Four years ago, a small group of believers near Littleton, Colorado, was lamenting the death of their dwindling church. Sitting in the dim chapel with its 1950s décor, red velvet curtains, banged-up pews, and small windows, the 20 remaining believers in the once-booming church came to an almost-unanimous decision: it’s time to sell the building.
But the lone dissenter changed history for this little church. He insisted that if they sold the building, it would turn into a marijuana shop or a Muslim gathering place, removing the Christian influence on the block. No, he said, we should let Littleton Bible Chapel have it—for free.
When Littleton Bible Chapel—the church home of four BER team members, including Alex Strauch—got the offer, they sensed the Lord calling them to plant another church. And that’s exactly what they did.
Alex, who joined the plant, shared how the Lord turned this dying church into a thriving one that has outgrown the parking lot. Here were the keys to success:
Good leadership. About 25 people from Littleton Bible Chapel left to help with the church plant and most of them were on the younger side, so Alex and his wife, Marilyn, volunteered to bring their maturity to the table by joining the group for six months (which turned into three years). For the first year, the fledgling church was governed by the elders of the planting church, Littleton Bible Chapel. Experienced leadership helped the plant get off to a good start. At the end of that year, they asked everyone to name the men they viewed as the shepherds of their little flock, and nearly everyone named the same three men. The elders at Littleton formally appointed these three men as the elders of the new Lakewood Bible Chapel, which is now autonomous.
A focus on unity. Littleton didn’t want to run off the original 20 members; they wanted to join forces and grow together into a healthy, thriving, unified church. “I preached on unity right away,” Alex recalled. “If we had come over with 100 people from Littleton like I expected, the original 20 would likely have felt overrun and left. But with a small group, we all needed each other. Everyone stayed, and we worked hard at unity.”
Hard work and financial help. The elders commended a young man named Matt Bowen, a gifted evangelist, to serve the church full time. Alex said he had to keep reminding Matt not to overdo it as he worked 70-hour weeks at first on preaching, shepherding, and leading the building remodel. With funding from Littleton, they turned the dark retro building into a sunny modern one, complete with new pews and windows, lots of major repairs, and a working air conditioner.
Willingness to make format changes. When refreshments were served in the basement between services (per tradition), there was no one in the auditorium to greet visitors. So they quickly decided to move the coffee and snacks into the auditorium, not worrying about spills. Now, visitors walk into a room bustling with conversation, smiling faces, and treats—and everyone is already where they need to be when the service starts.
Maximizing people’s gifting. Engaging expository sermons by a gifted preacher have kept people coming back. Additionally, putting the friendliest people in the entrance as greeters, with welcome packets for first-timers, has been another secret to success.
Children’s programs. There were no children in the original group of believers, and as Alex always says, “If there’s no crying, a church is dying.” A family from the neighborhood visited with their four kids and almost left because there were no children’s programs or friends for their kids. But they were convinced to stay and be the ones to get the Sunday school up and running. Their sacrifice was worth it: today the church has lots of young families whose children are benefitting from the Sunday school program.
Online presence. Alex said it’s essential to have a good website and to be listed in broader church directories like The Gospel Coalition and 9Marks. He also recommends putting your sermons and your full, detailed statement of faith online—“lay it all out there,” he said—not worrying about scaring people off. “In the past, we’d put in all this effort to get new people plugged in, but they’d leave after realizing they disagree with our stance on things like women’s roles in the church. That’s hard on the congregation who took time to invest in them. Now, when people come, they know what they’re walking into.”