Aiming to Be a Sticky Church

Larry Osborne, author of Sticky Church, tells the story of his early days as the pastor of North Coast Church near San Diego, California. It was a congregation of 150 when he started at the church and he had dreams of growing the church, but five years later the church was still at the same level of worship attendance. Osborne was frustrated and surprised. New people were attending and becoming regulars at the church. Why wasn't the church growing?

It was at this point that Osborne and his team realized that while the "front door" to the church was open and ready, the "back door" to the church was also wide open. People were attending regularly, then less regularly, then quietly walking away. He decided that if the church was going to grow, North Coast Church would have to become a "sticky church", a place where people come to find and new church home and stay, becoming committed disciples.

The turn around came when the church did one specific thing: they formed sermon-based small groups that met weekly in the homes of congregation members. Each week, small group leaders are given a discussion guide based on that week's sermon and the groups meet.

Osborne found that when people were connected in community, not only did people grow in faith, but the church flourished. In the early 80's the church started to grow and has gone from 150 to 7,000 worshipers each weekend. Osborne writes that this did not happen because of a great marketing campaign or perfect worship/preaching every Sunday
, but because the church is committed to having 80% of the people who regularly attend worship at North Coast Church participating in small groups.

The sermon-based small group's two major goals are to connect people to the Bible and to other Christians. Osborne writes, "While it's true that a Lone Ranger can learn a lot through self-study, Lone Rangers are not exempt from 'need to know' and 'need to grow' moments. Yet when they are faced with one, their isolation guarantees that the only thing they'll know is what they already know. As for wise counsel, a warm hug, or a swift kick in the rear, those are rather hard to self-administer. If we don't already have those kinds of relationship in place, it's usually too late to pull them together once a 'need to know' or 'need to grow' crisis hits with full force."

"Small groups change everything." Osborne writes about the many ways small groups can change a church. They dispel the myth that a person with theological training or being on site at a church are necessary for spiritual growth. Small groups encourage spiritual practices, increase "come and see" evangelism and improve a pastor's preaching.

Brighton First's Discipleship Team is working to introduce both study classes and small groups to the congregation in the fall. If you are curious and, perhaps, feeling led to be in a small group or to lead one, please contact Bob Fuchs or myself. This is an exciting time for our church as we continue to know, love and serve God together.