A family left the church recently because they didn’t like one of the changes in worship. The pastor had been confronted by the board chair who demanded the pastor “Go after them and bring them back.” The pastor kept his cool and gently sidestepped the confrontation, but gave me (his coach) a call the […]
These verses, 6 and 15, frame a directive of what to do with those who are literally busybodies, people who have nothing better to do than make trouble. Apparently, the Thessalonian church had as high of a mercy gift as churches today. They were tolerating bad behaviors from their members and Paul says, “Stop it!”
There […]
1 Thessalonians 1:6–8
You became imitators of us and of the Lord … And so you became a model to all the believers in Macedonia and Achaia. The Lord’s message rang out from you … your faith has become known everywhere.
The Thessalonian church had, at least ostensibly, become models of a functional church. They became […]
Evangelistic fervor that reaches out beyond the church and into the culture. That’s the call to every follower of what Paul calls the Way in this extended passage. And yet evangelism is the least practiced of all Christian disciplines, including faithful stewardship. Yes, more people actually tithe than regularly share their faith with Nones, […]
Recently, I wrote a post about starting a turnaround effort in a small church that’s been in decline for years (Ten Things to Do to Lead a Turnaround). I immediately got requests from church leaders of declining mid-sized and large churches: “What about us? What should we do?”
So, here is a list of things […]
I teach the Pastoral Leadership Course for the Mid-America Center For Ministry. It’s an eight-week online intensive on what it takes to be an effective leader in the church today. One of the things I teach during the course is that a pastor cannot grow the church by staying in their office. There’s always […]
I was recently asked what advice I’d give to a pastor getting ready to start a new transformation effort in a small church that’s been in decline for years. Here are the top 10 things I recommended.
Hand off everything you possibly can. Hand off regular hospital visitation, shut-in visitation, member care, etc. Instead, […]
Established: ~1904
Tribe: Protestant Mainline
Worship Style: Rural traditional, family informal
Congregational Demographics:
AWA: 32
Trend: 20 years steep decline; 8 years slow decline; followed by 10 years slight decline
Median Age: 61
Adult Generations: 21 Builders+; 8 Boomers; 2 Gen-X; 1 Millennial
Children/Youth: 2–3
Ethnic Mix: Anglo
SES: Mixed, mostly blue collar; income similar to ministry area
Debt: $0
Available Resources: ~$100,000 in endowments
Ministry Area […]
Simon Sinek, the author of Start with Why, teaches that every company knows its “what,” a few know its “how,” but few operate – or even know – their “why.” I’d say the same is true for most churches … and in my experience, is absolutely true for all declining churches.
Take a look …
There’s any […]
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