888-470-2456

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 40 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 twelve books and the editor of Net Results magazine. Reach Bill here.

The “Why Your Church Isn’t Growing” Checklist

I’ve written posts and articles on how to grow your church… here’s a quick checklist you can use to find out why your church isn’t growing – complete with links to articles and resources to help.

Unresolved conflict
Limited or poor marketing  (no one has heard of you)
No emphasis on growth programming
Congregational low self-esteem […]

An Effective Bar Ministry

I got a note the other day asking about what a bar ministry might look like. There are a couple ways that churches are doing successful bar ministries. Here are the two dominant models:

A church buys a bar and operates it as one of its outreach ministries. These bars are far from preachy […]

Why Your Church Won’t Be the Exception

I just returned from a church growth training event at a local church where we reviewed and evaluated their vision. Their vision statement was a bit wordy, but overall it got high marks.

However, this question arose from some of the members: “What about those in the congregation who don’t support the vision… those who don’t […]

Ten Tips for Using Your Newsletter to Grow Your Church

The fact is, most church newsletters do little to nothing to help grow a church… in fact, many church newsletters we’ve reviewed may be a part of the reason why a church isn’t growing.

Here are a couple of do’s and don’ts to help you develop a newsletter that will at least aid your church […]

Woe Is Us

I received this private email some time ago. I received permission to reprint it here, after making some modifications to protect the identity of the writer.
I have come to the realization that my tribe, UMC, will continue to die because our leadership at the highest level insists on people-pleasing by straddling the proverbial fence. […]

Time Management for Church Leaders

One of top questions we’ve heard during the Only Four Things Grow Churches tour has to do with the allocation of the pastor’s time. When we suggest that a pastor leading a church of under 450 needs to spend between 70 – 80 percent of their time networking with the unchurched, the grumbling becomes […]

What’s Next?

Here’s a mind bender for you. Below is a simple scenario. Put your church consultant hat on and contemplate – what would you do?
Four mornings each week, he sat in his office doing Facebook updates, responding to the occasional email, and tending to the church’s website. On Wednesdays he planned worship and worked on the bulletin. […]

Never Call It a Welcome Center

Too many churches don’t have an information center – and the ones that do seem to tuck it away against the back wall in some out-of-the-way corner. A well run information center is worth its weight in gold.

That being said, don’t make these information center faux pas:

Instead of “Information Center,” it’s labeled “Visitors” or “Welcome” […]

The Four Core Processes: Not a Balancing Act

The Church: Mainline, 107 in average worship attendanceThe Location: Northeast USThe Pastor: First call, seminary trainedThe Resources: Consultation completed, coach engagedThe Presenting Issue: Lack of growth, few visitors, lots of busyness with little returnThe Real Issue: The pastor’s commitment to balance

You can lead a horse to water. Sometimes, as coaches and consultants, we just […]