Author: 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.

10 Things to Do – Turnaround Mid to Large Sized Church

Top Ten

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 […]

7 Things To Do Outside the Church Office

Get Out of the Office

I teach the Pastoral Leadership Course at the Center for Ministry Training Program at Phillips Seminary. 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 […]

10 Things to Do to Lead a Turnaround

Ten-Things

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, build […]

Can This Church Turnaround? Case Study #1

A Case Study

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 […]

Five Why’s to Reality

Can You See Your Vision?

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 […]

Pursue Discomfort

Pursue Discomfort

I was listening to Craig Groeschel at the North American Christian Convention in Kansas City and was struck by something he said: There was a sharp intake of breaths across the room when he said that. I suspect his words will be quoted in blogs like this one, and perhaps whispered furtively in a few […]