Church hospitality continues to be a conversation that church leaders and elder boards ask me about fairly regularly. As congregations continue to shrink and more churches close each year, leaders continue to look inward to see what they can do better.

On the surface, the answer to the question 'how do we define growth?' might seem easy, but I'm not so sure. When I consider this question, my brain goes to three places – and from there, and kind of spreads out like a massive flow chart - let me tell you what I mean.

Church leaders are used to people coming and going from churches for various reasons. What's different this time is that a series of shared experiences that everyone views differently is causing these moves to happen simultaneously.