This quote from an article in Church Solutions Magazine adds some fuel to the fire from our conversations as a staff and implementing our strategy as a church.
The statistics tell the unfortunate truth. Eighty-seven percent of American churches have either plauteaued or are declining in attendance. We can and should innovate until we are blue in the face. We can Twitter and blog and connect through social networks. We can have conferences and cheer each other on. We can do multisite and plant churches. But the fact remains that of the 13 percent of churches actually growing, less than 3 percent are growing by conversion growth. That means 10 percent are just doing a better weekend that attracts more Christians. Jesus didn’t come to reorganize, he came to simply seek and save lost people. He came to reconcile us with the undeserved and unthinkable love of God.
I pray that God would use The Austin Stone to not only impact the lives of those in the church, but to change the face of the city of Austin for the glory of God.
