District Mission Growth:
Interviews with 6 “Best Practices” District Superintendents

The 2004 church statistics for nearly 5,000 congregations in the 82 districts of the United States and Canada are in. Five districts have been identified for Mission Growth Recognition based on the number of churches reporting growth in several key areas including: New Nazarenes, membership, worship attendance, Sunday School attendance, new church sponsorship and appropriations paid.

In five size groups the following districts have the best records:
Number of churches, District
12-39, Northern Michigan
40-52, Southern California
53-65, South Carolina
66-79, Virginia
80+, Los Angeles

New Church Recognition
The most number of new churches reported were on the Washington Pacific and Mid-Atlantic districts, each reporting 12 new congregations. New England was close with 10.




Best Practices Interviews
Tom Nees, UCME Director, interviewed the DSs of the five size groups as well as Ken Mills of the Mid-Atlantic district. The complete interviews will be printed and distributed during the Leadership Conference when the districts are recognized. They are available online at www.GROWmagazine.org. The following comments were taken from the interviews:



Interview with Ken Mills
New Church Recognition
Tom Nees – Starting 12 new churches in one year is remarkable. How did you do it?

Ken Mills – We are always looking for ways to start new congregations or an opening to a group of people in a particular location. It’s not a big concerted effort where we say that this year we’re going to plant or start 12 new churches. It’s just this constant thing we’re always working on.

TN – Do you train new church pastors?

Ken Mills – We do assessments and some planning.

TN – Are your new church pastors bi-vocational?

Ken Mills – Yes, most of them are. We tell them that’s what they have to do because there is no way we can get enough financial support for everyone who wants to start a church.

TN – Where do you find new church pastors?

Ken Mills – All of ours are from within the district, within local churches.

TN – Where do these new churches meet?

Ken Mills – About half start in Nazarene churches. The rest meet in rented facilities or other churches.

TN – On average how long does it take new churches to become permanent and self-sufficient?

Ken Mills – I’d say a good five years – sometimes it’s a bit more and sometimes less.

TN – Does the district have a strategic plan for starting churches? Do you identify areas or people groups underserved by the Church of the Nazarene?

Ken Mills – We used to do it that way. Now it’s more spontaneous. I’m still struggling with a strategic plan. I can’t get to first base. No matter what I do, what I try, I can’t get there. Most of the success we have is based on discovering where God is working and joining in there.

TN – How many new churches have been started since you came to the district?

Ken Mills – I don’t really pay a lot of attention to that. We started with around 70 and now we’ve got 83 or 84 organized, but then we’ve identified 105 or 106 if you count all the missions and NewStarts.

TN – Do you promote new church sponsorship?

Ken Mills – We do promote it. We don’t push it, but we do promote it. In other words we keep talking to pastors about the fact that they need to think outside their own congregation. And that’s hard for some of them because they are very survival-oriented at times.

TN – Your success seems the result of spontaneous new church evangelism rather than from strategic planning.

Ken Mills – Well it seems to work better for us. We may not get the mega churches but we’re reaching lost people.



Interview with Wayne Brown
Northern Michigan
TN – What has led to the recent growth of your churches and the district?

Wayne Brown – When I came as DS two years ago I discovered that the district has 1.2 million population, 65 percent unchurched. And so that’s what I really began to talk about. I think we get a mind-set, because we have no large metro areas on the district that the population is just not here, but with 65% unchurched, the fields are white to harvest.

TN – What are your goals?

Wayne Brown – I started talking about doubling the attendance by 2008. The total district worship attendance has been about 2004 – so I began saying “4004 by 2008.” And I also talked about “8 by 8.” I want to start 8 new churches by 2008.

TN – How many of your churches are growing?

Wayne Brown – About 75 percent. When I got here it was somewhere between 40 or 45 percent. It’s beginning to catch on. We have cities with small populations where we seem to be growing the fastest.

TN – What is your primary responsibility as a DS?

Wayne Brown – It is maybe a little bit like coaching a sports team. It is to help pastors see that they can do it, to believe in them, give them the tools. I think every pastor on my district wants to grow.

TN – What do you say to your churches about mission growth?

Wayne Brown – There are people in your community who do not attend church. Each one of you can reach one. I went to Guatemala in August and saw the growth. I just came back with no excuses. No longer do we have excuses. And so I’m just excited and trying to excite our people that this is our greatest day to win people to the church and to Jesus Christ.



Interview with John Denney
Southern California
TN – What’s happening on the district to create the growth in 2004?

John Denney – I’m a little surprised with the gains. We feel like we’re just getting started. We have emphasized what it means to be a missional church.

TN – How many of your churches are growing?

John Denney – I think probably around half. We are trying to stop the bleeding in the churches that are declining.

TN – What is the most important thing you do?

John Denney – The number one focus is churches that are in pastoral transition. I take it as a real opportunity when there is a pastoral change. Not that I’m looking for any pastor to resign. I don’t look at it that way, but once that happens I say, “Okay, now this church is squarely under my responsibility.”

TN – How do you conduct transition planning?

John Denney – I try to spend enough time with the church board so that I get to know them and study the church and start having a series of discussions with the leaders. I help them to start defining some things that they could be doing. And we do all that before we ever even consider a pastor.

TN – How do you find the right pastors?

John Denney – I believe that God must call and lay it on someone’s heart to become a pastor of that church. And I’ve discovered that in most of our churches we have drifted into more of a secular or corporate headhunting kind of process . . . many times a church begins to feel that they deserve the best. They’ve got great buildings and pay a good salary and so they’re shopping for the best. And so I have to work with that board to let them know that when we look at the challenge of that church being missional, they don’t have enough money to buy the kind of pastor they want.

TN – How many pastoral changes have you had since you became DS?

John Denney – I’ve had about 30 in four years. I am completing four years this month and I have not yet been back to the same church twice. We have gone four years and we’ve not had one pastor that I’ve been able to place in this type of process that has moved. I think that’s an incredible statistic right there.



Interview with Jim Bearden
South Carolina
TN – Congratulations on the great year that the South Carolina District had in 2004! How did it happen?

Jim Bearden – I don’t know that I can point to any one thing that was done. We’ve just got a very strong network of pastors who year after year do a good job.

TN – Are your pastors convinced of the need and opportunity to start new churches?

Jim Bearden – Oh I think so. We’re constantly struggling with getting the larger churches into starting churches. But I think after this has been promoted for so many years there’s good response.

TN – The reports indicate that 60 percent of your churches are growing.

Jim Bearden – Yes, I know that. And that’s what I was saying. I think we’re beating the national average. And I primarily lay that to strong pastoral leadership – a great team of pastors who do not have to be driven all the time. They respond out of basic desire and passion. It’s unusual I think, but it’s exciting.

TN – How do you work with your pastors?

Jim Bearden – We have reorganized our district into what we call mission areas. Each of these mission areas have mission directors.

TN – Do you meet with the mission area directors?

Jim Bearden – Rev. Scott Lowry, pastor of Sumter First Church is the district mission director. He meets with the mission area directors monthly. He gives full time to Sumter, but he gives about two days a week to the district.

TN – You’ve announced your resignation. What have you learned in 18 years as DS?

Jim Bearden- I’ll be quitting the job in July of 2006. I will have served as superintendent on the same district for 20 years. And I think over that period of time you learn the churches. They know you and you know them and you’re able to place strong leaders. But I don’t know any one thing that stands out other than the strong leaders, strong pastors who unselfishly give of themselves year after year.

TN –What are your dreams for the district?

Jim Bearden – At our last assembly I established some goals – challenging the district to start nine more NewStarts by 2008. We’ve got membership goals that would help us to accomplish the Centennial Goals that are fairly challenging. But my goal has been to leave the district with 70 churches – and we are right on target for that.

TN – You’re resigning, not retiring.

Jim Bearden – Amen! I don’t like that word retire.



Interview with Phil Fuller
Virginia
TN – The Virginia District had a very good year in 2004. You’ve been a pastor on the district and were elected district superintendent in August. What can you say about the growth of the churches that contributed to this record?

Phil Fuller – The credit goes to the leadership that Charlie Thompson gave during his 18 years as DS and to local pastors who as leaders are passionate about loving lost people to Christ.

TN – How do you describe his leadership?

Phil Fuller – He’s a godly man. He has a great deal of discernment, which is guided by his prayer life. He has a tremendous gift of encouragement that he gave to pastors. He just had this great ability to give you a phone call or send a letter just at the time you probably needed it the most. He gave a significant amount of free reign to pastors to try new ideas. He had and still has a passion for lost people.

TN – Where has the growth come from – any particular segment of churches on the district?

Phil Fuller – We’re one of the few districts that have three churches averaging over 1,000 in morning worship attendance. And every one of those churches grew and has grown significantly over the last 10 years. But not all the growth took place in the larger churches. Many smaller churches grew as well. Many churches, from the big ones to the smaller ones, have placed a lot of emphasis on membership evangelism.

TN – What do see as your greatest challenge as a new DS?

Phil Fuller – I pray for discernment and ask God for wisdom to try and be an encouraging, enabling coach to pastors, in churches of all shapes and sizes.

TN – What is your vision for the district?

Phil Fuller – I began asking the Lord to show me what impact we Nazarenes should make in Virginia. Of the nearly 8 million people in our state, almost 5 million do not belong to any church of any faith of any kind. I have felt prompted that Virginia Nazarenes should assume responsibility for at least 1% percent of those 5 million people. If my math serves me well, our target is to impact 50,000 people for Christ in Virginia over the next 25 years. Currently there are nearly 12,000 Nazarenes in nearly 80 churches so the vision is a large, and somewhat audacious goal.

TN – How do you intend to do that?

Phil Fuller – Our strategy is threefold. It’s going to take some churches with 5,000 in attendance – and we have the potential to do that. Overall, we want to encourage church health and growth. At the same time it’s going to take a larger number of churches to reach that goal.

TN – How do you spend your time?

Phil Fuller – Well, I’m learning. I’m listening. I talk to pastors regularly. I spend time going to be with pastors – call them to talk. I want to hear their heartbeat and catch their vision. I have spent time praying and asking God for vision. And early on I have had to spend a significant amount of time learning the ropes of a new ministry. For instance, I had to learn how to hold a church/pastor review. I have been on the job 12 weeks. I’m learning new things everyday.



Interview with Jerry Ferguson
Los Angeles
TN – In 2004 the Los Angeles District had the best growth record among districts with 80 or more churches.

Jerry Ferguson – Thanks for the news. I am surprised.

TN – How has this happened after several years when the district stats weren’t as good as this year?

Jerry Ferguson – Part of it has to do with what we’re doing to create a team atmosphere. But also in past years we have reported the loss of churches in multicongregational sites. With separately organized churches in the same facilities I discovered that there was quite a bit of tension between those congregations. In my first year as DS I actually had three Anglo congregations evicting their ethnic congregations. And I felt that just can’t happen.

TN – What have you done to remedy that problem?

Jerry Ferguson – The best approach, at least for us, was to encourage churches meeting in the same location to consider becoming one church with multiple congregations under one management structure so they’re not competing against one another. So some of those churches that were disorganized became part of larger congregations.

TN – You’re trying to overcome the landlord/tenant mentality with multicongregational sites.

Jerry Ferguson – Very much so. And we have found that by blending them into one church, there’s shared ownership, there’s shared vested interest in what happens to the total church not just a particular congregation.

TN – How do ethnic pastors of these consolidated congregations respond?

Jerry Ferguson – The Manual allows for multiple pastors. They are not considered associates or assistants. They have their own specific area of influence. And although there’s only one structure, one church board, one treasury, I do encourage each of the language congregations to have their own advisory council.

TN – How does a consolidated congregation decide who of the co-pastors is the first among equals?

Jerry Ferguson – I generally have the board make that decision.

TN – How do you propose to have your churches reach all the people groups on the Los Angeles district?

Jerry Ferguson – Over and over in all my churches they hear me say, “Look and sound like your neighborhood. You have a responsibility for the entire mission field.”

TN - Have you organized district mission areas?

Jerry Ferguson – I’ve organized 10 geographical mission teams. In addition, each language group has its own mission team. Language minority leaders are on the geographical teams as well as their language team.

TN – The 2004 report indicates that 63 percent of your churches increased in membership and 50 percent increased in both worship and Sunday School attendance.

Jerry Ferguson – I feel very good about that. Pasadena First received 262 new Nazarenes – that may be a record for a USA church in a given year. For the last decade the average annual number of new Nazarenes for the district was 800. This year we received 1,239 new Nazarenes. Across the board the majority of our churches were showing healthy growth.