Rick Warren describes growing a church by attracting Christians from other congregations as “swapping fish between aquariums.” No new fish are in the water. The Kingdom doesn’t expand. One church grows by depleting another.
Saddleback tracked this directly: approximately 80% of its members were won to Christ at Saddleback — they weren’t transfer Christians. Warren treats this as a primary health metric. A growing attendance number built on transfers looks like growth but isn’t. It can even be harmful: the church develops an inflated self-assessment, programs designed for mature believers crowd out evangelism, and the congregation’s culture shifts toward consumer Christianity rather than missional identity.
Jesus framed the commission as “fishers of men” — the activity is going to where the fish are and drawing them in, not rearranging the fish already in captivity. Churches that compete for Christians are engaged in something that may feel successful but isn’t fulfilling the Great Commission.
The diagnostic question for any congregation: what percentage of the people who found faith here were previously unchurched? That number is a more honest reading of evangelical fruitfulness than total attendance or growth rate.
For Unificationist communities, this question is acute. FFWPU often grows at a national level through members relocating between communities. The local community grows, but the movement doesn’t. Understanding the difference between transfer numbers and actual witnessing output clarifies where investment is most needed.