Ascending (God’s House Model)

“For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
So are My ways higher than your ways,
And My thoughts than your thoughts” (Isaiah 55:9)

God’s plan is that every church operates on the ascending church model. His plans for growth start with educating His people. He leads us to reflect on the Word of God and the way He has led His people in the past. This is where the church recognizes the value of God’s plan and adopts it as its own.

Reflection prepares the church to organize as the body of Christ. The church builds momentum during the organization process as it empowers and nurtures its members and the number of disciples increases. Then it is ready to pursue ministration through evangelism and witnessing. This is where strategy is put into place as the church seeks to reach its community through public outreaches and personal connections.

In the final phase, the church replicates itself by planting more churches outside its own borders that also follow the ascending model. At this point, the church must continue to pursue all four phases concurrently for ongoing success.

Descending (Man’s House Model)

“There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death” (Proverbs 14:12).

Man’s church growth model is a descending one. As humans, we tend to focus on building a grand institution and forget to look to the Holy Spirit for guidance. Without God’s power at work in us, our plans quickly lead to stagnation in church growth. Once that sets in, the maintenance phase follows in which the number of disciples dwindles and the church does less and less outreach and personal witnessing. Next, we have preservation where there is very little or no discipleship training and the pastor is relied on heavily to keep the church alive. At its lowest level, the church is on life support. This is where they become nostalgic about what they once were, never thinking about what God could create in them again.

All is not lost for a descending church. God specializes in reviving dying churches. He’s done it before and He’ll do it again!

If you recognize that your church is descending and are ready to get on board with God’s church growth model, contact us today. We’d love to guide you through the process of renewal and growth!