Like the rising and setting of the sun, almost everything undergoes a cycle. Even churches tend to cycle through periods of time when there is a strong and compelling vision for the future, spiritual energy, active members, and evangelistic outreach. Newly planted churches tend to grow much faster than established congregations partly because they start with the beginning of this cycle.

New churches usually sense their tenuous condition and dependence upon God for survival and growth. With so few members, they also feel an urgency for broad-based membership involvement and evangelistic outreach. In such an environment, growth results because the members are energetic and new people are made to feel welcome and needed.

Over time, it's easy to rotate to the other side of the cycle after a comfortable number of members are acquired, an adequate facility constructed, and several good ministries underway. It is normal for churches to pause, catch a breath, and consider the good work God has blessed. It's normal, but very dangerous for churches to stay at this point too long.

Energy and enthusiasm are generated in the first part of the cycle by a vision of the future that will glorify God. Members become excited about ministry when they believe that the future can be even brighter than the past. An excel-lent place to begin the new cycle is with spiritual renewal. As leaders and members draw closer to God and His Word, each gains the faith to believe that the best days are still ahead.

The cycle effect is comparable to farming. Intense activity characterizes the planting, caring and harvesting times. After the harvest there's an abundance, and some rest is in order. Everyone's hard work has produced a large harvest of members to shepherd and physical facilities to manage. Now, will the congregation move on from maintenance of a past harvest to planting for the future? Healthy, growing churches must return to the planting and watering phase or otherwise there is no additional harvest.

After leaders build a vision for the future, they must encourage broad-based membership involvement in the planting and watering. One valuable leadership skill for promoting involvement is delegation. Two articles in this issue provide helpful insights for effective delegation.

Having numerous members to oversee nor having a large facility to manage are adequate reasons to lose sight of the future. God still desires to see the spiritual development of the membership, and He is still concerned about the lost sheep who are not in the fold.

There is good news concerning facilities. Even church buildings have creative uses that can encourage spiritual and numerical growth. In addition, leaders should become wise about the impact that building space has on the mind-set of members and visitors. Facilities do not produce growth, but they can facilitate or hinder growth. For example, too much or not enough space can have a measurable effect on church attendance. These critical issues are further addressed in the last two articles.