Learnings from Ryan Britt at Church of 1122
During an Executive Pastor cohort hosted at Church of 1122, I had the privilege of learning from Ryan Britt, their Executive Pastor. One framework he shared has stayed with me because of its clarity and honesty. Ryan talked about three types of growth churches experience: Easy, Hard, and Costly.
What struck me most wasn’t just the categories — it was how practical, sober, and leadership-shaping this framework is. Growth isn’t one thing. It changes, and leaders must change with it.
Below is my attempt to summarize what I learned, giving full credit to Ryan for both the framework and the wisdom behind it.
1. Easy Growth
Easy growth happens when capacity already exists.
This is the season when:
You have open seats in worship services and in kids’ ministry
Those seats are in prime hours, not off-peak services
You have cash on hand
There’s momentum — people are inviting people
In this phase, growth feels almost natural. You’re not forcing it. Systems aren’t strained yet.
Ryan shared a key threshold: Around 170% capacity is the end of easy growth. This means you typically have two services, and both are at 75-80% full.
After 170%, the systems that once supported momentum start to push back.
Some practical insights from this phase:
Roughly 20% of any building needs to be dedicated to kids’ space
Parking math matters: about 2.3 people per parking spot
Leasing is often preferable early:
Ideally lease an empty box
Even better if the lease includes a guaranteed purchase price
Building from the ground up is rarely the first choice
One leadership takeaway that stood out:
Real estate is not a side issue.
At 1122, leasing falls squarely under the Executive team, supported by a real estate team — a small group of trusted professionals who meet quarterly and “feed” the church insight and opportunity.
On debt, Ryan offered sober guardrails regarding debt:
1.25x annual income in debt is healthy
Possibly 2x in a high-growth season but never 3–4x
Learn how to consolidate banking relationships whenever possible
Easy growth is a gift — but it’s also fleeting.
2. Hard Growth
Hard growth begins when you can no longer rely on unused capacity.
Now you’re asking more of people:
Convincing attenders to leave prime services
Asking staff and leaders to actively recruit for non-prime times
This kind of growth demands:
Stronger leadership
Clearer culture
Better communication
Deeper trust
Ryan noted how significant service transitions really are:
Moving from two to three services is a big jump
Moving from three to four is huge jump
And one line that landed hard for me: “You can’t spend your pastor like a line of credit.”
Hard growth requires pacing, wisdom, and leadership maturity. You’re no longer just managing logistics — you’re shaping culture.
3. Costly (or Expensive) Growth
Eventually, growth becomes costly.
This is the phase where:
You can’t rearrange seats
You can’t stretch schedules
You must buy seats to grow
Costly growth often involves:
New Facilities
Building expansion or renovation
Long-term financial commitments
At this stage, growth is no longer free, and it’s no longer merely hard — it requires significant investment. Vision must be clear. Alignment must be strong. And leadership must be unified.
Final Reflection
What I appreciated most about Ryan’s teaching is how it normalizes leadership pressure. Growth isn’t always a sign of health — but neither is resistance to change. Leaders need discernment to know what kind of growth they’re in, and what kind of leadership that season requires.
Easy growth is about stewardship and preparing for the next season well.
Hard growth is about leadership and aligning your people.
Costly growth is about conviction and pressing forward.
Ryan told us that a church can ignore the warnings of needing to plan for added space during one growth season, but not two. Once you have maximized your space (170% capacity) during two growth seasons, you have (un)intentionally planned to plateau your church. This thought is sobering. We need to ask God for wisdom in moving forward, knowing the need for physical space is a very real need.
I’m grateful to Ryan Britt and the team at Church of 1122 for the generosity of their wisdom — and for reminding us that growth, while good, is never simple.
A Exercise
Whatever season your church is in, encourage your leadership team to analyze what might be next. If you are not saving 30% of your tithes and offerings in an easy season, the hard and costly season will be that much more expensive. Your leadership team can take time to:
Discern what is easy, hard and costly, knowing that different churches in different geographic areas and demographics will define these differently.
Discern what season you are in and what season is coming next.
Discern who, from your church and your community (realtors, lawyers, bankers, contractors), need to be on your team now to prepare for that next season.
Discern your next steps by reverse engineering (possibly using a gantt chart) to help you plan.