7 Tension Reminders in Times of Fast Growth
Sunday, I sent a panic text to our team at our Tates Creek location – a reminder of tension in fast growth.
My office window overlooks one of the main entrances to our property. What I saw wasn’t just a full parking lot – it was cars on every paved surface imaginable. We were three minutes from the start of the second service, and I knew there was no way everyone was going to find a spot to park and a seat in the worship center.
We delayed the service and sent reinforcements to help.
As it turned out, everyone was patient, our parking lot team was creative, and apparently the Lord multiplies parking spots like He does fish and bread when people are hungry.
Crisis averted. Panic not needed. But the moment stuck with me.
Because it was a reminder – we’re in another season of growth.
And while I’m grateful for it – and I hope it’s not our last – growth always brings tension with it. Growth is evidence that the Spirit is stirring somewhere. Our responsibility is to steward that movement well. But stewardship almost always stretches us before it settles us.
By the way, yes – the church is both a church and an organization. We are a spiritual community of people following Jesus together. And we are an organization with systems, policies, structures, and processes designed to help people grow as disciples. That dual reality becomes more visible in seasons of growth.
Every time growth comes, the same pressures resurface. They’re not new, but they are easy to forget when things feel stable.
These are 7 of the predictable growth pains of any growing church or organization –
Systems will be stretched. Holes will be exposed.
Systems are designed to support the organization. Growth stretches those systems beyond what they were built for. That exposes gaps—and gaps create tension. This can be especially frustrating for people who value order and structure (which, ironically, is often the same group that dislikes change).
Improvement gets forced, not invited.
Growth pushes leaders to rethink structures, processes, and pathways. This often has to happen in real time, while things are still moving. It’s uncomfortable. But over time, these forced improvements usually make the organization healthier and more effective.
Not everyone will know everything – or everyone.
This one is emotionally harder than it is strategically. People who once felt in the know may not always be now. And honestly, that includes me as the senior leader if the organization is healthy. Growth requires wider leadership, which means influence becomes more distributed.
The leader’s time gets stretched thin.
Some places where I once showed up regularly now feel my absence. That doesn’t diminish the expectation others may still carry, but it does force new boundaries and delegation if I want to lead well over the long haul.
Resources lag behind growth.
I’ve always believed the resources are in the harvest, but they don’t always arrive on the same timeline as the harvest itself. Growth creates needs before it creates margin.
When resources feel tight, turf wars tend to follow.
Even among people who love each other, competition emerges. Time, attention, budget, and influence start to feel scarce. The loudest voices, the most driven personalities, and sometimes the biggest complainers can end up dominating the conversation. One of the quiet disciplines of leadership is learning to weigh competing needs wisely, because everyone believes their need is the biggest one.
Current culture is challenged.
Some people thrive on momentum. Others get overwhelmed by it. Growth widens the gap between those who are energized by change and those who feel like they’re losing their footing. There’s also a natural tension of nostalgia versus vision. People often grieve what used to be even when they believe in what could be. This creates an emotional tension leaders have to shepherd – not argue away or overlook.
None of these tensions mean growth is a problem. They mean growth is alive. The real question isn’t whether growth will bring pressure. It always will. It’s whether we’ll notice it early, talk about it honestly, and steward it faithfully – before panic texts become our primary leadership strategy.
(It’s been a while since I shared some of my thoughts on leadership. We’ll see how this goes. My preference is to share current leadership struggles and learnings. Let me know your thoughts.
