Limited Enthusiasm Model
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What is an Enthusiast?
The word “enthusiast” frequently appears in my models. What is an enthusiast, and why are they important? An enthusiast is a special type of Christian. They are believers who are actively involved in the conversion of people to the Christian faith …
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Help! My Church is Heading for Extinction
What Can I Do? I have had considerable feedback from my two posts on the Growth, Decline and Extinction of UK Churches [1]. Many people have been concerned by forecasts of extinction and have asked me what they can do […]
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Growth, Decline and Extinction of UK Churches
Christianity is declining in the UK. In particular, the numbers participating in churches are decreasing each year. Of course, not all denominations are declining. A few are growing. What is the pattern of growth and decline across the UK denominations? […]
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Church Growth Modelling – The State of the Art
Background I started the church growth modelling project back in 1995 following a chance comment concerning the then-popular “Toronto Blessing”. A friend of mine noted the phenomenon’s growth and said: “It is spreading like a disease!” That got me wondering, […]
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Enthusiasts – Quantity or Quality?
In the church growth models, “enthusiast” is the name given to the Christian believer who is responsible for bringing unbelievers to faith. Which is better for church growth, more enthusiasts or better enthusiasts?
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Church Growth Limited by Evangelistic Purity
The fourth in the series on limits to church growth. The relationship between a mixed church and the effectiveness of evangelism.
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Church Growth and the Perils of Second-Order Feedback
Feedback is the process where an action has an effect, which in turn changes the original action. Either it magnifies it – reinforcing feedback; or it corrects it – balancing feedback
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Feedback and Church Growth
Feedback in a system that changes over time is the mechanism where an action results in an effect, which then, in turn, influences the original action. The action literally “feeds back” on itself. Reinforcing Feedback For example, if a population […]
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Infectious Church Growth
An “Agent-Based” View The central hypothesis I use to model church growth is that religious belief spreads like an infectious disease. This principle is built into the limited enthusiasm model of church growth. The church contains enthusiasts who pass their […]
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Anglican Church Decline in the West – The Data
The Anglican Church, once a key institution in the English-speaking world, has suffered decline for over half a century. Although in both the UK and North America there are many examples of growing and lively Anglican churches, as national denominations, […]
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Limits to Church Growth – Part 2
The Reproduction of Enthusiasts In a previous post, I investigated two barriers to church growth. Firstly, the lack of the supply of religion by the church. Secondly, the a lack of demand for religion in society [1]. For those barriers […]
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Nagaland Revival 1976-1982
Nagaland, an Indian state bordering Burma, saw dramatic growth in the number of Christians during the 20th century [1]. Composed of 16 separate tribes with different languages, the Naga people use English as their predominant language, which has undoubtedly helped […]
In 1904-5, Moriah chapel was the centre of massive church growth in Wales through a God-sent revival.