I suspect most church leaders want their churches to numerically grow. Such church growth, though, is often elusive to many church leaders. While there is no guaranteed formula for achieving numerical church growth, there are certainly well-established ways for a local church not to grow (which I will refer to shortly). There are some churches that experience rapid growth then, just as rapid, experience decline - and are often bewildered as to why. Perhaps it is not true in every instance, but often this happens because of how these churches process problems. That is, churches which are ill-prepared for dealing appropriately with problems inevitably will probably experience numerical decline. This is why every church which is seeking to sustainably grow numerically must know how to process problems in a healthy way.
SEEING PROBLEMS DIFFERENTLY
The late David Cartledge told me something quite counter-intuitive about what was the measure of a good leader:
“The measure of a leader is determined by the size of the problems they solve!”
I have never forgotten this gem of wise insight from Dr. Cartledge. This comment has significantly helped me to grow as a leader and to view problems quite differently. Rather than seeing problems as roadblocks, hindrances, distractions, or setbacks - I began to understand the relationship between problems and the growth of a leader. (Every parent understands this problem:growth relationship as they help their young children grow into adults as they help them to learn how to deal with increasingly complex life problems.) By viewing problems as an opportunity for growth, a leader can then approach these problems with the aim of resolving them rather than retreating from them. By seeking to resolve a problem a leader becomes teachable and open to learning new solution strategies. This leads to him or her becoming more equipped to deal with similar but bigger problems next time.
I have noticed that when a church leader stresses too readily over minor setbacks or disappointments, the confidence placed in them by those they lead tends to be diminished. Similarly, when a volunteer, team or department leader is confronted with a problem which is overwhelming them - and their senior pastor shows them how to solve that problem wisely, their confidence in the senior leader grows. Thus, dealing with problems, rather than avoiding or denying them, is essential if a leader and his or her church wants to grow. However, the problem:growth relationship is also inversely relative...
GROWTH CREATES NEW PROBLEMS!
It’s almost like the classic problem of which came first - the chicken or the egg? Not only does solving problems within a church potentially lead to numerical growth, numerical growth creates problems! The first (and ongoing growth problem) is resistance to change. An anglican church growth consultant used the analogy of retail businesses to illustrate this growth problem.
1. Consider the mum and dad corner-store. In Australia these used to be called milk bars. They sold bread, milk, newspapers, cold drinks, a few essential grocery items, and confectionary. These stores would have a regular number of customers from around the neighbourhood. The store owners knew many of these customers by name. Churches with up to 70 regular attendees are run like these corner-stores.
2. The independent hardware store. These stores may be privately owned by one owner, but will have a few staff also employed. The owner is known by those who shop in his store, and he knows some of them by name. Churches with 100 to 180 regular attenders are like these stores where there is a senior minister who also employs one or two part-time assistants.
3. The department store. These are larger stores which sell a variety of goods that are organised into departments. The manager of the store is probably not the owner and therefore is not personally known by the customers. There could be around 20 or more employees with some of them working as department managers. Churches with 200 - 700 regular attenders are like these stores where most congregants do not deal directly with the senior minister but do have a pastoral relationship with assistant pastors who oversee a department of the church.
4. The Shopping Centre. These are the largest retail expressions where nearly everything that is ordinarily sold, is available for purchase. These shopping centres include large department stores, specialty stores, entertainment, dining, and comfortable environs and décor. Customers do not generally know who the centre manager is - and probably do not mind this. Their concern is that they can comfortably shop and get what they want when they want it. These centres cater for people from all backgrounds, ages, and tastes. Churches with a regular attendance of 2,500 - 5,000+ are often like these shopping centres (and are referred to as “mega churches”. The senior minister is probably a gifted orator whose preaching/teaching is what attracts people to the church's Sunday services. But this is also supplemented by professional level worship singers and musicians, a well-run concurrent children's program, professional quality multi-media presentations, and clearly defined discipleship pathways which enable people to get involved and utilise their gifts and ministries.
Consider these four scales of church growth and consider the challenges that would have been encountered by those leading in #1 to grow to the size of #2. Imagine the circumstances where this growth may have been foisted upon the mum and dad because of overwhelming customer growth and demand. It is not too difficult to imagine that this mum and dad may have been overwhelmed and decided to sell their small business to someone who was not overwhelmed by the prospect of this growth - in fact, the new owner may even look forward to the challenge of restructuring this business so that it could grow. This is a scenario faced by many type #1 churches and pastors.
CONCLUSION
No matter what type of church it is, problems will arise and need to be wisely dealt with. As church leaders and churches grow, commensurate problems will arise. These problems should not thought of as unusual. Consider the narrative through the Book of Acts. In nearly every chapter there is a problem > solution > growth pathway.
Note the problem which led to the initial restructuring of the church's leadership and ministries:
Acts 6:1 ¶ Now in these days when the disciples were increasing in number, a complaint by the Hellenists arose against the Hebrews because their widows were being neglected in the daily distribution.
Acts 6:3 Therefore, brothers, pick out from among you seven men of good repute, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we will appoint to this duty. Acts 6:4 But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word.”
Problems force us to humble ourselves and seek the help, assistance, and advice of others. This is an important ingredient in growing stronger. While prayer is essential and important for solving overwhelming problems, too many pastors deny themselves the means of growth that is derived from wise and godly counsel because of pride - or perhaps, ignorance. If you want your church to grow it begins with a willingness to seek it and to be transformed by God's Spirit so that it can happen — which means this growth will commence in you first! I encourage you to seek the kind of growth that strengthens you in wisdom, knowledge and character. And this can only begin to happen when a leader is committed to humbly following Christ and heeding His Word.
I welcome your feedback below.
It is a myth that complex problems require complex solutions! The problem with complex problems is when they involve you. Because when they do it feels like you are trying to deal with unrelated problem after unrelated problem while already dealing with a problem that you already just can’t deal with. This is why getting another perspective is often the first step to coming out of the fog. But someone might disagree with this because they feel they do have a different perspective of the most complex problems they are trying to solve because they are not ones not of their own making. This is especially the case when such complexities involve family or people we deeply care about. I’d like to offer some advice.
Complex problems always involve other people. These people could be the family members, friends, staff, colleagues, or leaders. People have a knack for letting others down. They also have a knack for letting themselves down! When trying to help someone else, don’t assume that they are already doing the basics. The thing I have noticed about great problem solvers who tackle complex problems is that they start with the basics. For example, up until the late 1800s it was common for pregnant women to die during child-birth. Medical scientists worked on all kinds of solutions with no success. The problem continued into the twentieth century until someone read a paper which Blaise Pascal had written addressing the problem. Pascal theorised that something we now call bacteria could be transmitted via unwashed hands into a skin breach on another person which could variously result in that person being infected by that bacteria. This bacterial infection, Pascal theorised, was the cause of so many women dying during child-birth. If doctors and assisting nurses would only wash their hands with soap and warm water, much the 
problem could be averted, Pascal claimed. But his ideas were rejected and mocked by the medical establishment. Not until someone read his paper in the early 20th century and decided to put his ideas to the test was Pascal proved right! From that point the numbers of women dying during child-birth plummeted! This complex problem was unnecessarily prolonged because people made some bad assumptions. Someone may be encountering financial pressure. Don’t assume that they have curbed their spending. Don’t assume that they are tithing (something that even secular financial gurus like Robert Kiyosaki strongly advice). Don’t assume they are exercising delayed-gratification.
People with complex problems love to share ownership of their problems – and if you’ll let them, they’ll even transfer ownership of their problems to you! Parents of adult children are especially vulnerable to this illicit transfer of problem ownership.
By drawing on your own or someone else’s experience to give you the confidence that you get through your difficulties, discovering strategies for better dealing with your problems (one of the best pieces of advice I was ever given was to “Tell your problems to take a number and get in line!” That is, deal with your biggest problems first and deal with them one at a time), and improving your diet and fitness, you’ll be amazed at what that can for your perspective of your problems. What you’ll find is that as your perspective shifts from the forest to the trees, you’ll discover that things aren’t nearly as bad as you had been thinking they were.
And it was the Apostle John whom God used to bequeath to the Church The Revelation. This closing book of the Bible is all about changing perspectives. While massive and brutal persecution was ruthlessly being waged against Christians around the time that The Revelation was written (65 AD), the Apostle gave his beleaguered audience a glimpse into the eternal realm where Christ was triumphant over all. Rather than getting all worked up about some of the nonsense which has been promoted as the interpretation of The Revelation, it is very safe to interpret this book as reminding believers to have a different perspective on life’s difficulties. Perhaps this is why so many first century believers rejoiced to lay down their lives for their risen Saviour and to be so bold in their witness.
You may think you have problems, but the more I get to know some people, the more I realise how deeply wounded some people are with problems that are beyond them. I have problems, but after spending time with some people whose problems are so deep, so complex, so painful, my own problems pale by comparison. 
God has given me a small measure of grace to be able to help people with their problems. It is this same grace that has kept me from being overwhelmed by these problems. And it is only by God's grace that my heart has been enlarged sufficiently so that I care about the people whose problems I try to play a small role in helping. In fact, I know that God has called me to help people with problems. This call effects the way I pray (note Philippians 2:14). I continually ask God to help me to help others. And the more people present me with their sacred spaces by openning more of their hearts to me, the more I become dependent on God for His grace and wisdom to try and help. 
Sometimes a person's problem is so painful and complex they don't even know where to begin. But sometimes it is even worse than this. This happens when not only does a person feel the constant reminder of their problem, but they are uncertain as to what it actually is. For those who have seen our Bouncing Back DVD, you'll know that we tell the stories of seven people. One of them, appeared to have their life in perfect order. They had what most thought of as a good home with loving parents, a great education, friends, and even a loving church community in which they could worship God. But, things were not as they appeared to be. It was not a good home. Their home was anything but a safe place. Instead of being protected by their parents, they were abused by them in the worse fashion. So painful were the daily scars inflicted into them that they now live without any memory of their life before the age of 11. The sexual abuse they endured caused them to go numb in several ways. Nearly forty years later and despite a loving marriage and the blessing of children, the numbness is still there. They can never get back what the sexual, physical, emotional, and spiritual abuse robbed them of. And like so many innocent victims of such abuse, they ache and don't fully understand why.
What possible help is available to someone experiencing such intolerable invisible pain? Firstly, a revelation from God of His love and acceptance of them. This limitless love is grounded in God's limitless knowledge of them and everything they've gone through. It was the prayer of the Apostle Paul for the Ephesians who had largely been caught up in cultic worship of the idol-goddess, Artemis, that he asked the Lord that the eyes of their understanding might be opened (Eph. 1:18). It is the understanding of God's pure limitless love that gives a person healing-hope. And based on the great Apostle's prayer for the Ephesians, this kind of understanding can only after prayerful seeking of it. Anyone who scoffs at the power of the love of God to transform the broken into wholeness - is confessing their own lack of inexperience of God's love. 
There are some problems that are so painful, so deep, so complex, that no pill can make the ache go away, no counsel can talk it away, no distraction can forget it, and no drink can drown it. Yet, because many of these problems are invisible, and therefore intensely frustrating, it often causes people to take drastic action - such as defacing themselves with permanent ink or razor blades so that others can begin to get a glimpse of their pain. All of this is not just a cry for help - it is a soul screeching cry for help that often gets confused for rebellion, depression, moodiness, or unfriendliness. The cause of such intense anguish and ache is often a serious violation. For a world that is drunk on the lie that sex is just fun and recreation (unlike the Biblically-informed Christian view that sex is about intimacy grounded in trust, commitment, covenant, and sacrificial love, for the purpose of unique union and fruitfulness with one other person) the fruit of their stupor is often broken and shattered little girls who are almost irrepairably damaged for multiple decades to come, and little boys who not only bear the physical scars of what inevitably happens when their bodies are subjected to unnatural acts, but also the deep sense of betrayal that causes them to perpetually angry (either in rage or depression) and distrustful of all. At the root of problems like this is the confusion over love. The predator tells his victim that this is "love". The child grows up with the distorted belief that the only way they can relate to men is by being sexual - because this is "love". But this is wrong°. Thus, when they hear the sincerely intended news that "God loves you!", we can only imagine how hollow this must sound to them! 
What they need is often what they shun. They crave love. For a season they are intoxicated enough on the lie of the world that love=sex to pursue it. But it only deepens their ache. The Apostle Paul prayed for the Ephesian believers to be able to comprehend the love of God. God's love is like no other love. It is pure, unselfish, considerate, sacrificial, extravagant, persistent, unconditional.
Fundamentalists are not prepared to defend their positions. Rather, they merely assert their positions are right and true and resent any challenges to them. Questioning is not allowed. Other views are maligned and misrepresented. This leads to hatred of others who do not agree with them.