Stats and the Written Word
For some years Gordon had wondered how ministers of various denominations in America were able to care for huge congregations. How did the minister of the Crystal Cathedral, for instance, maintain his huge congregation? How did others care for congregations that numbered 3,000 and sometimes 4,000?
In Australia when a church membership reached about two hundred that was its limit—except for a few `super’ ministers such as Alan Walker and Gordon Powell in Sydney.
The question perplexed him. It was one of the things he had planned to find out when he went to America for further study.
In 1972 Gordon was invited to Mexico to attend the World Convention of Churches of Christ. He went on the understanding that he was allowed a further six weeks to tour the U S A and learn what he could by visiting various churches and ministers there. As he did this Gordon kept his eyes and ears open, he asked questions, he took notes, and suddenly the answer came.
“The reason Australian ministers can’t shepherd large flocks is because they’re not educated in managerial matters. We’ve been thoroughly trained in theology, exegesis, New Testament languages and a dozen other bookish subjects but we’re not trained in people- skills.” He turned to Alan Avery, his travelling partner. “Alan, how much were you taught about management, or multiple systems for budgeting, or how to cope with large congregations or how to utilise staff to the best advantage?”
“We learned by trial and error after we left college,” Alan shrugged.
“Exactly!”
As soon as he settled back in Australia Gordon began to rectify the lack in his own training. He read every book he could find that dealt with the art of management. He attended management-skills seminars whenever possible. He learned a lot from the AMP Society who graciously allowed him to sit in on their management training sessions. What he learned he practised.
For most businesses the financial year ends on 30th of June. The Cheltenham Church of Christ presented its report each July. This took the form of a comparative study of the nine Sundays in May and June. By confining the report to the same months each year it included a good mixture of weather conditions, school holidays and other factors.
Every fourth year a progress report showed the growth in attendance and income during the previous four years. Thus in 1966 when Rev Gordon Moyes took over Cheltenham Church, the report showed an attendance of 995. By 1970 it had grown to 1382 and now in 1974 the figure was 2038. In 1971 the church’s average weekly income from all sources amounted to around $200. In 1974 that had increased to $855 per Sunday.
While the Board members basked in the glow of these successes Gordon took the opportunity to make a plea.
“We need more help. This church has grown so much in the last nine years that we need another senior associate minister. One man cannot handle all the work—”
He was just preparing to wax eloquent and sway his listeners in the direction he wanted them to go, when a quiet voice at the back finished the sentence for him by adding:
“Particularly when he’s so often away evangelising in other conferences.”
This quiet remark brought the house down—and cleared the air.
While the Cheltenham Church was extremely proud of their young minister and his accomplishments and for the most part quite willing to share him with other churches, a few dissenters felt that he spent far too much time away from his own pulpit.
Invitations to preach in other churches were not the only speaking appointments that Rev Moyes accepted. His interest and skill in management efficiencies led to him being asked to give motivational addresses at many business promotionals, or at launching of new products.
Gradually his fame spread as a well-informed and witty speaker, and by the end of the 1970’s he was receiving invitations at the rate of one every two weeks. In ten years this increased to two a week.
Gordon not only spoke but he wrote. Each waking hour was filled with appointments but he utilised every spare moment—waiting for planes, in flight, travelling between speaking engagements—pen ever ready he wrote another book for ANZEA Publishers in Sydney and sent stories to Norman Vincent Peale, editor of GUIDEPOSTS in USA.
By now Gordon felt that he had pretty well mastered the art of written communication, and he made the most of it. Pamphlets, articles for newspapers, weekly columns in Christian journals, and small books poured from his prolific pen. He took literally the Biblical statement that “...the Lord was with him, and did let none of his words fall to the ground.” 1 Samuel 3:19
With a little adapting most of his sermon notes, Bible lessons, lectures for men’s groups, addresses at youth rallies, Rotary clubs and Women’s Unions, became the basis for newspaper features or Christian magazine articles.
All this writing served the dual purpose of keeping the name of Reverend Gordon Moyes, Gordon Moyes or merely G. K. Moyes in the public eye. By now he had largely dropped the B.A. which had figured so prominently and of which he was so proud in his younger days.
However, about a decade later, during his busy years in Sydney Gordon found time to write, “Which Day is Sacred?” Tract 3636, in series 43 published by the Wesley Mission. As Scriptural proof for the change from seventh-day sacredness to the first day, he used Romans 14:5-8 and Hebrews 4:1-10. Then, probably with his tongue in cheek, he signed himself as Rev Dr Gordon Moyes, A.M., B.A., LL.D., Litt.D., D.D., F.R.G.S., F.A.I.M., M.A.C.E. This imposing array of degrees would surely be enough to make any opposition quail.
In August 1975 Gordon hosted a dinner in the Cheltenham Church Hall to launch his 27th book, “How to Grow an Australian Church.” Unlike the majority of his former books which could more aptly be described as booklets or pamphlets, “How to Grow an Australian Church” contained 128 pages and sold for $2:00 plus 50c postage.
The book, helped by tremendous publicity—no one could ever accuse Reverend Moyes of being bashful—was a great success. Read by church leaders and laymen far and near, it earned good reviews public and private. Among the many press clippings and book reviews Gordon treasured was a letter from Ron Kennedy, a fellow theologian.
“By the way, I’ve just read your book on growing an Australian church—the binding was atrocious, the printing inferior, and the photographs amateurish—but praise the Lord, it was extremely well written and contains excellent ideas and themes. His sincerely, Ron.”
“How to Grow an Australian Church” called forth a different response from another fellow cleric. Jay Bacik published an article in a Christian magazine begging readers to tell him personal experiences for a sequel that he proposed to write, titled “How to Kill an Australian Church.”
In his article Jay mentioned such sure-fire killers as: “I witnessed once but it didn’t work. I thought it was the minister’s job.” He suggested chapter headings such as: “How I killed the Evening Service by not Attending (with fifty others)” and “How We Got Rid of Our Minister Without Actually Sacking Him.”
Jay asked Church Deacons to contribute to his chapter titled, “We Never Tried it This Way Before,” particularly if they could add a few spicy examples of some crazy ideas and programmes that they had killed in the name of keeping “the world out of the church.”
“A complete section of the book,” wrote Jay, “will be designed to attack the Church Growth Strategy and Strategists, so I will be happy to hear from the Cynics, the Knockers, and the Negative Thinking Pandits who will provide chapters on:
Go Home, Yank. It Won’t Work Here. Leave it to the Holy Spirit. Let us die With Integrity. God is not dead—but temporarily out of order. The Church Won’t Last—Let Alone Grow
Although satirical this article also helped to publicize Gordon’s book, which went from strength to strength. It is still widely used as required reading in theological colleges and has gone through numerous re-printings.
The publication of “How to Grow an Australian Church” led to Rev Moyes being inundated with requests to conduct Church Growth Seminars all around Australasia. To record them all would be to make this page look like an airways timetable.
Gordon’s TEEN WEEK at Ararat in July, 1964 had first plunged him into the public eye and led to him organizing or helping to organize a number of similar Teen Weeks in other Victorian centres. Now his ideas on how to stimulate Church Growth were widening his sphere of influence. But more was to come.
