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.

“Riding the wave of the Holy Spirit”

To capture what has occurred in the life of Denver United Methodist Church is a task.  I became the Senior Minister in 2002.  At that time, the church was in her 118th year in the Denver community.  The average in worship for the last two years prior was listed at 259.  Denver UMC had 11 acres of land and 6 acres of the land consisted of two cemeteries.  The church membership was 452.  The musical flavor was high church.  I saw a huge potential then as well as in 2010.

Just prior to my arrival to Denver UMC, I had read two books that struck a chord within me.  In Rick Warren’s Purpose Driven Church he states that church must learn how to surf.  Surfing waves in the ocean sounded thrilling and adventuresome.  Rick equated riding the wave to riding the Holy Spirit.  Equally upon my heart was another book called The Church God Blesses written by Jim Cymbala.  Positioning a church that was 118 years old to grow with the thoughts of riding the Holy Spirit and being a Church God blesses was resonating with me.

A common thing pastors moving to a new church often hear is to not change anything in the first year.  That is bologna!  Believe that advice and you will not ride the wave or become a church God blesses.  Adam Hamilton has said, “A church must answer three questions each Sunday.  They are “Why Come?”, “Why Give?” and “Why Serve?”” To grow a healthy and thriving church these questions are nonnegotiable in riding the wave.  To tell a snapshot of the Denver UMC story, I will do so in light of these poignant questions raised by Adam.

Why come?  My father, who was a business owner, used to say after church on our way to get cold cuts at a local supermarket, “Why can’t the church be any more exciting or why is the Pastor flat?”  Little did I know that I would become a preacher and know that these comments could be about me?  I believe that God weekly draws souls to our church.  Since 2002, Denver averages over 10% each Sunday in guests.  That means they are looking to see what is going on in the life of the church.  Since 2002, we have averaged over a 100 people a year joining the church.

Technology is not the tail that wags the dog in a long established church.  The long established church is not driven by getting more people but in assimilation.  They often say “We don’t know everybody.”  I encourage you to read our web page at www.denverumc.org and how we communicate to our body what is happening.  When I arrived we had a basic web site, which was sufficient for the size of our congregation.  Today, we are daily making enhancements to the web page, along with strategic planning for what goes in the bulletin and weekly e-news.  With us riding the wave, it is essential that our congregation knows and can be a part of the movements of God.

I have always believed that people back winners.  In the church this language is communicated that people will attend a church that is making a difference in lives.  Worship services or experiences are non-negotiable in a thriving church.  In 2004, we launched an early worship service which had immediate fruit.  However, the music was relatively the same, with a Chancel Choir, children choirs, and seasonal Easter and Christmas cantatas.  In 2004, we hired a new Director of Worship who has empowered us to offer different styles including a Praise Band.  From the middle of 2006 to 2009, we had our Praise Band sing at our later service the first Sunday of each month while our Chancel Choir would sing at our early service.  This was a huge step for our church.

Beginning in 2008, in our Family Life Center, a service called G-Force-Where God’s Force is with You- was started for our children at the 10:30 am time slot.  This service is offered from the Sunday after Labor Day and continues every Sunday until Memorial Day weekend.  This was a huge undertaking targeted primarily at the age range from Kindergarten to Fifth grade.  This service averages over 100 each Sunday.    In 2009, we launched on the Sunday after Labor Day, a Praise service that in the first year averaged 100.  So, in 8 years, DUMC went from one traditional service to four services a weekend and we still get along.  These services are 8:15 Traditional, 9:30 Praise, 10:30 Blended, and 10:30 G-Force, combined drawing over 700 a Sunday with a church membership of 1150.

Preaching cannot be over looked.  I believe you often lead through your preaching.  Every congregation has marriages in trouble, people dealing with cancer, job and financial distress, but most importantly they must offer them hope in Jesus.  Dr. George Morris, my Evangelism Professor at Emory University, used to say, “The way people understand Jesus is the way they will live their life.”  Preaching at the crux is not to tickle ears but to empower believers to understand who they are in Christ and what it means to live out.

In essence, answering, “Why Come?” means that people feel they are riding the wave of the Holy Spirit and they have a desire in their heart to honor God’s Day as believers gather.

Why Serve? Christ said He came to serve and give his life a ransom for many.  For the church to be effective, we must have a plethora of servers.  It is not a matter of who is first or who is in charge.  Denver has used the “Every Member in Ministry” model which we gleaned from Frazer Memorial Methodist Church under John Ed Matheson when we sent 40 people to Montgomery, Alabama in 2004.  This model met our needs from 2005-2008.  But, being a long established church, people would not fill out the forms because as they said, “They are already doing that ministry and have been for many years.”  So, in 2008 we changed how people serve in ministry.  Doug Anderson, from the Alban Institute, said, “Systems create what they were meant to.”  With many not filling out the forms we had a systems problem.

Currently, twice a year we are getting volunteers through the web page and on-line registration.  We make concessions for the small percentage that are not on the internet.  This model has helped us move from marathon mentality to the sprinter mentality.  The marathon mentality simply means people volunteer indefinitely until we find you help or you die.  The younger generation says “Are you crazy with all my commitments?”  The sprinter mentality simply means you can volunteer for this season and event and that is it.  The younger generation ponders and says, “We can do that.”  Bingo.  We tie them into serving for a project and they feel ownership and the connected spirit of the church.

Serving is about feeling connected to Christ. In 2002, we had one person go on a mission trip to Costa Rica with our annual conference.  Yearly, we currently send over one hundred members on mission trips, with at least one trip overseas.  The biggest growth area of mission trips is in the area we call “Family Missions.” We started offering Family Mission trips in the summer of 2007.  The first mission trip was to the Blackfeet Parish UMC in Heart Butte, Montana.  We had 42 go and 18 were between the ages of 4-12.  Since that time, we sent another team to Montana, sent two teams to Cherokee UMC in North Carolina, and a team to the Apache and Navajo in New Mexico.  Since starting this focus, we have sent over 100 different people to serve on a family mission.  In this same time period, we have sent teams to Nicaragua and to Costa Rica, along with our youth group going various places.

Also, serving in our local area is vital.  Denver UMC has a group called “Helping Hands” that was started in 2007 by a group of ladies that had moved with their families into our area.  God put a burden on their hearts to reach out to others in the community.  Their ministries now encompass well over 100 a year volunteering in mentoring at the schools, packing lunches for kids, volunteering at local nursing homes, assisting social services, and other needs in the community.  This ministry has helped assimilate people who have a burden for their community.

In essence, answering “Why Serve?”  means that people feel they are riding the wave of using their lives to make a difference with their talents by serving people in need.

Why Give? You cannot have a thriving church in which people do not feel a need to give.  The last three years in the life of the church giving has been brutal.  We built a Family Life Center in 2007 for 4.5 million dollars.  Our people gave over 2.1 million from the years 2004-2007 to build.  This needed space was essential to our continued growth from averaging 301 in 2002 to over 700 now in 2010.  During the recession, we never lowered our budget and have seen slight increases yearly while our people have met the challenge.  This question is essential as to why someone strapped financially should give to the church.  For if the church is making a difference and riding the wave, then the Holy Spirit through God’s people meets needs not only in the budget but in mission giving.

In essence, answering Why Give? means that people feel they are riding the wave of using giving to fund the ministry of the church.

I could write easily of staff additions or changes, adding two Associate Pastors, and all the leadership flow charts that have been changed to meet needs.  It has been enjoyable riding the wave while serving a fast growing United Methodist Church.  Even though I sometimes feel I am coming off the surfboard or getting ready to crash, God has allowed me through my prayer and devotional life to stay on board and have the thrill of my life riding the wave of the Holy Spirit.

Rev. Jeff Johnsen   jeff@denverumc.org

Church website: http://www.denverumc.org