Solving the Case of the Vanishing Visitors
Word Count: 961 – Est Reading Time: <5 Minutes The call came in on a Tuesday. A pastor, voice tight, laid it out like every client lays it out. “We had a great crowd Sunday. New faces. Good energy. And then… nothing. They just disappeared.” I’ve worked this case a hundred times. Different church, same […]
Church Target Audience: Why Every Church Already Has One
I’m in the midst of a fantastic conversation with a pastor of the Reformed persuasion and the topic of targeting worship for particular demographics, micro-cultures, etc. came up. He suggested that some consider targeting to be less than okay and that he “resists” the target terminology. That’s not an uncommon notion in the church today. […]
Got Vision? Maybe. Got Execution? Maybe Not …
Church vision implementation sounds simple enough: discern where God is calling the church to go, get people on board, and lead them there. That said, when I show up for an on-site church consultation, one of the first questions I ask the pastor, staff, and lay leaders is pretty simple: “What would you like this […]
Pastor Burnout: The Rope You Were Never Called to Hold
Pastors are really good at carrying things. We carry the vision, the sermon, the budget shortfall, the board’s anxiety, the staff conflict, the struggling marriage in the third pew, and the member who is convinced the church will collapse if somebody moves the communion table six inches to the left. Then we carry all of […]
Enlarge My Territory: The Jabez Prayer, the Luke 10:2b Virus, and the Church Growth Strategy Nobody Finishes
Jabez prayed to enlarge my territory, and that prayer works. Discover how the Jabez prayer, the Luke 10:2b virus, and a pulpit ready for the unchurched complete a winning church growth strategy.
The 5 Biblical Tasks of a Pastor (And What’s Not One)
The biblical tasks of a pastor are five, not fifty. Lead, disciple, cast vision, equip, deploy. Here’s why the rest is killing your ministry.