Growth and Change: The danger and necessity of a passion for church growth

by Andrew Heard, Geoff Robson (editor)

For many years, evangelical church leaders have been told that the key to seeing gospel growth is to “just be faithful”. In Growth and Change, Andrew Heard challenges this misconception head-on with wisdom from decades of ministry experience and deep theological reflection.

Richly biblical and heartfelt, this ground-breaking book confronts sacred cows, rejects easy answers and addresses the tensions felt by every leader who wants to proactively work for change while remaining absolutely committed to the word of God.

Genres: Leadership, Christian

297 pages, Kindle Edition

Published March 25, 2024

Reviews

[Thomas Black · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was challenging and inspiring. It balanced theological rigour, with accessibility, and with practicality. The driving purpose is to create a passion for church growth and a heart that is willing to bear the pain of change to work toward that.

Writing from a reformed evangelical perspective, there were two major tensions that were addressed:
1. Balancing the dangers of a passion for growth (from becoming "consumer-driven") alongside the biblical necessity to be passionate about spiritual and numerical growth. A concern for numerical growth is subset of a concern for people - that more people would be saved and matured.
2. Balancing the twin truths of God's sovereignty and genuine human agency - with a weighty recognition that whilst Christians don't control outputs (salvation and maturity), we do influence them.

Once he fostered urgency and the desire to change that flows these tensions, he then gives a theological summary of what the church is, and what a pastor is, as basis to encourage theologically informed pragmatism to best suit our contexts.

"Of course, salvation and growth are Gods work. But He has ordained that He does His work through His instruments, or by His means - by us and by our preaching."

"It is my longing that we would breed many more men and women who are restless…Restless to be whatever they need be and do whatever they need to do (within the bounds of God's Word, of course) to see our churches make disciples."

"The Gospel is our God-given means to rescue people from drowning, and they are rescued to come aboard the lifeboat... but the Church is certainly more than a metaphorical lifeboat. It is at the heart of God's redemptive plan to remake humanity, to gather together a people who are united in Christ, remade in His image, and to exist for His glory."

5/5 stars

[Billy Hanna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fascinating and challenging. Helps to balance the tension we have between the reality that; 1: God is sovereign and will achieve his purposes in the Church, and; 2: We have responsibility in the church to make disciples in the most effective way, whilst obeying what the Bible says.
The book pushes back on the notion of 'just being faithful', without critically looking at if our strategies are actually yielding fruit for the gospel. Good read.

[Rohan · Rating 5 out of 5]

The main point of this book is "to create a passion for growth and a heart that is willing to bear the pain of change" where "our passion for growth ... must express itself in a humble, sober and appropriate concern for numbers" but not for pride, but since the gospel / church is a lifeboat to a dying world!

Not at all pragmatic (except the last two chapters where he makes a challenging case for a 50 hour work week with one clear day of rest (starting the evening before)) but so helpful anyway. It's refreshing to read even while challenging me. Keen to see its impact in a month's time in how it has made me "change" even as a bible college student, ready for change for the rest of my ministry life.

Also helped me amidst discouragement about lack of fruit in evangelism. Thank God I am not called to be Isaiah, who preaches with no hope of a response. But the new covenant "This salvation of God has been sent to the Gentiles; they will listen. This is the age of reaping."

Highly recommend all Christian ministers / trainees read. Especially chapter 2, 8 & 10 (although all are very readable, doesn't take too long to read whole book)

Some quotes:
- "While we don't control outcomes, we do influence them ... I may be sincere, faithful and hard-working, but I am hurting the work."
- "We must take some responsibility for not just our inputs, but also for our outputs - in some fashion, and to some extent." (But our salvation as well as identity and self-worth does not depend on this)
- Paul "experienced the daily pressure of anxiety for all the churches ... his efforts made a difference to the outputs, and this weighed on him."
- "Theologically principled pragmatism - pragmatism that is always subservient to theological truth, always bound by the revealed word of God, and always shaped and coloured by biblical principles."
- "When people gather out of a desire to create "intimacy" and "community" this squeezes out the gospel imperative. Every new member changes the social dynamic, which threatens the very intimacy the group hoped to create."
- "The shepherd is to lead, rule, protect and tend the flock of God by feeding them with the word of God."
- To lead is to "seek to move an individual or group towards achieving an outcome that they otherwise would not have arrived at on their own."
- "Don't just preach the bible; we preach it to people to change their lives for eternity."
- "Our preaching is to be focused on this positive response."

[Steve Frederick · Rating 2 out of 5]

Without doubt this book is longing to provoke and awaken in us a desire to see the church grow. My chief concern with this book lies in specifically how it goes about seeking to establish the importance of numerical growth for ministry.

1. The book presents contrasting views at their weakest. It contrasts those who passionately “grieve” to see anyone go to hell, vs those whose moto in ministry is “just be faithful”. The “just be faithful” crew are described by Heard as those who are without any concern for how their ministry is received - who are content simply to settle into a “comfortable rut” - who have no regard for the growth of Christ’s church. That is straw-manning in the extreme! The affective power of the book, in my view, depends upon such straw-manning. Heard is challenging a “just be faithful” ethos that I suspect very few reading this book actually embody or hold to.

2. The book will routinely insert a list of brief scriptural passages that it claims illustrates/establishes the importance of prioritising numerical growth in church ministry. However, often no reflection is given as to what kind of numerical growth is being described in the particular scripture, nor the context, nor who is being addressed. For example, the rich man in hell (actually, Hades) in Luke 16 is presented as having a proper concern for the eternal fate of his brothers (a concern we are called to emulate). This is manifestly not how Jesus presents the rich man in this parable. It totally ignores the contrast Jesus is making with Lazarus.

3. The book constantly offers much-needed caveats about how its proposal could go sideways. The need for *so many* caveats, though, flags real concerns for me. I don’t see the NT writers needing to offer the kind of constant caveats we find here to keep their theology of ministry on track. Warnings against greed, anger, immorality… yes. Caveats about the “dangers” of Godly passion, not so much!
I suspect that this is a result of a rather under-developed theology of how precisely faithfulness and fruitfulness are related in scripture. This relationship between faithfulness and fruitfulness receives surprisingly little sustained reflection.

It is sobering that Carson gives such a warm commendation of this book. I was greatly spurred on and emboldened to “risk” planting a church after reading Carson’s “An Ordinary Pastor”. This book, in contrast, seems to ground its motivating power in less edifying ways

[Tim Goldsmith · Rating 4 out of 5]

I remember chatting to a guy after a "Reach Conference" (run by the author). This bloke was way down the liberal end of the theological spectrum, and he said "I know Andrew & I would disagree on a whole bunch of theological things, yet I can't deny that these guys desperately want to see people come to know Jesus and that desire shapes the way they do everything."
Thats a good summary of this book. Andrew Heard is worries that people have become mired in particular ways of doing church. They want to be "faithful", but sometimes their understanding of faithfulness is at the cost of fruitfulness. So Andrew, acknowledging that God is the one who changes people's hearts, nevertheless wants people to be shaped by "Outputs", that is people coming to a saving relationship with Jesus, and let this shape all of the things we do, the "inputs" so they would serve that greater goal.
Hats off, where I thought Heardy would be a little more hard-lined, he was softer than I anticipated, yet this book is unswerving in it's desire to see people in ministry have a burning passion for the gospel, to take on the burden of our part in God's sovereign plans, and to work in ways that are theologically formed, yet pragmatic in terms of building disciples.
If you've heard Heardy speak, you'll know where things are going, and in a sense this is a whole book following one basic theme, but it is still articulated well & there is a lot to challenge, encourage and maybe change people's ministries.

[Josh Gibbs · Rating 4 out of 5]

The whole book sort of functions as an exposition on 1 Corinthians 9v19-22, and as such has been a very helpful read, showing that's God in his sovereignty often works through us and not regardless of us. This highlights the logical endpoint that what we do really does matter and has an impact, even in matters of eternal spiritual import.

Chapter 3 wonderfully and clearly outlines the emphasis the Bible places on Jesus' atoning sacrificial death being absolutely central and, crucially, that salvation is an act of love. This was helpful to be shown, as well as powerfully moving in shaking me out of my complacent and uncaring apathy. The stuff about the great commission being a rescue mission and therefore numbers do matter (though not in the way we often think about them) was also very helpful. The stuff on rest from chapter 11/12 coincided helpfully with Zeal with Burnout to give some good practical tips about work and rest from someone experienced in ministry. Some very helpful stuff in here on Church structure and how we think about it, as well as how we structure and prioritise our own short lives, and why, biblically, we should prioritise them in the way he lays out.

Some of the conclusions he draws feel slightly overemphasized sometimes, which I see could be quite damaging to a believer or a church if they follow them completely, but I also think he has a compelling point most of the time.

[James Brixey]

A very odd book. The appendix was the most helpful chapter, and should perhaps have been chapter 5, or at least included earlier.

I don't know how to rate this book, partly because I have not been in a pastor. It feels like a lot of it was driving with both the accelerator to the floor and the break pedal on at the same time.

I think the summary of this book can be tied together with two points: firstly, that we should hold fast to the constraints that God has given us. But secondly, within those constraints, we should judge what we do by what outcomes it produces: if the church is running a ministry that fails to effectively bring people to Christ or grow them in their walk with Christ, we should change how that ministry is run. Furthermore, we have a biblical injunction to desire and work towards a greater number of people being saved and grown, and for that growth to be profound.

In as far as this book brings people to this conclusion, I would say that this book has done a good job.

[Josiah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Clarified the things I felt concerned about this movement, especially the church's role in care for the needy in chapter 5 - using a helpful Piper quote: "Christians care about all suffering, especially eternal suffering".

I found the idea of focusing on outputs helpful too, without neglecting inputs. Though, found it interesting that Heard justified this with both the Bible and military language (ch7&12).

Left feeling discontented with how I've often conducted ministry, and inspired to be more intentional and output focused - what's my goal and how am I going to get there?

Worth and reflective read for anyone in ministry, especially those with any responsibility over others.

[Anthony Rodriguez · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a challenging book. I appreciate the heart of the challenge and the intent. I don’t know that the execution is right all the time. But, for me, this is likely a useful challenge against my own biases. It’s certainly unsettling.

[Daniel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Still collecting my thoughts about this book. Much of the book convicted and challenged me, stirring in me a renewed desire to see people won for Christ. I especially appreciated the emphasis on "fruitfulness" as an important paradigm to evaluate ministry.

Other parts of the book I thought were actually quite unhelpful. Particularly, I felt the author set up a number of caricatures of pastors that he then argued against. Eg the guy concerned to “just be faithful” who doesn’t care about the growth of the church at all. At a number of points I was thinking, does anyone actually think this?

He also tends to pit things against one another that I think should be held together - faithfulness and fruitfulness; a concern for the growth of members vs conversion growth etc.

There's also something about the language of inputs and outputs that doesn't sit right with me - and I wonder what affect the use of this manufacturing type language would have on our thinking about church if we used it consistently over time.

Still some really valuable things to take away from this book, but some significant reservations too

[Daniel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Touted by Don Carson and Richard Coekin as THE book on ministry to read in recent years. If the American church is perceived to focus too much on ministry outputs (numbers, megachurches) and the British church in reaction has just focussed on the inputs (faithful preaching), then the aussies (Andrew Heard/EV/Reach Australia) are trying to strike a biblical balance.

The book is basically a challenging call to pursue change (in ministry) for the sake of rescuing more souls; not to hide behind mere faithfulness in inputs ('just be faithful and let God take care of the rest' without ever changing anything) but to take serious responsibility for our influence over outputs (people being saved and matured).

Most helpful chapters= 4,7,12 on the importance of numbers ('numbers matter because people matter', the church is a ferry boat disaster rescue crew), how God can use our inputs to influence the outputs, and outcomes should shape how we lead- i.e. if we remember it's ultimately about rescuing the lost and maturing people in Christ, it will shape our vision statements, the kind of mission partners we choose, staff roles/responsibilities...etc. Helpful bit in the appendix about the pentagon/5Ms church model, and scenarios of outcomes-focussed leadership.

Very helpful touch on the tiller to not merely focus on inputs, but to think harder and smarter about how those inputs can influence the outputs. The challenge is how to set reasonable output targets.
Will defo need to come back and think more- gd to read with a ministry staff team as well.

[Chloe · Rating 4 out of 5]

'Growth and Change' is all the hype in Sydney's evangelical churches for a very good reason.

Every church and ministry leader should read 'Growth and Change'. Heard's exposé argues that change is a gospel-motivated necessity if Australian churches are to be healthy, growing, and mature in Christ.

Heard likens Bible-based evangelical churches to lifeboats saving those who are drowning. Our churches neglect our duty to be workers for the harvest when we focus solely on the saved inside the boat and letting the needs and preferences of the saved inside our churches direct our activities. Heard urges churches to renew our hearts for the lost in our area, not ignoring the grim future that awaits them if they remain unbelievers.

Of course, this brings up questions about the sovereignty of God and the role of human effort. Heard shows us that both are true: God is totally sovereign AND we have been given a measure of responsibility for the harvest. Similarly, we need BOTH pragmatism and principle, or as Heard calls it, 'theologically-principled pragmatism' in our approach to change. It is undeniable that church membership in Australia is declining. In order to see our churches grow (and by 'growth', Heard means conversions and maturing in discipleship), we must change. However we change will differ depending on our church context and resources, but regardless, we must change, and be willing to regularly reevaluate and pivot our efforts as we pursue gospel mission.

Despite the rhetoric many of us grew up with ("numbers don’t matter; just be faithful,"), numbers really do matter because they indicate conversions and more people on the lifeboat. We must diligently pursue increasing our church numbers and carefully avoid compromising the gospel for this end. At the same time, we must trust God with the results of our efforts. We must labour, we must truly work hard for the gospel and take responsibility for our inputs and outcomes, at the same time as we recognise God's sovereignty in his rescue mission.

To me, this means keeping a pulse on our cultural moment and the struggles of the people we are seeking to reach. For instance, "hellfire and brimstone" preaching was a focus of evangelical crusades past, but it's entirely inappropriate for younger millennials and Gen-Z because they are so overwhelmed by anxiety and depression and the coming to terms with the fact houses and children seem to be mutually exclusive life paths. For this audience, we don’t ignore the consequences of unbelief, but we put a greater focus on God's love and the security his people have in him. It's not changing the gospel, but it's starting somewhere different to meet the needs of our hearers. It's one example of Paul's oft-quoted 'become all things to all people so that by all possible means I might save some' (1 Corinthians 9:22).

If you're a pastor, ministry leader, or enthusiastic evangelist, 'Growth and Change' is for you.

It's not a comfortable read (neither is the Bible), but it's absolutely necessary to give yourself and those you lead the theological principles to guide the way you do church and mission in your context.

[Dan Gomes · Rating 4 out of 5]

An important book on change. At points it could’ve been briefer, at others it could’ve been more elaborate, e.g. it could have had a few more applied examples. But, overall, a thought-provoking, challenging and inspiring book on change in the church.

A key theme in the book is the need to see that ‘the pain of not changing is greater than the pain of changing’. In other words, people don’t like change because it can be painful. So, you need to help them see how not changing (especially in the long haul) can be even more painful.

[Matt Glidden · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love a book that has a title that accurately summarizes the book. If you are bothered by the oversimplification of church work to “just be faithful”. If you feel like there has to be more than just faithfulness, then this is the book for you. Andrew Heard gives strong biblical foundation for an emphasis on growth and change in our churches. We are called to fruitfulness. We are called to grow. It’s dangerous and necessary.

[Peter Johnson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Andrew Heard makes a convincing case that churches and their leaders should give much more emphasis to outputs, not to just getting the inputs perfect. Challenging but eminently practical. Good, solid theological foundations underpinning.

[Jesse Baker · Rating 5 out of 5]

This just makes sense. Overcome vague inputs. Focus hard on clear outputs. All for God’s glory.

[Richard Sweatman · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent book. Gentle but still very persuasive in bringing us to be convicted about growth and change. I was making changes to my ministry even as I was reading.

[Melissa]

Tim Challies

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent book - particularly helpful in thinking about shifting from an input to output mindset, and keeping the output in mind in all that we do.

[Rob Bridgewater]

Review on way.

[Glenn · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good book that covers the topic well… well worth a read…

[Hannah · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5/5