Community 'more important' than content? Author Ken Braddy aims to help ministry leaders rethink success
What does success look like when it comes to discipleship?
For most of those serving in ministry, the answer often is found in raw numbers, such as how many attendees showed up or the amount of participation or engagement, whether in person or online.
But author Ken Braddy, the director of Sunday school for Lifeway Christian Resources, was convinced there had to be a better way to measure what matters.
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In his book Breakthrough, Braddy offers alternative ways for leaders to gauge the effectiveness of their ministries and track their progress.
Braddy told The Christian Post that in most of the groups he has either led or served on as staff, the measurements would almost always default to this idea of “bigger classes equals better teaching.”
“It feels like over time, the one true measurement that everyone was concerned with and based their success on was how many people were sitting in seats on any given Sunday,” he said.
As churches continue to grow in size and scale, Braddy said a lot of medium- to bigger-sized churches are relying more heavily on group settings to create an atmosphere that’s more conducive to fellowship.
Traditionally, Bible studies and other church groups have been lighter on fellowship and more geared toward content delivery, while the teacher was typically less focused on relationships and more focused on the information.
But Braddy said he echoes the idea of a colleague that, going forward, “community is going to be more important than content.”
“I have seen the most healthy groups have a good balance, a teacher, a group leader who can present content, but they also understand the importance of helping people connect relationally within the group,” he said.
Too often, Braddy said, group leaders relish “being in the limelight” while neglecting the more important work of community-building.
“We’re such a mobile society, and people are lonely,” he said. “They have spent a couple years now in isolation because of the pandemic, and this is a wonderful moment for the church to realize that not only should we deliver strong, biblical content, but we also need to elevate…community and connection.”
Not only has Braddy seen firsthand the need for a scorecard to measure group success, but he’s also experienced success himself, leading two different churches to become the fastest growing Sunday schools in Texas and Tennessee, respectively.
And when it comes to maximizing that success, Braddy said there is a "sweet spot" for how large a group should be.
When he and his wife, Tammy, started their own groups, averaging about 16 people in attendance, Braddy said those were effective by being medium-sized and allowing Braddy to be a “shepherd leader” rather than merely a presenter of biblical information.
He said as churches began coming out of the coronavirus pandemic, churches reset their strategies to see other things that can be measured as better indicators of the overall health of the group.
“You can really invest your time not so much in the preparation side, but it allows you to have just enough people that you can spend time outside of the group, you hear their life stories, their family stories, you learn about their work,” he said.
In doing so, Braddy said, leaders can better prepare their Bible studies or other information tailored specifically for their audience.
“The Lord just brings those things to mind and you begin crafting studies that really speak to where the people are,” he added.
He wants readers to know that “there is more to Bible study than just gathering from four different zip codes and then scattering back to them, never fully living life as growing disciples between Sundays.”
“I hope the book gives groups and group leaders a new target to shoot for, raising the level and quality of ministry so that Christ is glorified,” he added. “I hope the book helps groups become healthier because healthy things grow.”
