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Why did you write this book?
I wrote Sticky Church in response to feedback from pastors and church leaders I've trained or mentored over the years. It seemed like every time I'd talk about the principles of stickiness, they'd ask for more. It's as if nearly everyone had issues with people coming but not sticking--or attending at such an infrequent rate that it was hard to genuinely disciple them.
At North Coast Church, we've never done any marketing or advertising. In fact, we've never even had a special outreach or bring-a-friend event. Yet we've grown to over 7,000 in weekend attendance. That means we've had to learn how to be sticky with those who come--especially with spiritual window shoppers and new Christians who often don't know Job from job.
What does it mean to be a sticky church?
It seems to me that many of our churches (especially our larger churches) are far better at opening the front door than closing the back door. In fact, many pay scant attention to the back door because as long as we have more people coming in the front than going out the back, it looks like we are healthy and growing. But that's not necessarily so.
Most everything in Sticky Church was hammered out on the anvil of real-life ministry experiences. Some of it was birthed out of negative experiences in my early days as a Christian; some out of the failures and struggles I experienced as a young pastor of a small church plant. And much of it flows out of the things I've learned in my 28 years at North Coast Church.
What are one or two things that you've learned about stickiness?
The first is that stickiness starts and ends with significant long-term relationships. It's not about providing better programs. It's not about developing a slick assimilation process. It's about finding practical ways to velcro people to one another for long-term (even lifetime) relationships.
A second would be that we can never forget that the purpose of being missional is not just to reach people--it's to reach them and grow them up to maturity. At North Coast, one of our plumb lines has long been: Disciples, not just decisions. I find that as leaders we can sometimes become so focused on evangelism that we forget that the people . . .
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| Religious People More Likely to Help Others |
Gallup polls conducted in more than 140 countries worldwide between 2006 and 2008 show that those who identified themselves as highly religious are more likely than less religious respondents to report that they have engaged in three "helping behaviors" in the past month. The three "helping behaviors" included donating money to a charity, volunteering, and helping a stranger or someone they didn't know.
| Older Adults Growing U.S. Market |
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41% of American adults are over 50, the highest percentage in U.S. history. |
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People over 55 own 77% of all financial assets in the United States. |
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50+ adults account for 45% of U.S. consumer spending, $2.1 trillion per year. |
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By 2011 the American 50+ population will surpass the 100 million mark. |
Taken from September & October 2008 AARP Magazine |
Among American workers who are employed, 62% could be considered "networked workers" who use the Internet or email at their workplace. In addition to being connected while at work, they have access to a wide array of technological assets outside of the workplace.
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| Soul Repair: Recovery Ministry Webinar |
Leadership Network is hosting a free one-hour online session with Dr. Dale Ryan, author of the new spiritual recovery book, Soul Repair. Dr. Ryan will talk about many of the
. . .
| Top 10 Innovation Trends Webinar |
Join Warren Bird, director of research for Leadership Network, as he counts down the top 10 trends in innovation from the largest churches in the United States.
Whether it's called the executive pastor, executive ministries or the executive director, Leadership Network is gearing up to . . .
| Lost and Found, a new book by Ed Stetzer, presents comprehensive research about the unchurched in the young adult generation and how open they are to spiritual things. Ed, director of LifeWay |
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Research, discusses these findings and what they mean for the church with Dave Travis and Warren Bird. |
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| You can peruse more than two years' worth of Leadership Network Advance feature articles, and get valuable information on a variety of ministry topics at the newsletter's Archives. Select VIEW ARCHIVES LIST for the full list of Advance archives. |
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