Christ, they are responsible for the follow up and discipleship of that person.  - teaching them how to reach one the next year.

I have heard some churches have slogans like, "Each Member a Minister."  With the Each One, Reach One™ method, every member is a minister, evangelist, discipler, and prayer warrior.  If the small group is the most effective unit of the church, then the individual is the most effective unit of the small group. 

Our Youth Ministry has been following this strategy for the past 3 months.  We have seen 20 teenagers baptized in that time alone, and 35 students have accepted Christ at our Wednesday night meetings.  Our church has been recognized in the top 5% of Baptist Churches in NC for baptisms, and a majority of those baptisms have been from students.

In the past 6 months, our youth ministry has went from averaging 50, to averaging over 100.  Our Sunday School attendance has doubled in that time also.

Let's look at what happens when this strategy is applied, year by year, starting with 10 Christians.

1. At the end of year one, there will be 20, because each 10 has reached one.
2. 40
3. 80
4. 160
5. 320
6. 640
7. 1280
8. 2560
9. 5120
10. 10,240
11. 20,480
12. 40,960
13. 81,920
14. 163,840
15. 327,680
16. 655,360
17. 1,310,720
18. 2,621,440
19. 5,242,880
20. 10,485,760
21. 20,971,520
22. 41,943,040
23. 83,886,080
24. 167,772,160
25. 335,544,320
26. 671,088,640
27. 1.3 Billion
28. 2.6 Billion
29. 5.3 Billion
30. The Entire World

There will be more to come about Each One, Reach One™.  But for now, I simply wanted to implant the idea in your brain.