Church Growth

     The Manchester Church of Christ in Manchester, Connecticut started meeting on September 10, 1961. Its founding minister was Mr. Eugene Brewer and it consisted of 30 members. In its first five years, this young church grew to 150 members. This growth was accomplished through solid Biblical preaching, prayer, and door-to-door evangelism.

      From 1970 to 2009 the Manchester Church of Christ continued to grow. Through the use of soul-winning workshops and evangelism seminars members were trained in how to present the gospel message and win others to Christ. During this time over 1,000 new believers were added to the body of Christ. For Manchester being a small area this is an impressive number of new believers. What is even more impressive is that the Manchester Church of Christ was able to plant three new churches in Connecticut as well as sponsor Arthur Berry and his family as they began their work with a small church in Manchester, England.

      By using every tool available including T. V. and advertisements, the Manchester Church of Christ has continued to grow. In the last ten years the church has grown from 199 to 279 members, a growth of over 40%. Yet the church is not satisfied with this growth rate. On July 1st, 2007, the church hired Anthony Melakian to be the Outreach Minister. Since 2007 there have been 58 new members added to this congregation.

      While this church is dedicated to growth its age demographics depict a "declining church" trend. Since 1997 there has been a steady decrease in adults 40 and younger while the percentage of adults 50 and older has increased. Furthermore, of all the church members involved in active evangelism, only three are in the 20 to 30 age group. If the Manchester Church of Christ wishes to continue to grow it must reach out to more young adults.

      When the growth of the Manchester Church of Christ is compared to the church growth pattern found in Acts 2:1-47, it is possible to see the similarities. In Acts 2:1-47 we read of Peter's sermon that convicted many of his listeners of their sins.When he was asked, "What shall we do?", he instructed his audience to, "Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins" (verse 38). Once Peter's listeners had repented and had been baptized, they began to meet regularly for fellowship, prayer, and preaching. This pattern is similar to what occurred in the Manchester Church of Christ. The minister's preaching, along with the fellowship and prayers of the church led to the growth of the church from 30 to 150 members in its first five years.

      By comparing these two examples of church growth it is possible to draw the following conclusion. Through solid Biblical preaching, fellowship, prayer and having all church members involved in evangelism and teaching, the church will grow. Members of the surrounding community will see Christ in the lives of those in the church and will be drawn to them. How we as believers live, pray, preach, fellowship and witness will help the church to grow.

James M Lowery Jr.