Church Growth

• It is difficult to know how many Christians there are in the world. Estimates vary from 1.5 to 2.5 billion. Up to a third of the world's population claim some sort of Christian faith. This figure includes people who may know little of the Christian faith and rarely attend church but in a census declare themselves as Christian.
• The Church has grown rapidly from the time of Christ and is still doing so in South America, Africa and Asia. This is not the case in the USA and Europe, despite Church growth programmes, or in the Middle East where Christians have suffered much persecution.
• In 2010 there were nearly 1.1 billion Catholics, a big increase on the estimated 291 million in 1910. Despite opposition from the communist government, it is estimated that in China there will soon be more Christians than in any other country of the world. In 1900 there were no Protestant churches in South Korea, now the capital city of Seoul alone has 7000 with the Yoido Full Gospel Church reporting that it has a million members.
• It is estimated that churches in Africa are increasing by an average of 34,000 people per day. Worldwide, something lile 80,000 people become Christians each day, and over 500 new churches are formed.
• Convert


  Someone who has decided to become committed to a religion and change his or her religious faith
• Disciple


  Someone who follows and learns from a teacher
• Christians should just rely on evangelists for Church growth
• The primary mission of the worldwide Church is to proclaim that Jesus came so that the relationship between God and people can be restored.
• Christians believe that when Jesus died on the cross and rose again he saved human beings from sin, and through his grace made it possible for 'God's enemies' - humankind - to be forgiven and become his friends.
• Reconciliation


  A sacrament in the Catholic Church; also, the restoring of harmony after relationships have broken down
• Christians are to be reconciled to God and with one another.
• The Corrymeela Community seeks to promote harmony and reconciliation. People from various backgrounds gather at the residential centre on the north coast of Ireland for a time of peace-building through the healing of social, religious and political divisions.
• Persecution


  Hostility and ill-treatment, especially because of race, or political or religious beliefs
• The International Society for Human Rights claims that 80 per cent of all acts of religious discrimination in the world today are directed at Christians. The Pew Research centre reported that, in 2012, Christians were discriminated against in 139 countries- almost 75 per cent of the world's nations.
• In 2015 it was reported that the ten countries where the most serious persecution of Christians was taking place are North Korea, Somalia, Iraq, Syria, Afghanistan, Sudan, Iran, Pakistan, Eritrea and Nigeria.
• The church is growing rapidly in South America, Africa and Asia, but not in the USA, Europe and the Middle East
• Worldwide around 80,000 people convert to Christianity each day
• Over 500 churches are formed each day
• Throughout history, Christians have faced persecution
• Church growth is achieved by three actions


  • Charity
  • Missionaries
  • Evangelism
• Jesus: '"And you will be hated by all for my name's sake. But he who endures to the end will be saved"'
• Christian guidance teaches Christians to trust God and forgive people, rather than hold on to hatred towards others
• Church mission


  To make disciples, not just new believers. This means new Christians are also expected to help spread the faith
• Christian persecution today


  Christians are not able to practice their religion freely and safely
• Ways Christians can encourage fellow believers


  • Advertising and using media such as Facebook or Christian Radio
  • Sharing what God has done for them with others
  • Praying for others to accept God
  • Inviting people to Christian meetings, meals and social events
• Christian persecution


  • Christians face discrimination, including physical punishment and death sentences, for practising their faith
  • Terrorist attack which targeted two Coptic Christian churches in Egypt on Palm Sunday in 2017 - 44 died and over 100 people were injured in the explosions
• Great Commission


  The instruction of the resurrected Jesus Christ to his disciples to spread the gospel to all the nations of the world
• Organisations in the UK who help persecuted Christians


  • Translating and distributing Bibles and other Christian literature in places where this is not permitted
  • Training Christians and church leaders to support them through the trauma they may have suffered
  • Providing advice and support to Christians who have been victims of disaster
• Jesus and his disciples met hostility during his life
• The Great Commission is outlined in Matthew 28:16–20
• Jesus: '"Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you…rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven"'
• The disciples began their missionary work in spreading the good news about Jesus and obeying his instructions from the Great Commission
• Jesus taught them to love their enemies and pray for their persecutors, not respond with violence
• Evangelism


  The act of preaching or spreading the gospel with the intention of sharing the message and teachings of Jesus Christ
• Roman persecution of Christians began in the reign of the emperor Nero

  64 AD
• Evangelicals


  A worldwide interdenominational movement within Protestant Christianity that emphasises the centrality of being "born again" in which an individual experiences personal conversion, the authority of the Bible as God's revelation to humanity and spreading the Christian message
• Recognition of Christianity by Constantine

  313 AD
• In the early days of the Apostolic Age, Christians were persecuted by the Jews, who did not recognize Jesus as Christ
• As of 2016, there were an estimated 619 million evangelicals in the world, meaning that one in four Christians would be classified as evangelical
• Roman persecution of Christians


  • Nero had the Christians covered in wild beast skins and torn to death by dogs
  • Christians were nailed to crosses and thrown to hungry Lions
  • Christians were smeared over with combustible materials, and were used as torches to illuminate the night