Four Core Processes of Growing a Missional Church
My experience has taught me that only four things grow a church (other than the Holy Spirit): Bringing people to Christ and/or to the church – forgetting this is the number one reason church plants stop growing and established churches start declining. Retaining people long enough to disciple them – this includes first impressions, worship, and small groups […]
Mergers, Past and Present
According to Leadership Network, 2% of all U.S. Protestant churches have merged in the last two years and 8% more are planning on it within the next two years. That represents some 30,000 churches. Is this a trend or a blurp? In 2003 Dave Travis and I wrote briefly about mergers in our book Beyond […]
Some Thoughts about My Methodist Friends
I just finished reading the Call to Action by the Bishops of the United Methodist Church. It’s good stuff. In fact, it’s great stuff – to a point. The five aspects of a vital church it proposes are right on target. Look at what it says. “Vital congregations are Spirit-filled, forward-leaning communities of believers that welcome […]
A Hybrid World
This first part of the 21st century may well be remembered as a “hybrid world.” Cars are morphing from purely gas to both gas and battery. Communication is morphing into email and text. Phones are morphing into all sorts of communication options. Let me define “morph.” When something morphs it is neither this nor that […]
When Asked “What Is Missional,” What Do You Say?
The other day in a seminar a middle-aged woman asked me to define what I meant by the Missional Church. I quickly replied, “A missional church is organized around mission.” Mission is their organizing principle. A missional church doesnt have a Missions Committee; it is a mission. Missions ins’t one program among many; it is the […]
Three Fatal Staffing Mistakes
There aren’t many mistakes staff can make that are cause for immediate termination. However, when I was a pastor and we had a staff of 68 people, there are three mistakes, that no matter what the circumstance, that would cause me to fire the staff person without any conversation other than, “you’re fired!” Here are those three reasons: A serious […]