ZIONICA.com

Church expansion continues despite economy

According to a survey conducted by Christianity Today International and Cornerstone Knowledge Network (CKN) earlier this year, four out of the five types of expansion projects churches undertook in recent years were done to enhance the ability to effectively minister to current members rather than the "unchurched" — those who do not attend church yet. Launching a multi-site venue off-site is the only expansion project that respondents say effectively ministers to those who are unchurched, yet only eight percent of the churches surveyed launched one in the last three years. Nursery/children's areas and classroom space were the top two types of facilities/ministry space expansion projects. Of the more than 1,000 church leaders who participated in the survey, which included senior pastors, executive pastors, and business administrators, three-fourths recently expanded ministry space and out of this, 34 percent did so in the last three years. Of the churches that didn't expand in the past three years, the top reasons were financial limitations and either flat, or declining, church attendance.