Does your Pastor have life insurance?

[Dave McClung]

There is an additional issue. A pastor is a "key man" (the term should be changed to "key person" but the last time I checked insurance companies still use the "key man" term.).

Many businesses carry insurance policies on the executinves that would be expensive to replace. The company is the beneficiary of the "Key Man Policy." The purpose of the policy is to help dampen the cost to the company resulting from the death of a key executive or a key technical person. Churches should consider taking out a policy on the pastor's life, even if the pastor has a policy to cover the family.

[John Dahl]

...or that you believe that the motivating factor for "growing the church" (which, by the way, is not the work of the pastor or the church, but the Lord)...

That has to be bad news for the church growth industry. This kind of news, if it gets out, would kill the church growth seminar trade and the book sales industry. Shh.

Are you putting forth that it doesn't matter what pastor or people do the church will grow? This puts "go ye into all the world and make disciples" into a whole new light.

[Ryan Scott]

Are you putting forth that it doesn't matter what pastor or people do the church will grow? This puts "go ye into all the world and make disciples" into a whole new light.

I don't think you'd disagree, numbers aren't our concern, only faithfulness - and faithfulness doesn't guarantee numbers.

[John Dahl]

I don't think you'd disagree, numbers aren't our concern, only faithfulness - and faithfulness doesn't guarantee numbers.

Yes Ryan, I would agree that numbers cannot be a primary focus. They don't always tell the whole story. There will always be a lot of discipleship that doesn't always follow with numbers. But then we cannot forever disregard numbers either. Numbers always mean souls. Eventually a healthy church should be reproducing itself. Reproduction and growth should be a natural outflow of discipleship.