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About Bill Tenny-Brittian

Bill is the Managing Partner at The Effective Church Group. He began ministry as a church planter in the early 1980s and over the past 35 years he's grown churches from one side of the nation to the other. In 2002 he joined Bill Easum's consultation group and began partnering with churches and church leaders to help them reach their fullest potential. He is the author of nine books and the editor of Net Results magazine. Reach Bill here.

But SOMEBODY’s Got to Do It!

Church Work is never ending. There’s always something that needs to get done.

The worship slides need to be updatedThe trash needs to be emptiedThe newsletter needs to be editedThe plumber needs to be calledThe copier needs to be replaced (or updated or unjammed …)

In recent weeks, one pastor or another has given me […]

What To Do With Those Who Remain

I’m a big Carey Nieuwhof fan. He produces some of the most thoughtful and relevant content for North American church pastors and I appreciate what he has to say. This morning one of his blogs didn’t just catch my attention, it caused me to pause. In “Why They’re Not Coming Back to Church (and […]

Church in the Post-Pandemic World

The other day, ECG Partner Scott Musselman shot me a note about something I’d written that referenced the post-pandemic church. He said that his church wasn’t post-pandemic yet! And of course he’s completely correct – the Great Pandemic of 2020 hasn’t given up its ghost and doesn’t seem like it will any time soon. […]

When You’re Invisible, Get Noticed

My first church out of seminary had a cute little building on what the B-52s called The Atlanta Highway, better known by the locals as Highway 78. That highway ran between Athens and Atlanta and through both Between (yes, a real town) and Loganville. Ron Levin was pastor of the Between Methodist Church and […]

Reality Check: Pastor Fetch is Unbiblical

Recently, while I was teaching a class on pastoral leadership, a student pushed back hard when I shared that membership care, hospital visitation, and most church administration are not primarily the functions of clergy – that the church members should be responsible for those kinds of ministries.

“I got into ministry to do ministry,” […]

Stop Playing Pastor Fetch

🎶 Oh the games churches play now. 🎶

If you’re old enough to remember that old Joe South song (well, the original version anyway!), then you’ve been in ministry long enough to be familiar with the most popular game churches play with the pastor.

I call it pastor fetch.

I learned about pastor fetch early on […]

Should Sermon’s Have a Call-To-Action?

Every Sunday, thousands of church leaders stand up on their church’s platform and begin to speak. Like Jesus who took the scroll of Isaiah, read a passage, and then offered words of explanation, these leaders start with the scriptures and offer their (hopefully) God-given insights in the hopes of sharing something that will actually […]

Sample Church Turnaround Coaching Agenda

Two Sad Facts

1. Most pastors don’t have a coach.

Most seem to think they don’t need one. Many are simply unaware how much a coach would help them.And some think they can’t afford one.

Don’t think you need a coach? Quick question: How’s that working for you? If your church isn’t growing, if you aren’t […]

Setting SMART Goals

Over the years, I’ve come to understand that when we talk about making plans in the church, we may not be speaking the same language. What I call mission may or may not be what you call mission. And the same goes for vision, strategies, tactics, and goals. the definitions for these terms are […]