| The purpose of this study is to discover church growth principles that will help to reverse the current stagnation taking place in Korean church growth. The Korean church has experienced a plateau and decline since the mid-1990's. This project is designed to identify the key values and practices that have led to growing Korean churches in comparison with non-growing Korean churches in the twenty-first century. The methodology used to discover what are common values and practices currently used by growing Korean churches was survey research. Participants in the survey were recruited from fifteen growing Korean churches and fifteen non-growing Korean churches. The criterion for growing churches was an average annual growth rate of 10 percent between 2000-2009, and the criterion for non-growing churches was an average annual growth rate of less than 5 percent. The questionnaire included questions related to twelve church growth values, such as Inspiring Worship, The Word of God, The Holy Spirit, Disciple Training, Pastoral Leadership, Lay Ministers, Cultural Relevance, Effective Evangelism, Small Groups, Family Ministry, Spiritual Ministry, and Compassion Ministry. The study found four significant values in growing Korean churches: Small Groups, Family Ministry, Spiritual Ministry, and Discipleship Training. Furthermore, according to the qualitative data, Korean leaders emphasized the essence of the Gospel and the practical faith of Christians. In brief, to become a vessel of God's blessing for the world, today's Korean churches should be faithful in biblical church growth principles, especially in employing small groups, focusing on family ministry, restoring church members' spirituality, and offering discipleship training. |
