How One Church Increased Attendance: A Review of Using Elements

My church just completed Elements module one this week. This is our first time attempting small groups for our twenty-year-old church.

I was reluctant to be a group leader because I didn’t feel like my Bible knowledge was good enough to lead anyone through Bible studies. However, the Elements program makes it simple to prepare each lesson.

There is so much information in each lesson that it destroyed that “fear demon” that has sat on my shoulder and convinced me to not teach Bible studies my entire life. It’s rather fitting that this review comes after the “Share Your Story” lesson. (Related to the content, I have suggested PPH add closed captioning to the videos to help our deaf and hard of hearing attendees.)

After the first lesson of Elements, one participant said: “I've learned more about the Bible in this short time than I have in my whole life at my old church.” Click To Tweet

My group is hosted by another family in our church who is also involved in ministry. They were hesitant to have the group in their home, as they didn’t know what to do with their children for that hour and a half every week. Two weeks into the Elements program, their children (ages eight and ten) started answering questions before the adults had a chance to answer. By week three, the children were reading the passages for the group and still answering questions quickly. The family loves being involved in bringing the Bible to life in their living room every week.

On week one, we had a visitor who was raised in another faith tradition and had attended church his whole life. After the lesson he said, “I’ve learned more about the Bible in this short time than I have in my whole life at my old church.”

An Increase in Church Attendance

Our church has had a twenty-five percent attendance increase in our small groups. People who would not come into the church building are attending in small group points and are hearing, reading, and spreading the gospel of Jesus.

James Roberts | Family Worship Center | American Canyon, California

Resources and Links

Elements