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24toDouble & the promises of Jerry Lawson (kinda long) |
Dean Steenburgh |
About the middle of last year our church finally made the decision to do something about following a plan for church growth ...or so we thought.
We watched Jerry's infomercials about 24toDouble & thought we might try it.
Jerry claimed that when you use the system you'll begin to see growth in attendance & in your finances.
So we finally bit & applied the discipleship system to see how it worked.
It DID NOT WORK ...at first.
In fact at first I thought all we were having was a get together, fellowship or semi-learning session.
As the first day was approaching to begin module "0" I spoke for 4 weeks on subjects related to why we need church growth, new ministry opportunities (especially to kids) & why discipleship is so important.
In the archives of of Jerry's podcast was a question from a guy who said his church was about 40 people strong & he wanted to know how many of those 40 folks should attend the 24toDouble module sessions to which Jerry quickly replied, "ask all of them to be there due to getting everyone involved."
Our church here at FCC is only about 90-100 strong & that's on a really good day and with those side line attenders who come 5 or 6 times a year.
We offered a sign-up sheet to join 24toDouble sessions to begin on the 2nd Sunday of each month at 8:30AM until 10AM & 44 people agreed to come listen to module 0 & to join in on the 24 sessions for 24 months. (We chose the 2nd Sunday of each month because it has the least chances of running into a holiday & we needed consistency.)
Here is our results so far:
Module 0 - the group grew & about 50 came out to hear this module ...no church growth & no additional finances came in.
Module 1 - the group maintained integrity & 44 showed up ...no church growth & no additional finances came in.
Module 2 - about 40 came out for 24tD training ...a new family showed up & there was buzz about whether or not it was due to '24toDouble' & the finances are not looking good.
Module 3 - 36 came out & I think this is the committed group ...another new family has since began attending & more speculation related to 24toDouble ...worst month financially in years.
Module 4 - 36 seems to be the core we were hoping for ...about 4 new families have began attending, new faces are everywhere, 2 "new tithe paying families" are attending, pastors are wearing black "INVITE" t-shirts on Sunday mornings with the emphasis on 'Inviting" people to FCC.
1500 "Invite" cards were ordered to hand out to the community. We know that 24toDouble is kicking in & the volunteers are excited about church growth.
I used the message series from 24toDouble called, "The Other 90" over a 4 week series & our finances are beginning to grow.
Attendance is getting bigger every week in the last 6-7 weeks.
WE had some folks who thought that 24toDouble was a magic bullet & all you had to do was pull the trigger & watch out.
THAT ISN'T HOW IT WORKS!! hahaha
This takes work & requires patience.
Jerry says over & over again that when you apply the principles of the program that your church will grow & so will your finances ...that might not happen ...over night ...but it will happen when you apply yourself, bathe this thing in prayer, encourage the volunteers & don't try to outpace the system.
"24" is in the title of the name for a reason ...it's a "24 month" long process.
I'm not trying to carry Jerry's water here so this isn't a commercial but I will tell you that as we enter our 6th month since we've completed 0-4 modules, our church has seen growth & the energy in the house has changed in a positive way.
Volunteers are early on time, they know their gifts & passions and the word is getting out that the old church on Rumble Road is seeing fresh faces once again.
One of the volunteers, an older guy who is slightly disabled took a bunch of "Invite" cards & began passing them out. Almost every day he gets positive feedback & he's got people who are showing up to check out FCC as a result of being "Invited" to attend worship & they are showing up & sticking around.
Near by & around the corner is a big box A/G that offers 'Space Camp' kids ministry, jungle gym for kids, Fitness Center for parents, rock concert worship complete with fog & lasers & multi-media presentations.
Our little church offers close friendships, fellowship & simple illustrations of the plan of Christ.
Both methods have their attraction but this is all we can offer at this time.
Our reason for looking for help:
We were in a serious decline. Lost 5 of our top 7 giving families in less than 10 months & we lost more than that in our middle support of families who give generous in the $4-6 thousand a year range.
Kids ministry was all but nearly gone even though youth ministry was doing fairly well.
Sunday morning attendance dipped under 60 on a regular basis.
Of the 50 families that call FCC their home church less than 50% of them helped to support in some way & only about 10-15 families actually keep the bills paid.
Many other things began to function is more of a negative manner & all the pressure was mounting, but somehow I knew God wasn't through with us yet.
24toDouble didn't pop out of the computer & change everything, we still have plenty of difficult challenges, but God is helping us.
Our men's & women's ministries are up & running strong. Youth is doing really good, kids ministry is seeing new kids every week, food ministry every Saturday morning is the strongest ministry tool we operate.
If you're struggling & trying to figure out how to hold on to ministry & the reasons to quit are bigger than the reasons to stay then I challenge you to reach out & see if something like 24toDouble might work for your church or your ministry.
PM me if you have personal questions or if you would like for me to explain help in some way or shoot me an email & we can discuss your situation.
Blessings, Dean
. _________________ "Empty nest syndrome is for the birds!"
Email me at: SteenburghDean@gmail.com
Church planters are focused on just one thing ...introducing people to Jesus!
What are you focused on?
Last edited by Dean Steenburgh on 1/27/19 4:28 pm; edited 1 time in total |
Golf Cart Mafia Capo Famiglia Posts: 4682 1/26/19 3:30 pm
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Cojak |
I love a positive Report. This sounds great. Too many of 'US' really like the idea of as you said, 'Pulling the Trigger' and let it work. I admit to being in that category. But our home church could be exactly as you described FCC, I hope I can help when we return.
Love it my friend and hope to hear bigger and better things from out that way.
Love, prayer and God's speed from a chilly Florida (presently) _________________ Some facts but mostly just my opinion!
jacsher@aol.com
http://shipslog-jack.blogspot.com/ |
01000001 01100011 01110100 01110011 Posts: 24285 1/26/19 7:41 pm
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Quiet Wyatt |
Is 24toDouble still the same price? Last I heard, it was something like $200 per month. Sincerely curious. |
[Insert Acts Pun Here] Posts: 12817 1/28/19 11:00 am
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Nature Boy Florida |
If it motivates your folks to be on time, courteous, genuinely caring - then the program is a huge success. No wonder attendance increases. Sometimes our folks forget the main things. _________________ Whether you like it or not, learn to love it, because its the best thing going today! |
Acts-pert Poster Posts: 16646 1/28/19 11:27 am
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Dean Steenburgh |
Quiet Wyatt wrote: | Is 24toDouble still the same price? Last I heard, it was something like $200 per month. Sincerely curious. |
$99 a month for 24 months for about $2,400 or
$299 every 4 months to make it $1800 or
Pay it off for $1,499 one time payment.
The first 60 days is a trial basis but the whole thing is set up to give you back your investment if you haven't doubled in 24 months.
It's been great so far & we've got people coming to FCC who have never been here before & they're already inviting new friends to come with them.
The whole thing is about "INVITE" make sure to invite someone to worship & have teams of people (any size church can do it) to assimilate the new folks. _________________ "Empty nest syndrome is for the birds!"
Email me at: SteenburghDean@gmail.com
Church planters are focused on just one thing ...introducing people to Jesus!
What are you focused on? |
Golf Cart Mafia Capo Famiglia Posts: 4682 1/29/19 10:37 pm
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Dean Steenburgh |
Nature Boy Florida wrote: | If it motivates your folks to be on time, courteous, genuinely caring - then the program is a huge success. No wonder attendance increases. Sometimes our folks forget the main things. |
Yes, they are courteous & caring but it also helps them to become mindful of their position in ministry.
The 24tD system helps people find their gifts & passions - our church has been blown away by the results. _________________ "Empty nest syndrome is for the birds!"
Email me at: SteenburghDean@gmail.com
Church planters are focused on just one thing ...introducing people to Jesus!
What are you focused on? |
Golf Cart Mafia Capo Famiglia Posts: 4682 1/29/19 10:39 pm
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Nature Boy Florida |
Dean Steenburgh wrote: | Nature Boy Florida wrote: | If it motivates your folks to be on time, courteous, genuinely caring - then the program is a huge success. No wonder attendance increases. Sometimes our folks forget the main things. |
Yes, they are courteous & caring but it also helps them to become mindful of their position in ministry.
The 24tD system helps people find their gifts & passions - our church has been blown away by the results. |
Agreed.
That's really great. _________________ Whether you like it or not, learn to love it, because its the best thing going today! |
Acts-pert Poster Posts: 16646 1/30/19 7:57 am
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