A Personal Note to ALL Church Leaders Church leaders need to remember that they have a different mandate than the average church member. At large church members are charged with the care of one-another (other Christians and fellow church members in particular - among other responsibilities). Church leaders, however, are charged with the care of […]
January 28, 2015 by Leave a Comment
Are Your Leaders Interested or Committed?
I was reading some business blogs the other day and came across one in Entrepreneur magazine. The president of Fusion Logistics, Joe Judson, was waxing eloquent on one of the measures of success: Interest versus Commitment and it got my mind to spinning about some church leaders I've worked with. Many church leaders are interested […]
January 28, 2015 by Leave a Comment
The Worst and Most Avoidable Mistake of Churches
Lousy hospitality seems rampant at churches. We hate it when we see it in other churches, but we don't seem to be able to address it in our own. We live in a time when even churches get rated on the internet. Of course, word of mouth always has been and always will be the […]
January 4, 2015 by 9 Comments
Five Things You’re Doing that Won’t Grow Your Church
The church pastor was flummoxed. He had no idea why his church wasn't growing. He was doing lots of stuff right, but he just couldn't get any traction. So he called me. After a lengthy conversation, I helped him identify five things he was spending a lot of his time on that wasn't growing his […]
December 28, 2014 by 10 Comments
Pocket Numbers
Back in the days when I was involved in Toastmasters, I used to carry a "pocket speech" with me to every meeting. A pocket speech was a pre prepared three to five minute speech that I could present just in case the scheduled speaker didn't show up. Every member of our club was encouraged to […]
December 26, 2014 by Leave a Comment
Top Five Blog Posts of 2014
2014 was a banner year for The Effective Church Group at 21st Century Strategies. We provided church leader training resources to over 44,000 church leaders this year including: Access to over 1500 blog posts on EffectiveChurch.com Over 200 training videos on Church-Talk Over 325 issues of Net Results magazine Worked in person with over 300 pastors and their […]
December 24, 2014 by Leave a Comment
The Effective Church Board in Action
We often get questions about what kind of decisions an effective policy/accountability board is responsible for. Below are a couple of brief scenarios that demonstrate decision making processes a board should and should not engage in. (These are hypothetical examples that may or may not reflect issues facing your congregation.) The petty cash policy limits […]
December 17, 2014 by Leave a Comment
The Secret of Christmas Hospitality
More guests will show up at worship on Christmas Eve than at any other time of the year. This is a prime opportunity. So how does your church showcase hospitality for Christmas Eve? Are you intentional in your preparation? It is a lot tougher to identify and connect with guests on Christmas Eve due to […]
December 15, 2014 by Leave a Comment
The Six Most Powerful Accountability Words
"That won't happen again, will it?" There shouldn't be question mark at the end of that question because it's not really a question. It's a statement that should actually end with a period. In fact, it's a statement that says much, much more than just those six little words. I first heard those words from a […]
December 14, 2014 by 11 Comments
The Small Church
I begin with a disclaimer - I don’t believe the size of a church has any merit in the Kingdom. Neither do I believe a small church (under 200 in worship) or a large church has any advantages over the other. They both are called of God to perform the same mission....to carry out Christ’s […]
