This is part of a series of interviews with pastors of churches whose attendance has grown 20% or more in 5 years. We hope this series will be a resource of ideas to help increase worship attendance at your church.

The economic crisis that began in the fall of 2008 forced Mt. Bethel to re-examine its main purpose. The operating budget had to be reduced from $10 million to $8 million within a few months. Many staff positions were eliminated. Rather than cut into the “muscle” of the program (evangelism, missions, outreach), the congregation was challenged to care for the facilities themselves and divert the hundreds of thousands of dollars to our outreach ministries. In other words, we made a determined decision to focus our energies outward as opposed to inward. The effort has been miraculous.

Senior Minister Rev. Randy Mickle

The worship services changed overnight due to financial cutbacks. More focus was on congregational singing as opposed to choral. New, more contemporary hymns were offered on the screens during the blended and traditional services. Our contemporary service basically split into a student service with bands comprised of members, as opposed to “professionally” paid groups. The idea was to “serve” and not “be served.”

These kinds of changes involved risks. Our worship services become less “professional” as members volunteered their service. In order to meet the demands, our volunteers drove the buses, became parking lot attendants, kept the nurseries, cleaned the church and mowed the grass.

In the meantime, our Life Groups began to replace Sunday School for students and adults alike. Our Life Groups meet during the week in homes. If our students participate in a Life Group, they are eligible to serve on Sunday mornings as opposed to attending Sunday School. They keep nurseries, help in special needs Sunday classes, usher, work as parking attendants, etc. In order to accommodate the new “volunteers” a Student Worship Service was begun.

This intentional, outward-focus increased our volunteers for local and foreign missions. Mt. Bethel adopted a village in Kenya and sends mission teams regularly. In order to be “considered” for a foreign trip, our students must first serve in a local mission. Our students and adults work hands-on with the homeless. Mt. Bethel “adopted” a homeless ministry called The Garden and ministers to the people living under the bridges in the Atlanta area.

The new enthusiasm produced through the church’s response to the financial crisis caused some needed changes to be made in the traditional worship services. The desire to participate in the services enabled congregational song leaders to impact the worship climate. The music is more enthusiastic and the service is much livelier.

In an effort to propel the outward focus of the church, the “Hands of Christ” moment is included in each of the six worship services. This feature highlights a special ministry and its impact on the receiver and the server. Videos and short personal testimonies are used during this 3-minute segment.

All of these changes have combined to increase the desire to serve our Lord, enthusiastically. Our attendance has increased, our participation and eagerness to serve have increased, our membership has grown at a faster rate and yes, even our giving is up. Mt. Bethel pledged the new $8.9 million operating budget with the understanding that the budget will not be impacted by the things we should be doing for ourselves! Our outreach budget has doubled since 2008. We have discovered that God gives what we need financially, if we are willing to volunteer our services in and for the Cause of Christ.

Rev. Randy Mickler, Pastor - randy.mickler@mtbethel.org

Mt. Bethel UMC website: www.mtbethel.org

For further information about this project contact

Dr. Kenneth Lambert
Director of Church Relations
KLambert@FoundationforEvangelism.org
1-800-737-8333