About the Effective Church Group
Helping churches grow since 1984.
Your church has people to reach, leaders to develop, and a mission to carry forward.
At the Effective Church Group, we help pastors and congregations understand what’s holding them back, identify opportunities, and put a practical plan into action.
We work with small and medium-sized churches, bringing together church consulting, leadership coaching, spiritual development, and training to help congregations reach more people and make disciples.
Our mission
Church growth has a purpose.
Our mission is to equip pastors and churches to become effective, faithful, and sustainable so they grow their churches by making more baptized disciples of Jesus Christ.
It includes the people who haven’t visited yet, the neighbors your members know, and the next generation of leaders your congregation can develop.
We bring that mission into the decisions, practices, and priorities we work on with you.
Our core values
What you can expect from us.
You’re trusting us with work that matters to your church. These commitments guide how we show up, what we say, and how we follow through.
Integrity.
We deliver what we promise. When we miss the mark, we take responsibility and work to make it right.
Truth-Speaking.
We speak the truth in love, but we speak without filter (the mission of the church is too important to tip-toe through the tulips).
Expedient Excellence.
Your church needs help it can use now. We deliver thoughtful, practical work promptly, then refine it as we learn and put it into practice.
Our story
A legacy of helping churches reach their communities.
Bill Easum’s work growing a local congregation drew other pastors looking for help. That experience became the foundation of a consulting ministry that continues through the Effective Church Group.
Bill Easum establishes the work.
Bill Easum founded 21st Century Strategies, the organization that grew into the Effective Church Group. His focus was helping church leaders apply what he had learned about congregational growth and change.
A shared commitment to church planting.
Bill Easum invited Kris and Bill Tenny-Brittian to participate in a church-planting experiment. That work began a relationship rooted in helping churches reach people and develop disciples.
Bill Tenny-Brittian joins Bill Easum in partnership.
Bill Easum invited Bill Tenny-Brittian to become a partner in the work that would become the Effective Church Group. Church consulting, coaching, and training became central to Bill Tenny-Brittian’s ministry.
Bill Tenny-Brittian becomes president.
After years of consulting and partnership, Bill Tenny-Brittian took on the presidency, carrying forward our founder’s commitment to helping churches grow and equipping leaders to lead change.
Bill Tenny-Brittian · President
Experience shaped by leading churches through change.
Before consulting became a central part of his work, Bill served as a pastor, planted churches, and worked with congregations moving from decline toward growth. That experience continues to shape how he works with pastors and their leaders.
Bill has served across several denominational traditions. That breadth matters when we talk about your church: your people, your community, and your ministry setting belong in the conversation.
His work also includes writing books and practical resources, editing Net Results magazine, and teaching church growth, evangelism, and leadership. The aim is to help leaders put what they’re learning into practice.
Explore Speaking & TrainingCoaching, strategy, and spiritual development
Meet the leaders you’ll work with.
Kris and Kyle bring experience in church planting, congregational change, and developing leaders. Their work adds perspectives that help us serve the needs of pastors and churches.
Dr. Kris Tenny-Brittian
Senior Strategist & Spirituality Coach
Kris brings experience as a denominational leader, church planter, and congregational turnaround leader. Her work connects leadership development with the spiritual life that sustains ministry.
She is an author and co-founder of the PrayerPower Network. Her teaching and coaching address spiritual development, discipleship, leadership, and working through congregational conflict.
Speaking with KrisKyle Ermoian
Lead Coach, Growing Church Network
Kyle has spent more than 30 years helping congregations attract, connect, and develop people. His experience includes new church plants, congregational turnaround, and denominational leadership.
He has mentored pastors and ministry leaders whose work reaches into churches, ministries, and missions. In the Growing Church Network, he brings that experience to the work of helping leaders implement what they learn.
Explore the Growing Church NetworkHow we work with you
Understand your church. Then put a plan to work.
01 / Learn, listen, and assess
Start with your reality.
Listen to your leaders, understand your congregation and community, and examine the practices shaping your ministry.
02 / Identify obstacles and opportunities
Decide what needs attention.
Look honestly at what’s limiting your church and where you have opportunities to reach people and develop leaders.
03 / Create and implement a strategic plan
Follow through on the work.
Establish practical priorities and next steps, then use coaching and accountability to support implementation.
Your next step
Find the help your church needs next.
Church consulting
An onsite assessment, a strategic recommendation report, and implementation coaching.
Explore ConsultingLeadership coaching
Monthly private coaching for pastors, with support throughout the year.
Explore CoachingGrowing Church Network
Training, weekly coaching, and accountability alongside other church leaders.
Explore GCN MembershipSpeaking & training
Practical teaching for your conference, leadership gathering, retreat, or online event.
Explore SpeakersGet Church Growth Insights
Grow your church. Start with your inbox.
Get our straight answers on church growth, practical resources for your leaders, and invitations to free Catalytic Conversations.
- Reach people beyond your church walls.
- Develop leaders who carry the ministry forward.
- Put what you’re learning into practice.
Church-growth insights, resources, and event updates. Unsubscribe whenever you choose.
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