Lower Impact Results
High Impact versus Low Impact Results
Throughout the New Testament we see those far from God giving their lives to Christ wherever the Good News was preached. God calls us to be good stewards of the resources he entrusts. No matter how hard the soil, we must still ask what kind of return on investment (fruit) is being produced.
There are a number of different measures of return on investment (fruit) of one's time, talent and treasure. Regardless of models, some key measures of fruit include disciple making, numerical growth, reproduction, and financial viability.
Let's take a more detailed look at financial viability and the tensions it creates:
Let's unpack the 3 basic approaches shown on the graph above:
1. Incarnational Approaches -Typically low-cost with minimal financial investement and smaller in size (5 to 40 people). Return on financial investment is high as long as these faith communities are making disciples. If these communities become a place of retreat for those frustrated with the "institutional church", the fruit can be small in spite of the minimal financial investement. Relationships are the glue that bind these faith communities. There are typically no paid staff and few things to spend money on in this approach. Impact is via the life-on-life priority of those involved.
2. Shotgun Approaches - To be financially viable, it requires $60,000 to $100,000 in income to support the salary of a full-time staff person plus the associated cost of operations. The shotgun approach intentionally spreads the available funding dollars over a larger number of church plants with a target of launching with 40 to 50 people rather than focusing on fewer more well funded plants. This creates a financial tension that most planters struggle to ever overcome.
Consider the following:
- average church in the US is approximately 90 people and stagnant
- average new church in a recent study by Ed Stetzer is launched with approximately 40 people (in most cases not enough to sustain a paid staff position and associated ministry expenses).
- average church grows to 80 in the first 4 years. Although based on extrapolation, most of these churches likely plateau at the national average of 90 and never grow beyond 100 with momentum. These churches are handicapped from becoming healthy and reproducing.
- Total external funding to grow these new churches to 80 people is $100,000 (just over $1,000 per person in attendance)
- At year 4, 68% of these new churches have survived BUT the rate of death increases each year (7% loss from year 1 to 2, 9% loss from year 2 to 3, and 13% loss from years 3 to 4). What happens in years 5 - 10?
- At year 4, 38% of the remaining churches are still not financially self-sufficient
- Although there are many exceptions to the rule, the system is biased to produce financially strained, internally focused churches that plateau below 100 people. Some would argue that the combination of 38% not financially self-sufficient at year 4 and an increasing rate of death each year through year 4 is a formula for welfare.
The majority of new churches are started using this shotgun approach.
3. Launch Large - In this approach, more financial resources and support are put into fewer churches. The underlying assumption is that by adequately resourcing the plant to launch with health and momentum, the new church will become financially self-sufficient more quickly, will reproduce more readily, and will be more externally focused. Another key assumption is that churches that launch with fewer than 100 people are far less likely to grow larger than 100.
This approach does result in fewer churches in the short term with the expectation that more people are reached in the long term through growth and reproduction. Essentially the launch large approach propels the new church past the national average of 90 people and gives them critical mass and momentum.
The shotgun and launch large approach both require approximately the same per person investment to start (i.e. the average church spends $100,000 to get to 80 people where launch large churches spend about $100,000 for every 100 people reached). The main difference is that few dollars are invested in the shotgun approach resulting in fewer people on opening day and less money to invest building a healthy foundation.
Because of the large financial commitment and leadership gifting required in launching large, sponsoring partners are very selective in choosing lead planters.
Summary
Our alliance members typically choose the incarnational and launch large approaches over the shotgun approach. As such, Exponential Network defines "high impact" results in the context of these approaches.
Related Links