Growing the Church

Growing the Church in the Power of the Holy Spirit

This is not a quick-fix event or an off-the-shelf programme to ‘magically’ make your church get bigger. Grasping at the latest trend is tempting …but God Himself knows how He wants to work in your unique local context.

The fundamental question is: how can leaders and churches discern and obediently cooperate with the Spirit’s activity? Working with the analogy of partners in ballroom dancing, participants in this conference will discover:

  • The foundations that need to be in place so that churches and individuals can step out onto the ‘dance floor’
  • The ‘dance steps’ that can be learned in order to ‘keep in step’ with the Holy Spirit
  • The pitfalls and benefits involved in seeking to operate under the guidance of the Holy Spirit in this way.

This dynamic process of cooperating with the Holy Spirit is not a programme itself. Rather, it is an approach that underpins the breadth of a church’s programmes and activities. This conference explores how your church can grow in its practice of cooperating with the Holy Spirit.

What’s involved?

Corporate worship and prayer, responsive to the activity of the Holy Spirit

Systematic teaching, rooted in scripture and grounded in the realities of local church life

Intentional quiet space for prayerful reflection and personal spiritual encounters

Facilitated discussion in a small group, considering the practice and theology among peers

Debriefing, to deepen insights and understanding and to model accountability

The conference I attended was low-key, inviting, soundly biblical, practical and encouraging. This is “grace space” in which the Holy Spirit draws us more deeply into God’s love and joy. Congregations will grow stronger as their leaders become adept at listening to the Holy Spirit and following his lead. It’s a rare opportunity for pastors and leaders to receive refreshing, guidance, and power from the Holy Spirit.

I appreciated the balance of theological teaching, stories of leaders’ own experiences, small group conversations, worship and shared prayer. I arrived stretched-thin and weary, and I was renewed.
– Denise

This conference was developed alongside the book, Growing the Church in the Power of the Holy Spirit, which is used as the text for the course. Written by Brad Long, Paul Stokes and Cindy Strickler, this presents Two Foundations and Seven Dynamics for a church to grow in cooperating with the Holy Spirit to express the Kingdom of God in its local context.

The book is available to order from:

Amazon, including a Kindle edition

Eden (Christian bookshop)

Spring Harvest seminars

This material also formed the core of three seminars taught at Spring Harvest, and can be bought from Eden Christian bookshop:

Running on empty

Keeping in step with the Spirit

Discerning the Spirit

 

This conference is run in the USA, Canada, South Korea and the UK.