Five Reasons More Churches Are Moving from Vertical Growth to Horizontal Growth

Two of the most dramatic trends in churches the past decade are declines in attendance frequency and the move to horizontal growth.

I have written and spoken at length about the trend of declining attendance frequency of “committed” church members. But I have not really unpacked why churches are moving toward horizontal growth.

Definitions are in order. Vertical growth refers to an increasing number in the same place or unit. For example, if a church has grown from 150 to 175 in attendance in its 10:30 worship service, it has a vertical growth of 25. The growth takes place in the same service.

Horizontal growth is the term we use to describe numerical growth that takes place by adding units. For example, if the church above decided to start a new worship service at 9:00 am, and total attendance of the 9:00 am and 10:30 am services grew to 225 from 175, we would say the growth of 50 was largely horizontal growth.

So why is growth more likely today with additional services, classes, groups, venues, and campuses? Why do we see the horizontal strategy to be more pervasive today? Here are five key reasons:

1. Horizontal growth is usually better stewardship. It is typically better to add a second worship service than to build a new worship center from a stewardship perspective. The church can accommodate more people without more capital expenses and debt.
2. Horizontal growth can offer more choices to reach different demographics. As an example, a Tuesday night worship service may reach those people who…