Everyone has a “to do” list. Some folks are slaves to it; others make one up and then quickly abandon it. And some are paranoid if they aren’t able to mark off every item by the end of the day. Well, that’s all and good but in the end it may or may not have […]
July 12, 2014 by 2 Comments
Why Your Church Won’t Be the Exception
I just returned from a church growth training event at a local church where we reviewed and evaluated their vision. Their vision statement was a bit wordy, but overall it got high marks. But a question arose from some of the members: “What about those in the congregation who don’t support the vision … who […]
June 23, 2014 by Leave a Comment
The Ultimate Measurement
Have you ever wondered why the vast majority of the growing churches today are outside of the mainline stream? In fact all of the mainline denominations are in decline. I have a theory on why. Well, it’s more than a theory; it’s what I have observed in working with both mainline and non-mainline churches for […]
May 30, 2014 by Leave a Comment
Time Management for Church Leaders
One of top questions we’ve heard during the Only Four Things Grow Churches tour has to do with the allocation of the pastor’s time. When we suggest that a pastor leading a church of under 450 needs to spend between 70 – 80 percent of their time networking with the unchurched, the grumbling becomes audible […]
May 24, 2014 by Leave a Comment
Firing a Person for Incompetence
The more I work with lead pastors the more I realize how hard it is for them to fire a staff person who isn’t either performing or a team player or just downright disruptive. Too many pastors put up with so much crap from one or two on their staff that they shoot themselves in […]
May 13, 2014 by Leave a Comment
The Use and Misuse of Power
I’ve met Pastors who want their church to grow but don’t want to be the leader because they don’t want to exercise any power or authority The problem is this never works; growth takes a leader who is so convinced of the outcome that he or she influences others to jump on board and use […]
April 3, 2014 by Leave a Comment
Curing Congregational Low Self-Esteem
Many churches I work with suffer from low self-esteem and a sense of hopelessness. There are many reasons for this malaise, often because the congregation has come to believe their circumstances are insurmountable (they’re not, but that’s a post for another time). I’m working on a recommendation report from a consultation with a church that […]
January 11, 2014 by 2 Comments
Preaching to the New Target
Let’s be honest. Most of us pastor-types were taught to preach primarily to a Modern, well-churched or well-church-experienced audience. The target of our preaching was essentially “one of us.” I hear some of you howling in protest. “I was taught how to preach evangelistically!” Yeah, so was I … but those preaching methods presumed that […]
December 21, 2013 by Leave a Comment
Great Leadership Part Two
A lot of pastors feel it’s inappropriate to use power, even if it might cause something good to happen. Great Leaders aren’t afraid to use power for the corporate good. They know that in the absence of strong leadership someone steps in to exercise power. They know what normally happens when leaders fail to lead […]
