A Smooth as Glass Restart

When It's Time to Say We're Going to Miss You

Not every church is going to make it. Some need to restart. Here’s a model for getting started from Central Christian Church is Texas.

Leadership Lessons from the Movie Ender’s Game

I saw Ender’s Game on its opening day and fell in love with the movie. Not because I love sci-fi over all other movie genres (I do). Not because Harrison Ford is my favorite swashbuckling actor (he is). And not even because I thought it had a great plot, great writing, great acting, and great […]

Changing Your Congregational Ethos: It’s Not an Overnight Job

Your Congregational Ethos CAN change

Your congregational ethos is the dog that’s wagging the tail (which is as it should be). The problem is that any strategy for growing your church that you might propose is subject to that ethos. As Jim Collins of Good to Great fame wrote, “Culture eats strategy for breakfast and lunch.” That culture he’s talking […]

Classic Worship Leaders and Worship Bands

Music isn’t just a part of worship for today’s generations – it is the primary act of worship. Whereas classic worship services break up songs with other worship tools, such as responsive readings, prayers, etc., successful alternative worship services produce music sets similar to that of a concert, with one song leading directly into another […]

It’s Nominations Time: Thou Shalt Not Settle

Here’s yet another excerpt from 21st Century Strategies for Church Growth. One of the missing ingredients in today’s church is accountability. As church leaders, we are often so grateful to have volunteers who serve that we’re willing to overlook poor attitudes, bad behavior, and even a lack of integrity. In other words, we settle for […]

Avoiding Planning Paralysis

I caught an article in an old issue of Entrepreneur magazine (Oct 2103) by Sam Hogg, a professor at the Michigan Business School, that got me thinking. He said that his students are always asking about entrepreneurism and he shared a couple of the most common questions he gets. It was the first question that sent me […]