Right now, most churches are saying some version of this: we need to grow to survive.
But when growth becomes the condition for survival, churches are pushed into a posture of desperation rather than discernment.
Every organization—and every church—has the same basic limits.
Capacity is made up of three things:
time, money, and people.
When churches begin to believe they must grow to survive, they often stop asking what faithfulness looks like within those real limits.
Growth or viability?
Instead of asking, How do we grow?
we might need to ask, How do we stay viable?
For many churches and nonprofits right now, viability matters more than growth.
Not because growth is bad—but because growth that outpaces your time, your people, and your money eventually breaks the system.
When growth becomes a theological problem
We often treat growth as a sign of divine favor.
But sometimes chasing growth assumes the future depends on us—
our energy,
our cleverness,
our ability to do more with less.
I’d argue the opposite.
Faithfulness looks like honoring the capacity you actually have.
Being faithful within your real budget, your real volunteers, and your real time is far more realistic—and far more sustainable—than chasing growth that exhausts people and empties accounts.
Viability is not giving up
Viability isn’t resignation.
It’s stewardship.
It’s choosing:
sustainability over spectacle
presence over pressure
depth over scale
And maybe, in this moment, the most faithful thing a church can do isn’t to get bigger—
but to get honest about its time, its money, and its people,
and learn how to live well within them.
This kind of discernment—choosing viability over spectacle, faithfulness over frantic growth—is exactly the work of Substack Seminary.
Substack Seminary exists to help pastors and church leaders think clearly about capacity, sustainability, and leadership in a post-growth church.
If you’re tired of being told that bigger is the only faithful option, and you want language and frameworks for leading well within real limits, this is the space for you.
Join us.
Sooo much this! Being realistic about how much energy I really have has been part of my maturing.... and doing big things in small ways is so important!
'chasing growth' just leaves us exhausted. And ironically (and sadly) - doesn't actually help us grow as faith communities.
Only our faith does this. Only God does.
thank you for this.