Not Without You

It’s Public

By Tahni Cullen, Communication Strategist

You probably don’t know this, but the leadership at Eagle Brook sets these things each year called “BHAGs.” BHAGs is a very technical term that stands for Big Hairy Audacious Goals. We learned several years ago at the church that you can’t just be satisfied with going on a feeling that things “seem” to be going well. If we were going to be able to know if people were really being transformed into fully-devoted followers of Christ, we had to measure that somehow. These numerical goals determine our strategies for reaching people and growing them in their faith.

BHAGs are by no means an exact science, nor can they really crack open all of the spiritual data that exists in the minds and hearts of our attenders. But, what numbers can do is show us how many people are attending on a weekend, serving, engaging in small groups, giving, getting baptized… things like that. So, we count a lot of things. Then, we adjust and design strategies to help us move people along in their spiritual journey. Each year, a new BHAG number for various categories is chosen, and it’s supposed to be a number that is going to take some faith to achieve. Week by week, the numbers are entered into spreadsheets and we see if we’re on track to meeting those goals.

Since we’ve been keeping track of BHAGs, the coolest thing is to look back over a period of years and see a huge witness to God’s blessings on this church. In the last five years, 5,000 people have made first-time commitments to Christ! And that number is conservative considering that some people never stop and fill out a form to tell us they accepted Christ at EBC. Do you know that most churches in America are hardpressed to record even one conversion in the course of a year? Plus, more than 1,900 people took the next step to participate in believer’s baptism since 2004.

While we’re talking numbers, we’re seeing a growth trend at our church that is amazing. Over the last 20 years, we’ve experienced an averaged growth of 20% attendance annually. Just since we opened the Lino Lakes Campus less than five years ago, we have doubled in size to more than 12,000 people attending between our three campuses each weekend. God is doing something at Eagle Brook Church, and Pastor Bob has said, “We don’t want to put the brakes on.”

Did you know those spreadsheet formulas tell us a new story for the future? We’re experiencing capacity issues at all of our campuses at the 11 am Sunday morning hour even now. But, the numbers predict that if we did nothing to add new campuses and more seats now, we would have to turn away 10,000 people each weekend within three years. We’re in the “reaching people for Christ” business, so that’s why we’re feeling the urgency to mobilize once again.

But we need more people participating in the mission of this church through serving and giving. Because changed lives within the church will multiply to lives impacted in entire communities and cities and states, and even in places around the world. Are you ready to BE the hope and to join the journey? How about setting a Big Hairy Audacious Goal for yourself, and just see how God will bless and multiply it…

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