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.

The Four Core Processes: Not a Balancing Act

Management Skills

The Church: Mainline, 107 in average worship attendance The Location: Northeast US The Pastor: First call, seminary trained The Resources: Consultation completed, coach engaged The Presenting Issue: Lack of growth, few visitors, lots of busyness with little return The Real Issue: The pastor’s commitment to balance You can lead a horse to water. Sometimes, as […]

Curing Congregational Low Self-Esteem

Many churches I work with suffer from low self-esteem and a sense of hopelessness. There are many reasons for this malaise, a common one being that the congregation has come to believe their circumstances are insurmountable (they’re not, but that’s a post for another time). I’m working on a recommendation report from a consultation with a church […]

An Example of Communion Instructions

[fvplayer src=’https://s3.amazonaws.com/MiscVideo/CommunionInstructionsLow.mp4′ splash=”http://21stcenturystrategies.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/CommunionPlayButton.png”] Click Image to Play Video This is one of the best guest-friendly introductions to communion I’ve seen. Notice that Pastor Ted tells the congregation virtually every detail of how to receive communion. It’s also a good example of a lightened version of the Lutheran Liturgy for the Eucharist. Exceptional Practices of Note: Virtually […]

To Tech or Not to Tech? That’s Not Even a Question Anymore

The latest blog post by Bill Easum sparked a number of lively conversations on both our LinkedIn and Facebook accounts. I started to reply there, but as my response grew, it seemed more appropriate to bring it here to the public forum. The responses mostly included assertions that the church has become too focused or […]

Shift Happens 2014

What Great Leaders Measure

Our culture keeps on marching… and unfortunately, the North American church seems to fall further and further behind. I regularly begin church training exercises by showing the “Shift Happens” YouTube video that was initially uploaded back in 2008. The response to the video by the average layperson is typically shock … especially for those who […]

Preaching for Reaching

preaching for reaching

Let’s be honest. Most of us pastor-types were taught to preach primarily to a modern, well-churched or church-experienced audience. The target of our preaching was essentially “one of us.” We weren’t really taught preaching for reaching those beyond the walls of the church. I hear some of you howling in protest. “I was taught how […]