Children in Adult-Targeted Worship – A Response
I hate writing this kind of blog post. Refuting someone else’s well-thought out opinions isn’t in my DNA. But the article “Sunday Schooling Our Kids out of Church” has been gaining some traction in mainline circles and I’m compelled to counter because if the conclusions it offers are taken seriously, the current declines in church will […]
Creative and Effective Sermon Titles
I think I’ve convinced myself that the most difficult sermon preparation task (and one of the most important) is coming up with great sermon titles (and sermon series titles). Your sermon’s title is of critical importance if you’re depending on word of mouth marketing, using your outdoor church announcement sign, or planning to run any sort of […]
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 (no […]
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 and […]
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 […]