I was in a session today with Pastor Benny Tate, and he shared a powerful thought on: 5 Things You Can Do to Hinder the Growth of Your Church One statement that stood out to me was this: Churches do not grow around their leader. They grow under their leader. Leadership matters. Vision matters. Growth matters. Not just numerical growth, but spiritual health, leadership development, and the ability to steward what God wants to build through His church. Here are the five things that can hinder growth: 1. A foggy vision Proverbs 29:18 reminds us that where there is no vision, people wander. If it is misty in the pulpit, it will be foggy in the pews. Vision has to be clear. Habakkuk 2:2 says to write the vision and make it plain. The vision for a church is often birthed from the burden God places in the heart of the pastor. State the vision clearly. Cast the vision creatively. Repeat the vision constantly. Celebrate the vision regularly. Embrace the vision personally. People repeat what they see. Monkey see, monkey do. If we want people to carry the vision, we have to model the vision. 2. Refusing to change Methods are many, principles are few. Yesterday’s home run will not win today’s game. There is no growth without change, no change without loss, and no loss without pain. If you change something in your church and no one gets upset, you probably have not changed much. Healthy churches do not change their message, but they must be willing to adjust methods to reach people effectively. 3. Trying to do it all alone One of the greatest growth barriers in ministry is when the leader tries to carry everything by themselves. A major part of leadership is learning to delegate. If someone can do it 70% as well as you, let them grow into it. Ministry was never designed to be carried by one person. The goal is not to do everything. The goal is to equip the saints for the work of ministry. 4. The leader stops growing personally Churches grow best under growing leaders.

I’m so glad you’re here. This community exists to help Kids Pastors, Youth Pastors, Family Ministry leaders, Next Gen leaders, and church volunteers build stronger teams, better systems, and healthier ministries that disciple the next generation. If you’re new, here’s your first step: 1. Introduce yourself in the comments 2. Tell us your church/ministry role 3. Share where you’re from Also, make sure you complete the Next Gen Ministry Systems Audit. Once you finish it, post your lowest score in the group. I’ll help you think through which system I would fix first and what first step I would take. This group is not just for ideas. This is a place to build. Build the leaders. Strengthen the systems. Reach the next generation.

A ministry declines. A volunteer team burns out. A system breaks down. A family stops coming. A leader quits. A Sunday falls apart. Then we finally sit down and ask, “What happened?” But healthy leaders do not just perform autopsies after something is dead. They learn how to do a live autopsy while something still has life in it. A live autopsy means you stop long enough to evaluate what is happening before it becomes a crisis. You ask questions like: Where are we leaking momentum? Where are volunteers getting tired? Where are parents confused? Where is Sunday becoming chaotic? Where is follow-up inconsistent? Where are we depending too much on one person?Where is the system showing stress before it breaks? This is why systems matter. The goal is not to wait until a ministry area is dead and then diagnose what went wrong. The goal is to evaluate while there is still time to adjust, strengthen, and rebuild. Every healthy Next Gen ministry needs regular moments of honest evaluation. Not because we are negative. Not because we are looking for failure. Because we are stewarding what God has trusted us with. So here’s the question: What is one area of your ministry that may need a “live autopsy” right now before it turns into a bigger problem?

Complete the Next Gen Ministry Systems Audit and post your lowest score inside the group. I will tell you which system I would fix first and what first step I would take.