How Parkway Fellowship Church Stays Ahead of Growth
When Jason Green’s daughter got an invitation to church from a fellow student at a high school band clinic, the Greens added it to their list of congregations to visit near their home in Fulshear, Texas.
“We had just moved here, and we were talking about where to look,” Green says.
So, in 2017, the family visited Parkway Fellowship Church in nearby Richmond, Texas, to see it for themselves.
“We’d visited a couple of other churches, and we had grown up in church. So, I thought I knew what to expect, but [Parkway] was a lot more inviting and welcoming than I expected,” he explains.
“You felt like you were cared for as you made your way through the building. The eye contact, people speaking, smiling. Just good energy,” he adds.
Moreover, Green says the worship service struck the right balance, not too “stuffy” and not too hip. “It had a good blend of contemporary music and style, but at the same time, I didn’t feel lost for my age.”
By the end of the year, the couple’s son and daughter signaled that they wanted Parkway Fellowship to become their new church home.
“They especially enjoyed seeing familiar faces from their school at church, which was a big deal,” Green observes. “That, to us, is what sealed it, that Parkway was an extension of their community from school and neighborhood.”
Parkway Fellowship Senior Pastor Mike McGown and his wife, Amy, along with 16 other families founded the church in 2003. McGown’s journey to becoming a church planter started when, as an employee for another church, he attended a conference held by Saddleback Church Pastor Rick Warren, author of the bestselling book A Purpose Driven Life that helped McGown’s own vision.
“They were growing exponentially, and it was in that conference that God gave me a vision of a purpose-driven church in the Katy, Texas, area that would effectively touch the lives of 10% of the community every week.”.
McGown’s pastor expressed interest in the idea, but a year later, that pastor had retired and the new pastor declined to adopt the Purpose Driven model. But McGown remained steadfast.
“I knew what God had told me,” he testifies.
So, after praying and sharing his vision with his wife, McGown decided to start a church. They held their first service at Cinco Ranch High School’s cafeteria in Katy.
“We had 183 people, and we’re like, ‘Oh my gosh. This is crazy,’” McGown recalls. The next week, however, only 24 people showed up; however, in the weeks that followed, the attendance numbers started to rise. “That first Sunday in June we hit 99, and after that we broke 100 and then we never looked back.”
Today, Parkway Fellowship maintains two locations in Richmond and Katy.
“The most difficult thing about planting a church is being able to change your style of leadership to meet the needs of growth rather than the needs of where you are,” he admits.
Knowing when to add new programming and new staff in anticipation of church growth is important, he says. For example, just a few months after launching the church, they appointed a permanent worship leader.
“You have to structure the church for where you want it to be, not where it is now,” McGown argues. “So, when the church is [at] 125, you can’t pastor it like it’s 125. You’ve got to pastor it like it’s 250.
“If you can anticipate that, stay ahead of the growth, and pastor it as if it’s at the next step, the church will continue to grow.”
Parkway Fellowship today is in the middle of a capital campaign to build a new worship center and expand the student and children’s ministry facilities at the building in Richmond.
“We’re bursting at the seams because our area is so fast growing,” McGown avers.
But rather than growth, Parkway’s primary goal is helping its members take their next steps in following Christ. In fact, the church’s website describes it as a “purpose-driven church,” dedicated to winning the lost to Christ and helping them to become mature Christians.
“We try as hard as we can to get people into small groups as fast as we can. So, in the first six months, we want you to be in a small group, and that’s not just the adults. That’s adults, that’s students and that’s children,” McGown.
The second goal is encouraging new members to choose a volunteer team to be part of within six months of joining Parkway.
He gives perspective on how they go about this. “We try to give people a responsibility based on their interests. Then if they want to switch to a different team later on, as they become more familiar with the church, they certainly can.”
Green started out volunteering as a table leader for sixth-grade boys in the student ministry where his wife also served. Over time, they also volunteered as church greeters. Green also served on the elder board where his wife now serves. Today, they are members of the church’s prayer team.
Seeing the church continue to grow in the community is exciting for Green. “I think it was awesome for my family and my kids to experience the same level of growth, interaction and diversity at church as they do at school, as they do in the grocery store, everywhere else. It just all fit together very well.”
PARKWAY FELLOWSHIP
Richmond, Texas
Pastor: Mike McGowan
Website: ParkwayFellowship.com
Denomination: Purpose Driven
Founded: 2002
Fastest-Growing: 77
