After planting a new church in Austria that grew exponentially to include numerous church plants and new ministries, anyone looking at Sean Morris would have seen a picture of “success” in church and ministry. Even C. Peter Wagner, a well-known Christian academic and author, had referred to Sean and his wife Trudie, and the church they were building, in one of his books. To Sean, it was as if they had arrived: they had discovered the recipe of explosive church growth and success!

Despite celebrating his ministry growth, Sean was being challenged deeply within, questioning what he believed were the measures of success – attendance, baptisms, finance, programs. Then God confronted him. One night, the Holy Spirit told Sean to drive through the city on his way home from a church meeting instead of trekking his usual route. The scales fell from his eyes. He saw deprivation, drug deals, crime, prostitution and more. After sourcing the data on the state of the city, it was incredibly revealing. It had been in decline for the past decade. And in same 3-5yrs of the church’s explosive growth, the city had experienced its most significant decline!

And what was so difficult to reconcile was that a move of God that many were describing as a revival, with profound church growth, did not translate into transformational impact in the city!

The Lord asked him these questions:

Is this city better off because of your presence as a church or not?

Have you as a church by your presence and growth improved things in the city?

Would the city even notice if you weren’t here any longer?

Those questions were life-changing for Sean. He and Trudie had poured everything into building this thing called “church” that now consumed 95% of all of its resources and was obsessed with itself, its own growth, its own well-being, its own image and spirituality.

Sean says, “Don’t misunderstand me: we were deeply motivated to see souls saved. But our view of church and the world was askew. Deeply flawed! And here I was, one of the loudest voices perpetuating this culture, riding this so-called wave of ministry success while my city and community were in deep decline. Facing this reality brought about a huge crisis internally in regard to my leadership and calling. I felt like I had climbed the so-called ladder of success only to find it leaning against the wrong building!”

The Lord spoke so clearly to Sean: “Lead my people back to the Kingdom, and I will build my church. My glory will fill the earth.”

Today, Sean Morris is a traveling minister and kingdom entrepreneur with businesses in three nations. His time in ministry as a pastor, church planter and missionary for more than 30 years has developed in him a wealth of wisdom and experience that any leader would benefit from. As a lover of God and a lover of people who is passionate about winning souls, he shares faith, salvation, integrity, and the steps to community transformation with audiences around the world.

Sean has traveled to 45 nations, planted numerous churches, founded Bible colleges and established charities. In business, he won national industry awards and grew companies 10 times over 10 years.