The ACTS Model for Church Growth

The Seventh-day Adventist Church in North America grew only 0.22% in 2020 (Adventist Statistics). That means that only one person joined our church for every 300 current church members! 

What happened to the amazing growth that happened in the early church? Is that kind of growth even possible anymore? 

Yes! At RENEW Church Growth, we are convinced that God wants to once again grow His church as He did in the days of the apostles. The proven principles of church growth He used then (R.E.N.E.W.) still work. And the phases of growth that the apostolic church experienced are the ones we must also experience in church growth. 

The Four Phases of Church Growth

The book of Acts reveals four successive phases of church growth and development: 1) Education, 2) Organization, 3) Dissemination, and 4) Replication.

God began the work of church renewal by educating His followers in His ways. In Acts 1 and 2, the apostles and disciples gathered in the upper room for ten days of prayer and reflection. When the Holy Spirit was poured out, they went out to preach a powerful message that reminded their hearers of how God had led in Israel’s past. God worked mightily and 3000 were baptized in a day.

Then God led the apostles in a work of organization (Acts 2:40 – 6:7) that would enable the young church to grow and prosper. Starting in Acts 7 we see the church begin to disseminate the gospel beyond the borders of Jerusalem through preaching and witnessing. Paul’s ministry utilized both public teaching and house-to-house ministry (Acts 20:20). His work developed churches that were capable of replication; they were church-planting churches. 

It is time to revisit these four phases of church growth. RENEW Church Growth is dedicated to helping churches progress through each phase of growth so they can truly be a light for God in their community. Click on the links below to learn more about each phase of church growth.

“In reviewing our past history, having traveled over every step of advance to our present standing, I can say, Praise God! As I see what the Lord has wrought, I am filled with astonishment, and with confidence in Christ as leader. We have nothing to fear for the future, except as we shall forget the way the Lord has led us, and His teaching in our past history.”

Ellen White, Life Sketches, p. 196.